J3. Nuclear-Powered Jet Airplane Engines. A man with a Geiger counter stands in front of a vertical nuclear reactor intended to serve as a nuclear jet airplane engine. Directly behind it is a second reactor designed as a horizontal reactor engine. Nuclear-powered jet airplanes were conceived as vehicles for carrying nuclear bombs able to fly in a continuous holding pattern around the Soviet Union. But the program never got off the ground. It was made obsolete by long-range missile technology. These are the only two nuclear jet airplane engines in existence. They were developed between 1957 and 1961. Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho. 9 November 1984.
These photographs by Robert Del Tredici are protected by copyright and are available for purchase as high-quality digital prints on archival paper or as silver gelatin prints from bdeltredici@hotmail.com.