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In the 1950’s people were still quivering with anticipation to see what new possibilities will nuclear power open for them. Nuclear powered houses, trains, airplanes and cars, all dreams of a petrol free future, without much thought on the dangers of nuclear power.
Ford Nucleon was one of those dreams, a nuclear powered car that was supposed to travel for 5,000 miles without a recharge. The nuclear car project was announced in 1957 by Ford, and it was a futuristic looking vehicle with an incredibly efficient fuel mileage, thanks to the small atomic fission reactor fitted in the trunk.
The setup of it’s nuclear reactor was similar to that of a nuclear submarine, but miniaturized to fit into an automobile. The idea was to use uranium fission to heat the steam generator, which turned water into steam, which could be used to drive a set of turbines. One of the turbines would propel the car, while the other would power an electrical generator. Steam would be turned back into water through condensation, and reused by the steam generator after that. As long as fissile material remained, the reactor would’ve produced power through this closed system.
And, because the powerplant was interchangeable, the owner could choose between a high mileage with low torque version or a more powerful version if that’s what they needed.
Can you imagine driving with no worries only to have another car smash into the mini nuclear reactor strapped to your back? Did they really think this through?
Luckily, there were no operational models built, but they gave it quite some thought apparently. Why they didn’t make one? Increased public awareness of the dangers of nuclear power, the absence of the light materials that could be used for shielding and the lack of advances in the mini nuclear reactors area. Lucky us!
You can find here a description of the Ford Nucleon from the company. (third model)
Tags:Atomic Cars,NuclearPlant,NuclearReactor
Honestly, I wouldn’t be too worried about another car smashing into the mini nuclear reactor strapped to my back. Nuclear power isn’t nearly as frightening as folks think it is. The amount of nuclear material required to power a car is quite small - certainly nowhere near a critical mass, and I would assume it would be relatively well shielded. You’d have a lot more to worry about from the impact trauma than radiation.
Yes, indeed - lucky us. We’re so lucky to be paying $3.50+ a gallon for gasoline… So lucky to have to fuel our cars up every few days… So lucky to be belching soot into the air with every trip…
Didn’t this article originally appear in Damn Interesting?
James, everything I write on this blog is found somewhere else on the Internet, and made an article out of it, so my readers can enjoy it as well.
Ha ha James’s Nickname should be “Captain Obvious.”
I HOPE YOU WILL GET BACK TO AMERICAN DESIGN, LIKE WHAT YOU HAVE THERE. THATS THE AMERICAN WAY, INSTEAD OF THE EUROPEAN WAY. I LIKE GOOD DESIGNS LIKE THAT TO RETURN TO AMERICA.
Ephemeris is right, the amount of atomic material needed to power a car would be the size of penpoint. And impact does not cause reactors to go critical. These cars would likely be safer than our internal combustion engines, which actually have explosions occuring under the hood. The only worry would be long term exposure, but seriously, our cell phones, tvs, wifi, cell towers, etc. are unsheilded and create alot more danger than a fully shielded mini-reactor.
hi and thank you verry much
Must be some sort of reason why Nuclear isn’t a viable solution? Sounds way to be good to be true? Maybe the disposal of old reactors etc would be a real problem? Shoot them into the sun maybe?
i know it would be a small amount of radiation emission….but wouldnt it still add up if everybody started driving these cars?…i mean it sounds great, but why havent they built one?
A lot of ignorance showing in this article. Nuclear power is VERY safe these days, and there is no reason why this shouldn’t be revisited.
A nuclear car would be very easy to build from the propulsion drive train.Use a sterling motor connected to a generator to produce the electricity.The reactor would heat the hot end of the sterling motor removing the need for heavy steam producing parts.Then use capacitors instead of batteries for torque loads because electric storage will not be required.When you get home plug your house into your car for power.Maybe that’s why we really don’t have them yet beside the gov’t I mean the oil companies wait there the same people.