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Revision as of 00:43, 17 June 2002 by Bryan Derksen (talk | contribs) (slight paragraph rearrangement, "unmanned bomber" proposal)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)On January 1, 1957, the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission selected the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) predecessor, the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, to study the feasibility of applying heat from nuclear reactors to ramjet engines.
This research became known as "Project Pluto" and was moved from Livermore, California to new facilities constructed for $1.2 million on eight square miles of Jackass Flats at the Nevada Test Site (NTS).
The complex consisted of six miles of roads, critical assembly building, control building, assembly and shop buildings, and utilities. Also required for the construction was 25 miles of oil well casing which was necessary to store the million pounds of pressurized air used to simulate ramjet flight conditions for Pluto.
The work was directed by Dr. T.C. Merkle, leader of the laboratory's R-Division.
The principle behind the ramjet was relatively simple: air was drawn in at the front of the vehicle under ram (under great force) pressure, heated to make it expand, and then exhausted out the back, providing thrust.
The notion of using a nuclear reactor to heat the air was fundamentally new. Unlike commercial reactors, which are surrounded by concrete, the Pluto reactor had to be small and compact enough to fly, but durable enough to survive a 7,000 mile trip to a potential target.
The success of this project would depend upon a series of technological advances in metallurgy and materials science. Pneumatic motors necessary to control the reactor in flight had to operate while red-hot and in the presence of intense radioactivity. The need to maintain supersonic speed at low altitude and in all kinds of weather meant the reactor, code named "Tory", had to survive temperatures of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, and conditions that would melt the metals used in most jet and rocket engines.
The proposed use for nuclear-powered ramjets would be to power an unmanned cruise missile. Once powered up, the unshielded half-gigawatt nuclear reactor would emit highly lethal radiation in a large radius; such a vehicle could not possibly be piloted or reused. Indeed, some questioned whether a cruise missile derived from Project Pluto would need a warhead at all; the radiation from its engine, coupled with the shock wave that would be produced by flying at Mach 3 at treetop level, would have left a wide path of destruction wherever it went. Contrary to some reports, the exhaust of the engine would not itself be highly radioactive. Also, the nuclear engine could in principle operate for months, so a Pluto cruise missile could simply fly a long and winding pattern over enemy territory to cause incredible damage. Alternately, due to the ramjet's long life, it was proposed that a Pluto cruise missile could carry a payload of multiple nuclear weapons to be dropped on multiple targets, making the cruise missile into an unmanned bomber.
On May 14, 1961, the world's first nuclear ramjet engine, "Tory-IIA," mounted on a railroad car, roared to life for just a few seconds. Despite other successful tests the Pentagon, sponsor of the "Pluto project," had second thoughts; Intercontinental ballistic missile technology had proved to be more easily developed than previously thought, reducing the need for such highly capable cruise missiles. On July 1, 1964, seven years and six months after it was born, "Project Pluto" was canceled.
initial text taken from a public domain document at DOE