B-36H serial number 51-5712 was modified as a nuclear-reactor testbed. The
object of this particular conversion was to test the effects of nuclear
reactor radiation on instruments, equipment, and airframe and to study
shielding methods.
A nuclear reactor (which did not actually power the aircraft) was mounted in
the aft bomb bay. The crew was housed entirely in a modified compartment in
the fuselage nose section. The compartment was composed of lead and rubber,
and entirely surrounded the crew. The aircraft was redesignated NB-36H. It
bore the name Crusader on the fuselage side. Its first flight was made on
September 17, 1955. Flying alongside the NB-36H on every one of its flights
was a C-97 transport carrying a platoon of armed Marines
ready to parachute down and surround the test aircraft in case it crashed. A
total of 47 flights were made up to March of 1957.

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