CVBreard wrote:

In the 1950s (1960s?), there was a serious USAF project/study to use a nuclear
reactor to power a B-36..

No, they used a B-36 to carry a reactor up to run some tests to see how the reactor
behaved in flight. There was no proposal to power the B-36 with one. They *did* get
far enough along on a design for an atomic aircraft for one of the model companies
(Aurora, IIRC) to market a plastic kit of the plane during the early and mid 60s.

As part of the research, they also built two huge towers west of Oak Ridge, TN shaped
like goal posts. There was a containment building for a reactor core located between
the towers. The towers served as cranes to lift the reactor out of it's shell and
into the air for studies. Last time I looked, the towers were still visible from the
eastbound lanes of I-40 west of Knoxville.

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.