The alluring idea was to build an aircraft that could, in theory, stay aloft indefinitely.

At your request: This week's California Commentary by Jon Coupal
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** California Commentary
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** Of nuclear-powered airplanes and the bullet train
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By Jon Coupal

A long-forgotten aspect of the nuclear arms race was the costly undertaking by the United States to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft as a strategic bomber.

Even before Allied powers defeated Nazi Germany in 1945, both the United States and the Soviet Union were battling for post-war superiority. With the successful detonation of two atomic bombs — bringing the Pacific Theater hostilities to an abrupt halt — the U.S. had a brief period of nuclear superiority over the USSR.

That would not last long as the USSR quickly accelerated its nuclear program and the Cold War was on.

In May 1946, the United States Army Air Forces started the Nuclear Energy for the Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) project. The alluring idea was to build an aircraft that could, in theory, stay aloft indefinitely. In 1951, the NEPA project was succeeded by the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) program.

However, despite the efforts of America’s best nuclear and aviation scientists working with a virtually unlimited budget, the problems were insurmountable. The biggest hurdle was that nuclear reactors are very heavy. Sustaining one aloft with a fixed-wing aircraft turned out to be a challenge that could only be overcome by using a modified B-26 as a platform.

Reducing the weight of the reactors by shielding them with lighter material put the flight crews in danger from the high risk of radiation exposure. This latter problem never worried the Soviets in that their similar programs were willing to so expose the crews. But this led to an unacceptable mortality rate, even for the Soviets.

After more than a decade of throwing good dollars after bad, the aircraft nuclear propulsion programs were substantially terminated by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

The lessons of history should be instructive for Californians, who have watched for more than a decade as the state has thrown their money into the increasingly impossible high-speed rail program.

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Jon Coupal is the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). He is a recognized expert in California fiscal affairs and has argued numerous tax cases before the courts.
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