The Ford Nucleon: A Miniature Nuclear Reactor in the Trunk
Imagine a car that would emit no harmful vapors and would offer incredible fuel mileage far beyond that of the most efficient cars ever built. It’d be sleek and silent, with only the hum of a turbine. It’d basically be run on steam. That’s how nuclear power works.
Yeah, nuclear power. The Ford Nucleon concept car was designed to be powered by a miniature nuclear reactor. Simple, safe, and eco-friendly, right?
Ford’s engineers imagined full-service recharging stations in place of gas-stations, where depleted reactors cores could be swapped out for fresh ones. The car’s reactor setup was basically just like a nuclear submarine’s, only smaller. It was designed to use uranium fission to heat a steam generator, rapidly converting water into high-pressure steam which could then be used to drive a set of turbines. One steam turbine would provide the torque to propel the car while another would drive an electrical generator. The steam would then condense back into water in a cooling coil, and be sent back to the steam generator to be reused. It’s a closed system, so as long as there is some radioactive material in there, it’s good to go. No emissions, except for the eventual nuclear waste.
Designers anticipated that a typical Ford Nucleon would be able to travel about 5,000 miles per charge.
The idea never took off because reactors that small weren’t possible at the time and the shielding needed would have weighed down the car excessively. But it’s not really that bad of an idea. The US Navy has a 100% perfect record of nuclear safety with their subs. It’s greener than a lot of other technologies, who knows, maybe we’ll see some nuclear Honda’s out there come 2020.
I bet they’d sell like hotcakes in the Middle East.
Words by erichansa on September 8, 2008 at 10:10 am | #
So, what happens if you have a wreck in that car?
Words by glowinthedarkboy on September 8, 2008 at 4:25 pm | #
“No, no, no. This sucker’s electrical. But I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity I need.”
“Safe now, everything is lead-lined.”
Words by Mr. Fusion on September 8, 2008 at 4:58 pm | #
Thats a great idea
Words by Alpha on September 8, 2008 at 5:29 pm | #
The auto industry is apparently innovative in the engineering department and reactive in the front lines.
Words by ecg on September 8, 2008 at 5:32 pm | #
Too bad most people who read this don’t know that weapons grade and fuel grade radioactive material are entirely different, and very hard to get one converted to the other.
Words by blah on September 8, 2008 at 6:21 pm | #
and the best thing is you and everyone around gets a complimentary case of cancer with every crash! Yay, I love cancer.
Words by think about it.... on September 8, 2008 at 7:33 pm | #
With the amount of regulation on uranium, I doubt we’ll ever have nuclear powered cars. Plus, shielding is a huge problem, otherwise we’d have nuclear powered airplanes already.
Words by Daniel on September 8, 2008 at 8:27 pm | #
it would be great, if international container ships were equipped with
those kinds of nuclear reactors … because it’d be much more environmental friendly as diesel engines.
i think nuclear power for small vehicles won’t be successfull …
Words by henning on September 8, 2008 at 8:41 pm | #
Hate to see that repair bill
Words by Down Comforter on September 8, 2008 at 8:49 pm | #
Reactor or not its still a ford, BLEH!
Words by Kosma on September 8, 2008 at 9:27 pm | #
Hey your right, i want one & i live in the middle east.
Yes we do care about fuel efficiency & helping the planet too.
Thanks for pointing it out.
Words by Abbas Khan on September 8, 2008 at 9:31 pm | #
Yeah, I’ve seen this concept before.
The Navy has a good track record with nuclear powered subs because they have highly trained professionals running them.
That’s a bit different that handing one over to your average citizen - that’s just asking for a nuclear explosion to happen when Billy Bob decides to Pimp his Nuke…
Words by Shadoglare on September 8, 2008 at 10:33 pm | #
lol i love your comment, made me love so hard
Words by Paul on September 9, 2008 at 12:16 am | #
Err.. what happens when there’s an accident? Sure, submarines have perfect records, but submarines don’t t-bone at a 6-way intersection, either.
Words by Andrew on September 9, 2008 at 11:12 am | #
As clean as nuclear is to use, take the spent fuel rods from such a vehicle, multiply that by a few hundred million. That is a boatload of radioactive materials. Not to mention the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would never allow fissile material to be stored at a refueling station accessible to just anyone. Those who work at a nuclear facility will know what I’m talking about.
Words by Sky on September 9, 2008 at 4:02 pm | #
Large commercial reactors with the fleet being electrical cars. enough said.
Words by Some Guy on September 10, 2008 at 11:51 am | #
There already was a nuclear powered civilian container ship.It has also been decommissioned. There were also nuclear powered rocket engines,successfully tested and were planned for use on the Saturn I and Saturn V rockets and proposed Apollo missions.
Words by Timothy on October 27, 2008 at 3:18 pm | #