Re: A/P crash

[Nolan Hertel <nolan.hertel@me.gatech.edu>]

See note below on the A/P crash from Norman Schaeffer.

>Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 12:14:43 -0600 (CST)
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>To: "Dr. Nolan Hertel" <nolan.hertel@me.gatech.edu>
>From: Norman Schaeffer <nschaef@onramp.net>
>Subject: Re: A/P crash
>
>Nolan:
>
>I was in the ANP program 1953-1962, had security clearances, attended
>classified meetings, etc., and never heard of this aircraft or this
>accident.
>
>
>Some facts:
>
>A concrete & lead shielded nautilus reator could never have flown in a
>Northrup wing, or anything else.Too heavy.
>
>To my knowledge, no propulsion reactor was ever flown by the US.(Maybe by
>the Soviet Union, but unlikely).
>
>The only aircraft reactor ever operated by GE was a boiler plate demo in
>Idaho that was much too heavy to put in an aircraft.
>
>As you know, the General Dynamics Nuclear Aircraft Research Facility, for
>the Air Force, flew a reactor as a radiation source in a B-36 from
>1955-1957 without any accidents, including aircraft crashes. No nuclear
>propulsion was involved.
>
>There was an accident with an army small reactor (the SL-1, I think), in
>the 50's where some army personnel got radiation exposures, the extent I
>don't recall, no aircraft involved.
>
>There were nuclear rocket reactor programs, and space nuclear auxiliary
>power (snap) reactors (the Russians flew the latter in satellites, one of
>which landed in Canada).  North American Aviation flew a snap reactor test
>which did operate briefly in orbit, but did not crash.
>
>FNorman
>

------
Nolan E. Hertel
Health Physics Program
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0405
(404) 894-3717
facs:  (404) 894-3733
nolan.hertel@me.gatech.edu
------