INL pioneered technology that may have been used in Russian explosion. Here's why it was abandoned

[TexasTowelie]

The explosion at a secret Russian test site that killed five nuclear scientists and spread radioactive contamination to surrounding communities may come from a technology pioneered at the Idaho National Laboratory in the 1950s.

Or maybe not. The details remain shrouded in a combination of lies, secrecy and mystery.

What we do know is the United States abandoned the entire idea of nuclear-powered airplanes and missiles after thoughtful people asked, “What happens if it crashes?”

The story of the Russian explosion Aug. 8 came out in dribs and drabs with reports of the five deaths, the injuries of others but no radiation releases. Then a nearby city in the Arkhangelsk region on the White Sea reported elevated radiation levels.

Read more: https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article234047822.html

[democratisphere]

1. Looks like Putin outsmarted himself on this one.

Then to overcompensate for his f' up he declares he has 2 nuclear weapons carrying aircraft on his side of the Bering Sea. Sounds like BS out of the drumpf playbook. Or is it the Putin playbook? Idiot for sure.

[Rainbow Droid]

2. Russia actually built and flew a plane that contained a working nuclear reactor in the 60s.

How did they protect the pilots or stop the plane dumping radioactivity into the environment? They didn't. Most of the pilots died in a short time and after they flew it about 40 times they also gave up on the idea. They used a rigged up tu-95 "Bear".

There's an old Discovery docu about it called "Planes That Never Flew - The Atomic Bomber" which is about mainly the American project but it does deal with the above Russian project as well.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Here's the American Project, per Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_NB-36H

US and Soviet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_aircraft