Aircraft Reactor Experiment
Videos
The Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) was an experimental nuclear reactor designed to test the feasibility of fluid-fuel, high-temperature, high-power-density reactors for the propulsion of supersonic aircraft. It operated between November 8–12, 1954 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with a maximum sustained power of 2.5 megawatts (MW), and generated a total of 96 MW-hours of energy.
Aircraft Reactor Experiment during assembly showing BeO moderator blocks interlaced with circulating fuel tubes
Natural-convection corrosion test loops used during the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion project to down-select workable fuel/material combinations
Aircraft Reactor Experiment full-scale mockup with clear tubes. Used to shake down filling and draining processes at low temperature
The molten salt fuel pump used in the Aircraft Reactor Experiment
Molten-salt reactor
Videos
A molten-salt reactor (MSR) is a class of nuclear fission reactor in which the primary nuclear reactor coolant and/or the fuel is a mixture of molten salt with a fissionable material.
Aircraft Reactor Experiment building at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). It was later retrofitted for the MSRE.