Oil prices have always been a major pain for most car owners, these years to spend the same money can run the distance is getting closer and closer, charging new energy vehicles although good, but charging is a big trouble, and after a few years to change the battery is not cheap, then is there a car to refuel once can drive for a long time? The answer is no, but Ford conducted a conceptual exploration in 1957 that theoretically made that wish a reality.
The concept is the Ford Nucleon, a nuclear-powered sedan. In the 1950s and 1960s, the major powers greatly respected nuclear energy, in addition to the vigorous development of weapons, nuclear energy is also extended to the civilian field, especially the successful use of nuclear power plants inspired human beings to build small nuclear reactors.
At that time, the United States vigorously developed small nuclear power units, put forward nuclear power tanks, nuclear power aircraft these designs, and among them nuclear power miniaturization does seem to have technical prospects, although in the military field, but many military technologies in the end are not serving the civilian field Well, Ford Company wants to explore the concept first, whether the "melon" is cooked or not, first eat a bite and then say.
The company built a model car, the front, cab/cabin only occupy the front half of the body, the vehicle's driving parts, steering parts, etc. are no different from conventional vehicles, the most special place is that it uses nuclear power, the power components occupy the rear half of the body, and a small nuclear reactor will be installed inside.
The vehicle will use a uranium fission nuclear reactor, the heat generated by the nuclear reaction will be used to "boil water", the high-temperature steam generated by the heating water can be used to drive the turbine to generate rotating mechanical power, so that it can be used as a vehicle driving force, and the water after steam condensation can continue to be used for heating, and it can also cool down the reactor.
Ford envisions the elimination of traditional gas stations in the future, but it does not provide safe nuclear reaction materials, but replaces the entire nuclear reactor, and will provide both efficient and inefficient types of nuclear reactors, which should take into account the needs of different models, such as the difference between ordinary family cars and trucks. After replacing the reactor, it is expected to travel 5,000 miles, that is, 8,046 kilometers, and if you just commute to work, you can basically last for 1 year.
According to Ford's publicly available materials, the nuclear-powered car is 200.3 inches (about 5 meters) long, 77.4 inches (about 1.97 meters) wide, and only 41.4 inches (about 1.05 meters) on the roof, leaving a nuclear-powered supercar alive.
The Ford Core built only one 3/8 scale model, which is currently preserved at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. At that time, people were already aware of the technical obstacles and potential hazards of nuclear reactor miniaturization, so they basically abandoned relevant research, and we only saw nuclear reactors used in vehicles and facilities such as warships and power stations, which was far from the miniaturization expected at that time.