A Brief History of: The HTRE no.3 Reactor Meltdown (Short Documentary)

#NuclearHistory #Nuclearflight #History
During the 1950’s atomic energy was considered for pretty much everything, nuclear tanks, nuclear cars, nuclear trains & of course nuclear planes. This brought about the General Electric Heat Transfer Reactor Experiment (HTRE) and its ill fated power excursion. Unlike many of the reactors spoken about on this channel you can actually list this one as its parked up outside the EBR-1 Reactor building at the Idaho National Laboratory.
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Sources:
1.www.osti.gov/s...
2.inldigitallibr...
3.fas.org/nuke/s...
4.www.osti.gov/s...
5.moltensalt.org/...

[@alphaadhito]

The only thing that needs to be refueled in the plane is the crew :)

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😂😂the plane endurance was measure in crews per hour

[@JoshStLouis314]

MRE's are comparatively light in comparison to a nuclear reactor.

[@busterbeagle2167]

Cocaines a hell of a drug

[@RCAvhstape]

@@JoshStLouis314 Being aboard an airplane for weeks on end eating nothing but MREs and dealing the attendant MRE-related digestion issues sounds like a special kind of hell. You'd be praying for a war to start just so you could end it all.

[@jordanscherr6699]

pretty damn much. That was "one" of the primary reasons the program never got past hardware experimentation.

[@rickpercinky8727]

Fun fact. HTRE-1 and HTRE-2 are both available for public viewing at the EBR-1 historic landmark. It's a pretty cool museum.

[@jasonhaynes2952]

Fire them up! And remember to bring marshmallows and long sticks made of graphite!

[@WadeDorrell]

It's mentioned at the end of the video, although it's HTRE-2 and HTRE-3 that are at EBR-1, as the video states and shows. (Because 1 and 2 are technically the same test assembly, and some signs have been switched around at EBR-1 in the past and muddled up the difference between 1&2 and 3, maybe even still, this is a common point of confusion.)

[@Mamorufumio]

anyone else think that the HTRE no. 3 looks like a very early warp reactor?

[@alexanderdora98]

warp reactors are clearly glowing bluish due to the cherenkov radiation

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

Wait: Star Trek warp reactor, Warhammer 40K warp drive or statue of a man playing bongo drums(1:00)?

[@mutolover3851]

I thought that it kinda looks like a microscope

[@ICanDoThatToo2]

7:39 Yes!

[@woopimagpie]

@richard mccann This ranks at #43 on the list of youtube's most pointless and angry comments. Congrats on making the Top 50. Sorry, what I meant to say was CONGRATS ON MAKING THE F^^CKING TOP 50 A^^HOLE! Also, although I've had a couple of flying f^^ks (true story), and also a few fat f^^ks (chubby girls are wild man - they don't know when they're going to get the next one so they really make the most of it), I've never had a fat flying f^^k. Might have to give that a try. Although, it would surely get me into trouble. The wife is only a little thing so that rules her out as the candidate. Perhaps that particular experience may have to go un-had, as it were. So in answer to the question of "who gives a fat flying f^^k?", sadly not me. I reckon I could put you in touch with a couple of folks though...

[@deadfreightwest5956]

Additional fun facts about this program. The hangar for the proposed bomber was built and is in use in central Idaho. Also, a shielded locomotive was built as a tug for the bomber, and now sits next to the two test reactors at the EBR-1 site.

[@cgcgundersen]

I've been to EBR-1 and these things are just chilling out in the parking lot. Crazy huge. We also drove to the entrance gate for SL-1. You can't see much but still cool to find because there is nothing marking it.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I'd love to go there one day!

[@cgcgundersen]

Do you have an email you'd be willing to share? I took a bunch of photos.

[@VoltasP]

Props were a nice tough on this one. The hand on the globe made me chuckle out loud.

[@StephanieElizabethMann]

I think it is interesting that the 3rd engine look similar to the engine/s pods on the starship enterprise from star trek. It led me to wonder if the cold of the vacuum of space could keep the reactor cool enough. With the pods for the engines outside and to the rear of the crewed areas shealding could be situated towards the front of the engine.

[@stevie-ray2020]

It was no coincidence that many sci-fi writers of the '50s were featuring nuclear powered space-craft in their stories!

[@stanleyfranks8252]

I learned something with this video. "Haytch" is also a proper pronunciation of the letter "H". I had to look it up.

[@brockmoore2153]

I spent some time at the Idaho National (Engineering) Laboratory facilities in the 1980s, as part of the Navy's nuclear training program. Back then, the subjects of many of your videos were only stories from my barber about 'what else goes on out there in the desert'. and a few glimpses out the window of a bus (we actually drove past the SL-1 accident site every day on the way to work). Thank you for bringing the crazy history of many things that have gone on out there (especially in the 50s and 60s) to life - it really is a fascinating facility, with all kinds of interesting research going on at several different test sites to this date.

[@Alien1375]

I guess using nucleair power in an aircraft is.... Planely difficult...

[@FrankMiller]

Please have this acutely angled thumb!

[@sillylittleowlguy2392]

ba dum tsss

[@allangibson8494]

The Russians have flown nuclear powered aircraft...

[@fratercontenduntocculta8161]

I'm so glad the Atomic age creation panic is long over. Does make for neat stories though! Great video as always! Another factor they seemed to ignore is the maintenance intervals required of aircraft of that size. You'd have to land just for repairs alone.

[@antcraft3590]

Oh wow, this is very... interesting. Glad it's never taken off though, as there's so many things that could go wrong. Really been enjoying watching the channel though. Always loved learning about nuclear stuff, and I've learnt much more by watching here. Also btw, at 3:22, you put GW instead of PW for Pratt and Whitney. Not sure if someone has mentioned it or not already, but thought I'd let you know :)

[@usmale49]

Good catch...I saw that too and wondered why he would use GW for Pratt & Whitney! Maybe he was thinking George WESTINGHOUSE. This person very seldom makes an error, but this one stood out like a sore thumb!

[@MrHazzard12345]

The 50s were so ambitious, its fascinating... a little sad really, a time in our history where there was no red tape. Just evolution.

[@ravener96]

Honestly, some of that spirit should be brought back. Even with issues like nuclear contamination, it being small scale and able to be done in remote locations makes the speed of innovation not too costly. Nuclear cargo ships, nuclear rocket engines, nuclear flying boats even, these are all technically viable, but didnt live into the 70s and 80s where we got the technicals worked out to do these things safely.

[@lofthouse23]

Yeah.... Nuclear aeroplane? I think the red tape is needed to reign ideas in sometimes.

[@haroldhenderson2824]

If deployed, the most dangerous aspect of these would have been the exhaust.

[@richardgreen7225]

Actually not true. The air was not exposed to nuclear fuel. Even if it had been, the resulting nitrogen and oxygen isotopes would have been relatively harmless (a minor addition to background radiation). However, erosion of the fuel elements would have to be carefully controlled.

[@logoseven3365]

In central Pennsylvania where the Black Moshannon state park is now, they had two test cells and a reactor. The reactor is gone, the test cells are still there.

[@crakkbone]

Love it! Thanks Mr. Difficult.

[@LighthouseCape]

Nuclear power in the 50's was like a brand new toy for a kid. They wanted to play with it on everything and everywhere.

[@SECONDQUEST]

Hey dude love your channel, but pretty sure that's not how you pronounce roetgens

[@domiankappa543]

I'm also pretty sure that's not how you spell "Roentgens" :p

[@SECONDQUEST]

@@domiankappa543 got me

[@mhick3333]

Great presentations as usual thanks so much keep them coming !!

[@remcovanvliet3018]

Rontegens? You do some really awesome work. Please look up the correct pronunciation of "Röntgen". Hint : "rontegen" is not it.

[@mikaelpalm2130]

the HTRE no.3 is just such a beautiful mess of pipes in those pictures. So many parts that does... something important.

[@woopimagpie]

You need to print T-shirts with "which is about here on the map" on them. I'd buy one.

[@andrewcurtin7003]

Somthing about a plane flying over head belching hot radioactive air as it flys through the air makes me glad the project never *takes off glasses* took off

[@lairdcummings9092]

Remarkably compact design. I'm a former USN Reactor Operator - This design is utterly brilliant, though the hubris of the overall concept is rather breath-taking. That said, I'd have LOVED to have been involved in this. Bleeding-edge (for its time) design.

[@macieyid]

Just look at this babies 11:50, a freaking piece of atompunk art

[@MarkoLomovic]

I can't understand how they even thought that it was good idea for a plane. Even if it is light enough and compact way you control the power is what makes it unusable since you can't regulate power that fast, then there is question on even generating enough power to even get a plane to take off. Even at that time this much was clear.

[@tacticalmattfoley]

That would give the enemy pause for shooting one down for sure.

[@davidharris453]

I used to live outside the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state. On spur rails out in the desert sit two nuclear jet engines from this program that were supposedly tested at sandpoint in Idaho and then shipped here for storage. I have seen them through binoculars and they do look the part. The story circulated at hanford was their intended use was to fly 24/7 around the borders of the USSR and China carrying nuclear bombs as deterrent role in future possible conflicts. Obviously, they had not conceived of IBM nuclear delivery systems when the program began....and yes, a major problem was radiation leakage along the flight path. If you can find a copy of the book laboring in the fields of the nuclear bomb / to know is to understand I believe it has more information on this subject. We are scary creatures !

[@thermonucleardevice]

Small correction: I think it's "At Work in the Fields of the Bomb" by Robert del Tredici. Hopefully that's the one you meant, as I just bought a copy :)

[@davidharris453]

My bad, you got the title exactly correct...I loaned my copy away years ago...so much for my memory and thanks for taking the time to post the correction so everybody will get it.

[@Mumblix]

"Sir, this is a really bad idea!" "Yes, but if we're thinking it, we know that the Soviets are thinking it too." "What if their idea are even worse than ours?" "We cannot allow a dumb-ass idea gap!"

[@edwardjohannes360]

Hence the 2019 Nyonoksa radiation accident in the far north of Russia is suspected to happen during a test for a nuclear-powered cruise missile pushed by Putin.

[@matthewbivens1299]

Hmmm somewhat reasnable

[@matthewcox7985]

I had heard of the SLAM (Project Pluto) but this is the first I ever heard of this one!

[@SpudLab]

I was half expecting a jet pack 🤣

[@muddygaming2500]

Yert love your vids keep it up

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@muddygaming2500]

@@PlainlyDifficult no thank you for entertainment

[@duncannada]

You can still go see that, I did as a kid but it’s a bit rusty now from sitting outside.

[@alanwatts8239]

This is basically how REAL chemtrails almost were created lol

[@Fred_the_1996]

Lmao

[@Not_so_epic_josh]

America during the 50s: what if we put a nuclear reactor on it

[@AmaranTheTauren]

Didn’t realize how much safer the world got with the development of the ICBM.

[@babaruskie]

I've stood next to these engines! They're out by EBR1 out at the INL. They're open to the public to visit if you make it out to the desert!

[@BarneySaysHi]

1:06 Looks like an experimental version of the Thunderbirds to me.

[@FlyingSavannahs]

Scientist 1: "I've got some matter." Scientist 2: "I've got some antimatter." Prospector 1: "I've got dilithium crystals. Those INL guys over there said they couldn't figure out what to do with them." Scientist 1: "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sounds of a Vulcan lute swell with their notorious nature of evoking simultaneous sensations of groundbreaking scientific innovation and burning bread. Headline of the Daily t'Laåbn ÕiiifMj News: "Hçüüv Elders Deciphering Meaning of Warp Drive Powered Toaster Found on blTeān 4."

[@peterryan5309]

Great video as always, man!

[@adamantium1983]

I’ve been to EBR1 and those reactors sitting outside are huge!

[@SciHeartJourney]

Roentgens, Curies, Sieverts, Rads are all forms of radiation measurement. 😖🤯 This video uses 3 of them without even comparing what they mean. I would have picked just one then converted all of the others to that same scale.

[@ManuelGarcia-ww7gj]

This program led to the current LFTR design which is vastly superor to the light water reactors of that day.

[@NDfambums]

You got me at Glow for me baby 😂

[@twizz420]

I want that turbo on my car...

[@janedoe6181]

Nuclear energy has its place, but a nuclear jet just sounds like a bad idea. Imagine the contamination if that thing crashed. Imagine if a nuclear jet had been used on September 11th.

[@Jmixup]

It's like you knew I was about to make a brew! Yay!

[@memadmax69]

Now just imagine if we apply todays tech to this concept. Bet we could pull it off now.

[@Redhand1949]

What a lunatic idea! Imagine the system risks in combat!

[@jimbobur]

"Let's put a big lump of fissioning uranium up in the sky, what could go wrong?" -- US Military

[@xponen]

curious cats will build one to see what happens.

[@blazeoptimus3818]

There working on this, even as we speak, in Russia. I honestly can’t imagine a worse idea. It’s a disaster waiting to happen (again?)

[@serenastieveling]

How else are we gonna get a flying fortress style craft we see in comics and movies. Fusion is still fantasy xD

[@testaccount4191]

@richard mccann lol

[@mandywalkden-brown7250]

richard mccann - you’re off your meds again aren’t you sir? (Concerned RN here.)

[@douro20]

Coors' ceramics division produced the fuel pins for all three reactors. It was probably the only time they worked with nuclear materials. That business is still around as CoorsTek, and is still owned and run by the Coors family.

[@bordom9947]

I actually saw those in real life they're really cool

[@whirledpeas3477]

Actually very hot 🔥

[@Mr3344555]

Good morning everyone! On a Friday too, this is going to be a good day. (Ice Cube - Friday plays)

[@samuels1123]

Very possible, but major issues were faulty reactor controls and the engine committing taco bell in event of meltdown

[@r.ridderbusch7303]

@Plainly Difficult *exacerbated* not exasperated :-) Good show!

[@millybrandwood2466]

I love the idea, but they really were like “what if there’s a crash” “meh”

[@jamoR72]

Military Industrial Complex brilliance at it's finest....

[@magikjoe3789]

5:10 looks like something out of Mad Max: Fury Road.

[@lotusplague]

By far the best part of this video was the map

[@leechjim8023]

One looks like a battleship turret!

[@SewerTapes]

All the tech in this video looks like it came right out of a Fallout game.

[@stocky9218]

If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone is scared about fission I’d become a nuclear physicist to design these

[@_iz7y]

Thanks!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

5:09 I want to know about that KenWorth tractor, named Big mama. I do not think that picture was taken in the 1950s due to the fact she has rectangle and not round headlights.

[@detheagle3746]

Tbh, I think the idea of a nuclear jet engine is fascinating. I realize that using fuel-grade reactionables to power a plane is dangerous, from a human cost and EPA perspective, but I've always been a huge fan gigantic overpowered monstrosities (ie, the Ratte tank from WW2). Imagine a 4 story tall nuclear powered freight train or a transcontinental passenger plane the size of an aircraft carrier. Those would be cool no? Assuming the potential dangers were eliminated, of course

[@leosypher9993]

A regular engine isn't used to generate heat, it burns fuel to create pressure, this applies to both jet and piston engines Only the nuclear reactor is used to generate heat

[@martiniv8924]

Soviets built a nuclear powered bomber , dirty and dangerous I believe the apt description !

[@argentum530]

Goodness, these were children playing with nuclear matches in many of the 50's incidents involving the wrong thing melting a bit...

[@lelsewherelelsewhere9435]

5:25 that looks like something out of a steampunk anime lol

[@FloppydriveMaestro]

If you have a brain in your head and you say the words "nuclear powered aeroplane" you immediately realise what a terrible idea that is.

[@zolikoff]

If you were in the early days of the nuclear weapons race where ICBMs didn't exist yet and you had to drop nukes from an airplane, you'd realize what a great idea a nuclear powered plane was. The only reason they didn't get built is that ICBMs quickly developed and replaced the need to have them.

[@FloppydriveMaestro]

@@zolikoff Ahh right so for killing each other they are a great idea....... That is the exact reason they are a terrible idea.

[@crawdadandtheboilers]

Okay, honestly, I thought I would see this and go "Well, obviously, you don't put a nuclear reactor in a vehicle that can crash in a huge fireball". But in reality, the only real problem I saw was 1) size. Weight and size kind of go hand-in-hand, but also, with aircraft, you need something a little streamlined and aerodynamic. The first three reactors were ludicrous in size and there is no way to build an aircraft to house them. And the other problem seemed to be 2) 1000 hour life span. Now, I'm not a pilot, but I did take flying lessons. It takes 3000 hours for a pilot to get considered for a commercial pilot position (just to fly FedEx, for example). Which is why most pilots come from the military. Back then, you could do 3000 hours in 5-6 years (during Vietnam, and later during the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts, you could do that in a standard 3-4 contract). Which means, during your career, you would cycle through 3 engines. Not literally. I'm sure the engines could be rebuilt and refueled. But when it comes to military spending, that is not going to appeal to brass. That kind of lifespan, considering the reason (having nuke-armed bombers constantly in the air), isn't going to fly (no pun intended) with higher-ups. And commercial applications? Nobody needs that, nor do they want that much scrutiny over their fleet. Most airlines are pencil-whipping their maintenance logs as far as they think they can get away with.

[@klardfarkus3891]

Crazy that they contemplated having a jet engine for planes trucks and locomotives that would weigh a hundred tons. Imagine that truck blasting down the highway

[@barneylinet6602]

i have always felt that the modern American home should have a small nuclear reactor in the basement for heat and electricity. Highest standard of living in the world......

[@midlifehemi88]

The nuclear jet may not have worked, but I can't be the only one that thinks HTRE-3 actually looks pretty cool

[@gtw4546]

"The information was lying to them" -- How 2020!

[@Name-ot3xw]

The CL-1201 is the bestest plane that never got built.

[@threedrunkidiots9179]

Please cover the MSR as a Part Two to this!

[@HailAnts]

I know they flew a testbed reactor in a Convair bomber airframe a couple of times...

[@dikbozo]

Yup. Did so, before this one. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_NB-36H

[@0therun1t21]

All I see at this point is inspiration for art.

[@entrepmobiledetailing722]

Was not expecting a globe hanging from the roof by a string 🤣

[@ricksadler797]

Awesome 👏. But what if it got shot down, or crashed as military planes sometimes do???

[@jamesricker3997]

Minor problem with nuclear jets, shielding is heavy and a reactor requires a lot of shielding

[@kurtrobinson7367]

Well this would cut down on greenhouse gases. I'm feeling much safer now.

[@lacucaracha111111]

A nuclear jet engine you say ? *ORANGE INTENSIFIES! *

[@notmenotme614]

4:42 We’re gonna need a bigger plane

[@dave8599]

One billion bucks and we got a couple neato display pieces out of it.

[@daveshaw9344]

Theres a great video about how they planned to use this nuclear jet engine by CuriousDroid video is called something like "Americas big stick"

[@EbonyPope]

The thumbnail looks like a robot holding two dumbbells. :D

[@jessicamerriman2336]

Scientist: The plane could not carry the weight of radiation shielding. Pilot: We don’t need shielding, we will just fly super duper fast and outrun the radiation. Scientist: **FACEPALMS**

[@justDIY]

Way to go General Electric!

[@dodden1]

You didnt mention the white hot fuel pellets being expelled from the reactor.

[@Look_What_You_Did]

Liar

[@michaelw6277]

“Glow for me baby” lol

[@elijahmeacham4454]

This is why you don't put idahoans in charge of cutting edge nuclear engineering

[@godemperorlech5422]

im sorry the nuclear WHAT?

[@SuperAgentman007]

I’m just glad They never did invent a nuclear powered aircraft because imagine what would’ve happened if it crashed into a populated area you have a irradiated area then

[@Jablicek]

I feel as though the enormous locomotive at 0:25 is entirely metaphorical.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Great vid! "Exacerbated." Not "exasperated."

[@vandal1764]

I swear I saw a killer robot on the thumbnail...

[@zzampelli4931]

Lead isn't light??? Shocker!

[@glaze_tpf9791]

Better hope it only ever got shot down over hostile territory

[@georgedoolittle7574]

I believe the purpose was to power a Rocket and indeed was tested as such and not an aeroplane. The Russian Air Force did in fact create and fly such a Bomber tho. I think it killed half the crew but was considered a successful test flight.