The projects that played to be God during the twentieth century

On August 6, 1945, Two atomic bombs They razed the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and, practically, put the end to World War II. It was a tragedy And, at the same time, a demonstration of strength. Demonstration of who would carry the baton in the new world order that had been created but, also, a demonstration of what was capable of doing nuclear energy.

Aware of the military advantage that the atomic bomb, the armies of the most leading powers, They launched their developmentwith United States and the USSR at the head. The general atmosphere worldwide was fear and respect for technology that could cause a disaster never known until then.

But, of course, it also served to give wings to the techno-optimists. Tecno-optimism is a current of thought that, In generaldefends that technological development and continuous improvement of current products will improve our life in the future, make it easier and increase our happiness.

As I say, we talk about the master lines because This current of thought has different visions And, of course, detractors indicating that any development of a product or new invention can be used for malicious purposes. Noah Smith, journalist and extrabajador of Bloomberg, He puts as an example The use of drones as a gun to illustrate this last point of view.

That techno-optimism lived a huge boom in the 50s and 60s. The cold war led humanity to an accelerated development that led people to spacethe First commercial opportunity of computersof Internet Oa to think of cars moved by nuclear energy. Why not?

Nuclear energy for infinity car

If any technology gained adherents among the techno-optimists of the 50s, nuclear energy was. In a document rescued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (OIEA) entitled 10 years of energy of nuclear origin It stands out that:

“There was a period in which the fears that raised such a shortage became so deep that this was given to the commercial nucleotic energy its first great impulse. It was inevitable that the minds would turn to the new source of energy that had taken advantage of for war, as a means to compensate for the insufficiency of energy resources. When for the first time the nucleum energy became Easy about that means of obtaining cheap energy and in practically unlimited quantities, and among the fears that were sheltered on a shortage of energy of traditional origin and the hopes encrypted in an abundance of energy of nuclear origin, the latter prevailed, with an excess of optimism, until the end of 1957 “

As we said, despite the World War II Experiencenuclear energy won adepts rapidly and organizations such as the OIEA that defended its use for civil purposes, as a means of production of an electrical energy that was increasingly demanded.

That idea that the nuclear led us to a “cheap energy and in practically unlimited amounts” promoted what we know as Atomic Ageor the era of atomic energy, born in the 40s.

“The fact that we can release atomic energy inaugurates a new era in the understanding of the forces of nature by man. In the future, atomic energy can complement what comes from coal, oil and water, but that at the moment it cannot occur so that it can compete commercially with those sources. Before that happens, a long period of intense research must occur. It has never been the custom of the scientists of this country To the world scientific knowledge.

The above words are from Harry S. TrumanPresident of the United States that gave the order to use the atomic bomb. The investigations showed that atomic energy could be used as a source of energy and, above all, as coal alternative and fossil fuelswhich were already seen as a finite source of energy and whose impact on people’s health was found first hand in the London of the 50s.

At the point that nuclear energy could be a huge source of energy began to think applications for day to day. How to miniaturize technology to have, for example, appliances that will work with a nuclear battery that would last the entire product life cycle.

And, of course, the idea of ​​the car moved by nuclear energy came. The best known proposal is that of the Ford Nucleona prototype thought in 1958 that, of course, did not go from the model.

The system was as simple as it was crazy: setting up a small nuclear reactor in the car. As? The rear, extraordinarily elongated would allow to shelter a small nuclear reactor. Inside, A uranium capsule It would work as a radioactive nucleus. As in any thermonuclear reactor, the uranium fission would cause a large amount of water vapor that would serve to move two turbines. One of them would start the wheels and the second would make all the electrical systems of the vehicle operate.

For some reason we do not know, Ford seemed that his plans could have some future and in 1962 they returned to the load. Then they presented the Ford Seattle-ite XXIa car that increased further the concept of nuclear car, to the point of having six wheels and body and interchangeable engines to pass from 60 hp to 400 hp. One option for day to day and another for long trips.

The crazy concept was presented at the Century 21 exhibitionin Seattle, as an improved evolution of Nucleon. For example, it had been devised with six wheels because a double axis would serve to endure the weight of the small nuclear reactor in the rear. They even saved their backs pointing out that if one of the four wheels of the double axis were punctured the car would be able to continue with the rest. Guaranteed security and dynamism.

Interestingly, the concept of this new car did have other inventions that we see in our current vehicles, such as a continuous tracking of the vehicle through GPS.

These two models are the most famous but before them another car was also presented that, supposedly, would move with nuclear energy. We talk about Studebaker-Packard Astralpresented at the 1958 Geneva Hall.

The car, to call it somehow, trusted everything to the minitarization of nuclear technology. We have left it for the last place (despite having been presented prior to the Ford project) because despite being a prototype like the previous ones the proposal was even more crazy.

I had a single wheel and would have to stay stable by gyroscopes, as well as a extraordinarily content size taking into account that he had to save a nuclear minireactor inside. The car (or car proposal) is supposed to also work on the water. As we say, it was more than one design exercise than a serious attempt to want to put it into practice at some point.

In spite of everything, if you still have curiosity, the car can be visited in the Studebaker Museuma few kilometers from Chicago. The company of which the project was born has its own museum in tribute to a brand created in the mid -nineteenth century. The company had to deal with bankruptcy in the 30s of the last century but managed to take a breath and was in operation until the 60s when, finally, they had to close. They would never see a car driven by nuclear energy although, being honest, we have not seen it either.

I had it complicated

If all these designs did not go to a later phase in the production line it is evident why: costs, size and safety.

In order for a car to see the light you need to ensure that you will be able to amortize the huge development costs which implies. From investment in innovation to the construction of specific factories and assembly lines until the use of different materials or distribution. That has led a standardization of the models, to share platforms or, even, until reaching collaborations with other companies.

In the case of nuclear energy, it is not only that the costs of such a project were extraordinarily expensive. The concept itself already made waters. Ford’s attempt, the most realistic thinking about the huge platform that they had to ride for the car, made clear what the main cracks of the project were.

The company already made it clear during the presentation of the project that needed the size of the nuclear reactors and the armor of them to miniaturize to the minimum expression. And, with them, their weight. Without that development, it would be impossible to achieve a useful system for day to day.

There was another huge problem. Ford calculated that the uranium capsule from which enough energy would be extracted to carry out the project would allow to circulate without replacing (if we can call it that) during 8,000 kilometers. Perfect, and then? Then the capsule would have to be replaced by another at a service station that, of course, should also be designed.

That without including in the process how the capsule change itself would be carried out, something that Ford did not mention. It did not seem something that could be done with the ease of who is going to reproduce a gasoline car.

In addition, time has shown that the competitive advantage is completely non -existent. A diesel car with a good deposit can get closer to the thousand kilometers without replenishing, which is equivalent to stop between eight and nine times before what Ford calculated that it would take time to run out the uranium capsule.

It seems difficult to sell a gigantic car, of excessive weight with uranium behind the backs of the passengers and for which a whole infrastructure around as an interesting and realistic alternative to a vehicle with combustion motor should be assembled.

Photos | Ford, Studebaker Museum and Patrick Federi

In Xataka | The crazy history of steam cars: the pioneers who dominated the first engine competitions