Aircraft Reactor Experiment

The US Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) was a 2.5 MW thermal nuclear reactor experiment designed to attain a high power density for use as an engine in a nuclear powered bomber. It led to the Heat Transfer Reactor Experiment, of which there were three iterations: HTRE-l, HTRE-2, and HTRE-3. It used the molten fluoride salt NaF-F4-F4 (53-41-6 mol%) as fuel and was moderated by beryllium oxide (BeO), liquid sodium as a secondary coolant, and it had a peak temperature of 860 °C, it operated for a 1000hr cycle in 1954. It was the first molten salt reactor. Work on this project in the US stopped after ICBMs made it obsolete. The designs for its engines can currently be viewed at the EBR-I memorial building.
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