HISTORICAL AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD - IDAHO NATIONAL ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY, TEST AREA NORTH, HAER NO. ID-33-E
Test Area North (TAN) was a site of the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) Project of the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission. Its Cold War mission was to develop a turbojet bomber propelled by nuclear power. The project was part of an arms race. Test activities took place in five areas at TAN. The Assembly & Maintenance area was a shop and hot cell complex. Nuclear tests ran at the Initial Engine Test area. Low-power test reactors operated at a third cluster. The fourth area was for Administration. A Flight Engine Test facility (hangar) was built to house the anticipated nuclear-powered aircraft. Experiments between 1955-1961 proved that a nuclear reactor could power a jet engine, but President John F. Kennedy canceled the project in March 1961. ANP facilities were adapted for new reactor projects, the most important of which were Loss of Fluid Tests (LOFT), part of an international safety program for commercial power reactors. Other projects included NASA's Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power and storage of Three Mile Island meltdown debris. National missions for TAN in reactor research and safety research have expired; demolition of historic TAN buildings is underway.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE - NE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 911008
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/EXT-04-02536; TRN: US0704339
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
AIRCRAFT
DEMOLITION
ENGINES
HOT CELLS
MAINTENANCE
MELTDOWN
NUCLEAR ENERGY
NUCLEAR POWER
POWER REACTORS
PROPULSION
REACTORS
SAFETY
STORAGE
TEST REACTORS
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
Historical American Engineering Record
INEEL
TAN