Abandoned Nuclear Jet Engine facility in PA

[Raptured]

I find this stuff fascinating and growing up in Pennsylvania I'm a little embarassed that I'd never heard of this facility.  I remember hearing about the one in Tennessee though and that's an interesting read as well.

Exploring the abandoned Nuclear Jet Engine bunkers


TLDR..

The nuclear jet engine testing complex at Quehanna was born out of the euphemistically-named “Atoms for Peace” program, proposed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 and created by the United States Congress in 1954.
In the case of the Quehanna jet engine project, the goal was to develop nuclear-powered jet engines for the United States Air Force, so that fighter planes and bombers could stay airborne indefinitely, without refueling.
 
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation, at the time the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States, was awarded the contract to develop the engines.
They sought out a remote parcel of land where the project could be worked on in relative secrecy, and without endangering a large population center should the project go awry.
 
The State of Pennsylvania, looking to create jobs and promote industrial investment, offered Curtiss-Wright a sweetheart deal on 80 square miles of public land (State Forest Land at the time) in rural Cameron County, and a deal was struck.

[rickymouse]

I find this stuff fascinating and growing up in Pennsylvania I'm a little embarassed that I'd never heard of this facility.  I remember hearing about the one in Tennessee though and that's an interesting read as well.

Exploring the abandoned Nuclear Jet Engine bunkers


TLDR..

So, what happened to the test engines they were making or trying to make?  I wonder if they got any progress on those engines or they just completely abandoned the project for some reason?

[chr0naut]

I find this stuff fascinating and growing up in Pennsylvania I'm a little embarassed that I'd never heard of this facility.  I remember hearing about the one in Tennessee though and that's an interesting read as well.

Exploring the abandoned Nuclear Jet Engine bunkers

TLDR..

Cue the Fallout series of games theme music...

[chr0naut]

So, what happened to the test engines they were making or trying to make?  I wonder if they got any progress on those engines or they just completely abandoned the project for some reason?

Lead shielded reactors are particularly hard to get into the air...

[Zaphod58]

So, what happened to the test engines they were making or trying to make?  I wonder if they got any progress on those engines or they just completely abandoned the project for some reason?

They were regular aircraft engines, powered by atomic reactors. The reactors were depowered and mothballed.

[imitator]

Strapping a live nuclear reactor to a jet... what could possibly go wrong? 
I bet the cockpit was 90% lead and 10% pure stress. :P

[BeyondKnowledge]

Cue the Fallout series of games theme music...

No, the Squidbillies theme.

You know what Squidbillies is based on?

There is a place in the Georgia mountains called Dawsonville. I live a few hours from there. Many years ago there was a little government project. It started out testing materials and mitary equipment for resistance to radiation.

To do this, there was a nuclear reactor in a hole in the ground. They would park train cars near the hole with test samples on them and then lift the reactor out of the hole. With no shielding they would run the reactor out in the air for the tests.

They would then lower the reactor back down into the hole and see what happened to the samples. Some samples were as simple as wood planks. Others were whole tanks, other equipment and vehicles.

Then in another experiment, they tested the atomic jet engines for aircraft.

It is all cleaned up now except for a couple of fenced in buildings where the radioactive material was stored. The rest of the area was turned into a general use and horse park.

I went there a few years ago to have a look. Nothing above background readings on the geigher counter in the public areas.

The underground facility seemed to be collapsing at the time I was there as some roads and trails were closed because of sink holes.

The underground tunnels leading to the carpark and control facilities were built under or almost under the roads. The underground buildings were built on the reactor side of the main road.

If you look up Dawsonville on a map, the open area southwest of the town is where it is located. It is now I think owned by Hartsfield Airport Athorities. I think I remember a school just outside the old perimeter fence.

You can see the fenced in hot room building from the main parking area. The parking area is the foundations of the warehouse buildings for the test materials. The atomic jet engine was tested a little northwest of the main reactor.

Now, it was said that the deer would glow in the dark at the time when the tests were going on. This is where all the mutation stories came from and ended up being made into land squids as a cartoon.

Here are some videos about it.





It is amazing what people don't know happened in some places.

[sahgwa]

I didn't know that any of these things were concepts let alone experiments, Georgia nuclear radiation test holes, squidbillies bein 'real' and nuclearpowered jet engines. Crazy. Thanks for learnin me some thangs. 

Am I correct in saying that besides the safety issue(s), the main thing which naysayed flying nuclear reactors was the weight?

[BeyondKnowledge]

Just found a nice video that goes more into the aircraft and operation of the nuclear tests.



Flying aircraft carrier?

Oh, there was an engine test stand (S.D.F.) that was away from the main reactor (R.E.F.) at that site in Georgia. It ran the first jet engine powered by a nuclear reactor up in the air. It is more easily approached from the north entrance than the main entrance, you don't have to drive through a small river that way. You do have to have a Georgia hunting or fishing license to use the north entrance. Anyone can go in the main entrance or kayak through the waterways.



A hiking guide article where I found the map.. https://packgoats.wordpress.com/2022/08/...f-atlanta/

I wonder when they will fully declassify all the information on this failed program.

[Zaphod58]

Am I correct in saying that besides the safety issue(s), the main thing which naysayed flying nuclear reactors was the weight?

The NB-36H few over 200 hours, with its reactor powered up for about 90 of them, although it was not powering the aircraft. They flew all flight profiles the B-36 would fly with no problems. The shielding would have protected the crew with no issues. The big concern was accidents. Losing one, and they eventually would have lost several, would have had disastrous consequences.