http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16378487-13762,00.html

until they make weapons that behave like the bolt projectiles in the movies it's not so cool

bolts>beams

Well this system has been in the works for years, originally on a 747 or something.

Why aren't fighters using nuclear power yet? I'd guess the fallout from the explosion if one were destroyed. Hurry up, cold fusion.

wooh! a reason to watch Real Genius again!

Agreed

They need to have something that just sprays gamma radiation at the enemy plane, so they get cancer in the eyes, crash, and die.

That and the fact that no matter how much thrust a nuclear reactor gives you, a 30 foot sphere of concrete int he middle of an airplane reduces maneuverability just a tad.

-... They could make trains though. Nuclear trains. Fast nuclear trains.

Like bearded_jarl said, the amount of shielding you need on a nuclear reactor utterly prohibits flight. They were testing nuclear powered aircraft some time in the 50s or 60s and they were deemed an impossibility.

Postulate: Would a high magnetic field stop radiation? If it's a ß- decay it's an electron that's shot from the nucleus which can have a magnetic force applied to it. It's a helluva lot better than a 30' sphere of concrete.

A magnetic field is what the new fusion reactor thats being built in France (ITER) uses to suspend the superhot plasma where the reaction takes place. But thats just for plasma and not radiation.

How much energy would you need to contain the radiation off a nuclear reaction though. Then again, if the planes are propelled by nuclear power, I suppose the energy needed for the magnetic field could be produced as well. Assuming the magnetic field would be sufficient containment.

What about neutron radiation?

It's too dangerous to have nuclear jets. If one were to be shot down, it would possibly create a nuclear fallout, or, worst case, it would create the potential for a nuclear weapon, should any of the fuel be salvaged.

Hmm I forgot that happens.

Well so much for that idea.

The next Mars rover is supposed to be the size of a car and be powered by a nuclear reactor...I guess they just don't care if Mars gets irradiated?

Well, we've been probing the bastards for years. If they haven't minded all those, what's a nuke gonna do to them?

-A Nuclear spacecraft is entirely feasable. I designed one for chemistry (later it turned out all we needed to design was landing gear, and I felt st00pid), but it was "whacked out" to an immesuable degree. Think steampunk meets Yuuzhan Vong.

It's not a nuclear reactor. Not exactly. Modern deep-space/extended mission devices are powered by the alpha decay of plutonium, which produces heat to keep the circuits warm and enough current to operate the device. Alpha radiation doesn't affect life forms unless alpha-emitting particles are directly ingested.

An actual nuclear reactor doesn't just emit large amounts of radiation, but it also emits a large amount of heat. Modern nuclear reactors only function because they have ready access to large quantities of coolants, which are vaporized in the core and used to drive a bank of turbines. We simply don't have the technology to:

1.) Minaturize such a system and still maintain any level of power output,
2.) Contain such a system to the extent that it would never, ever require more coolant.
3.) Safely operate and eventually shut down such a system remotely.
4.) Create a vehicle that can withstand the massive amounts of heat,
5.) Somehow conduct the heat from the coolant into the non-existant atmosphere without losing coolant, so it can be reused
6.) Everything else that's wrong with this suggestion.

Sounds like an LAMS(Laser Anti-Missle System) from Mechwarrior than ANYTHING in SW. Anyway, last time I checked, Lasers are usually "Speed of Light" type things, no "Bolts" just some short pulse or long focusing beam, and they are only visible if they have something to light up, like dust.


Regarding reactors:

Fictional, but not unbelievable.
The Minovsky Particle

It's about time they started using old SDI research.

I'd like to throw in I've seen a nuclear powered aircraft engine. Out in the Arco facilities in Idaho. It was massive and the program was dropped from fear of the mess after a possible crash.

But...that's an ESB screencap. They didn't have those collars on their flightsuits in ANH.



Comforting.

He's clearly in a snow speeder.

Or become the Hulk, break out of the cockpit, flip onto your plane, and tear you to pieces.

Yeah, THAT plan backfired.

Last I checked, snowspeeders don't have astrometric droids...