| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Safe Clean Nuclear" |
| Date: |
21 Aug 2007 02:11:39 PM |
| Object: |
The Ford Nucleon |
Ford Nucleon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[The Ford Nucleon concept car]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ford_Nucleon.jpg> [11]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ford_Nucleon.jpg> The Ford Nucleon
concept car
The Ford Nucleon was a nuclear-powered concept car
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_car> developed by Ford Motor
Company <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company> in 1958
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958> . No operational models were built.
The design did not include an internal-combustion engine
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal-combustion_engine> , rather, a
vehicle was to be powered by a small nuclear reactor
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor> in the rear of the
vehicle. The vehicle featured a power capsule suspended between twin
booms at the rear. The capsule, which would contain radioactive
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive> core for motive power, was
designed to be easily interchangeable, according to performance needs
and the distances to be traveled.
The passenger compartment of the Nucleon featured a one-piece,
pillar-less windshield and compound rear window, and was topped by a
cantilever roof. There were air intakes at the leading edge of the roof
and at the base of its supports. An extreme cab-forward style provided
more protection to the driver and passengers from the reactor in the
rear. Some pictures show the car with tailfins sweeping up from the rear
fenders.
The drive train would be integral to the power module, and electronic
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics> torque converters
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_converter> would take the place of
the drive-train used at the time. It was said that cars like the Nucleon
would be able to travel 8000 km (5,000 miles) or more, depending on the
size of the core, without recharging. Instead, at the end of the core's
life they would be taken to a charging station, which research designers
envisioned as largely replacing gas stations. The car was never built
and never went into production, but it remains an icon of the Atomic Age
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Age> of the 1950s
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950s> .
The mock-up of the car can be viewed at the Henry Ford Museum
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Henry_Ford> in Dearborn, Michigan
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dearborn%2C_Michigan> .
--
Help promote safe clean nuclear energy. Tell your friends, write your
representatives and come join
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Safe_Clean_Nuclear_Power/
.
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