In the mid-20th century, humanity entered the so-called Atomic Age, discovering the potential of nuclear power as an energy source for all kinds of uses. Besides generating electricity for homes, these reactors powered aircraft carriers, icebreakers, and submarines. In this scenario, the Ford company seriously considered building a nuclear car: the Ford Nucleon. But, was it truly feasible to build a car powered by nuclear energy?
There was a time when it seemed that everything could be solved with nuclear energy. In the 1950s, magazines showed futuristic designs of rockets powered by reactors on their covers, or imagined enormous airplanes flying through the skies thanks to such a propulsion system. The problem of waste from these atomic generators had not yet been seriously raised, nor had the effects of radiation on the human body. Obviously, experiments of all kinds had been carried out in both the USSR and the USA, but the results were practically unknown to the general public. In this context, the Ford Motor Company embarked on one of its most ambitious projects: a car powered by nuclear energy destined for mass production. The name for the model—which never surpassed the design stage on paper—was Ford Nucleon.
Indeed, this 1958 concept car did not use the usual internal combustion engine but a small nuclear reactor—powered by an interchangeable fuel capsule—located at the rear. The fuel was basically a shielded container that stored the core, designed so that it could be easily changed for a new one when exhausted. We don't know what parameters Ford's engineers were considering in those years, but they assumed the Nucleon would have a range of about 8,000 kilometers before needing to "refuel".
Gas stations would be equipped with a "charging station", where specialized personnel would remove the used radioactive core and place a new one. These would then be "recycled" and could be used in other cars. Does it sound absurd? Of course it does. But remember, there was a true atomic fever; it seemed everything was going to run on nuclear energy, and Ford didn't want to miss the train of progress.
Design and Features
The dimensions of the Nucleon were quite large, and it was divided into three parts: the passenger cabin, the chassis and body, and finally the propulsion module. The overall look, as you can see in the mockups, was quite strange. The passenger compartment had a one-piece windshield with integrated side windows. This feature, besides giving it a futuristic appearance, forced the question: "How do occupants get in and out?" Obviously, since it was only a concept, Ford's engineers didn't worry about such details.
The roof of the car was cantilevered and could slide backwards to enjoy the air, sun, and the neutrons that might eventually escape from the reactor. There were air intakes at the front and sides, presumably to keep the propulsion module at a reasonable temperature. The cabin was as far away as possible from the tail, which was where the nuclear reactor was housed. The idea was to keep passengers as far away from the power source as possible and to try to balance the enormous weight of the reactor at the rear, so that the car's center of gravity would be halfway between its axles.
The body, despite its futuristic air, incorporated some classic elements of the large cars of the era, such as shark fins on its tail, not very different from those of the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado. The rear wheels would be the driving wheels, taking advantage of the position and weight of the powerplant. The working principle of the Ford Nucleon's nuclear engine was the same as that of a nuclear submarine, but smaller: a fission reactor generated heat that heated water to produce the steam needed to drive two turbines. One was responsible for driving the wheels, and the other generated electricity for the lights and other electrical elements on board.
Why the Nucleon Never Went into Production
Despite all its alleged advantages—being quiet, not producing harmful gases from the exhaust, being economical, etc.—it was never manufactured. The reason was that the Nucleon's disadvantages far outweighed its virtues. For example, the car's weight would have been disproportionate, since the shielding needed to prevent the nuclear plant from cooking the passengers would require thick layers of lead, making the Nucleon a true heavyweight of the roads. Furthermore, there was the fuel problem. Even assuming the logistics of its distribution were solved, the proliferation of millions of cars, each with a mini nuclear reactor on board, implied the risk of spreading highly radioactive fissile material around the world.
And then there was the safety issue. What would happen if one of these cars crashed? What if two of them collided in a city? Obviously, the risk of a nuclear explosion was ruled out—an atomic bomb is an extraordinarily complex machine and would not spontaneously arise from a crash—but if the reactor shielding broke, radioactive contamination would have been tremendous. The Ford Nucleon would have been a terrorist's favorite: Can you imagine a car bomb whose "engine" was radioactive? All this turned Ford's atomic car project into little more than an anecdote, an interesting but unworkable idea, like so many the transportation industry has seen.
For more information, see the Ford Nucleon on Wikipedia.
