You’ve heard of nuclear power plants, now get ready for nuclear powered planes —on paper at least.
Last month, Boeing patented a nuclear fission-fusion jet propulsion engine. In the design, a laser heats a pellet of hydrogen isotopes—deuterium and tritium—and starts a fusion reaction, releasing hot gases in the process, which are then released out of a nozzle to create thrust.
The excess of free neutrons would bounce around in the engine, hitting a wall of fissionable material producing heat, which would be converted into electricity to power the lasers.
