The Aircraft Reactor Experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Mon, Nov 28, 2022, 3:30PMNuclear NewsJeremy Hampshire
The ARE building at ORNL. (Photo: ORNL)

Experimentation on the world’s first molten salt reactor to potentially power aircraft was already underway in November 1954, being carried out by the U.S. Air Force. Oak Ridge National Laboratory was the scene for the power-dense, high-temperature reactor experiment known as the Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE).