A car powered by nuclear energy: The Ford Nucleon *read below*

In the 1950s, nuclear power was a new thing. The people didn´t know anything about it and it was promised that it is a clean and safe way for cheap electricity. Then, in 1957, Ford decided to unveil a concept vehicle that was powered by a small atomic reactor in the trunk, the Ford Nucleon. With one nuclear reactor you could travel for 5000 miles, and when the reactor was empty, you could just drive to a full service recharging station, where it was swapped for a new one. The reactor worked like a reactor in a nuclear power station: The uranium fission heated a steam generator, which immediately converted stored water into high pressure steam. This steam was used to drive a set of turbines. One turbine provided the torque to power the car, while the other one powered an electrical generator. After that, the steam was condensed back into water and the circulation was complete. However, they never managed to build such small reactors and the general public became increasingly aware of the dangers of atomic energy and the problem of nuclear waste. The car never came into production, Ford did not even made a working prototype. But still, the Ford Nucleon remains as an icon of the atomic age and as an icon of car concepts.