Larry Dighera wrote:
Let's see, all we need is a water tank, steam boiler, turbine, some
uranium 235 or plutonium 239, plenty of lead shielding, a condenser,
and the will to cope with the radiation hazard in the event of a
mishap.

The original concept may have been slightly different:

"Or: nuclear reactor... air comes rushing in the front... heated up by
nuclear reaction... out the back it goes... Boom! Through the air --
it's an airplane." (p. 181 of ISBN 0-393-31604-1 )

The patent on this concept was sold to the US government for one dollar
(in cookies) in the mid-1940s.

Matt Roberds