The term "nuclear powered" has always been slightly misunderstood by a large number of people, including some surprisingly intelligent/educated ones. I once worked with someone who genuinely believed that nuclear submarines were powered by "nuclear engines".
Nuclear submarines are, of course, powered by good old-fashioned steam turbines. The "nuclear" bit is a reactor which supplies (almost) unlimited quantities of heat which, in this case, is used to provide super-heated steam to spin the turbines and, through gearing, the submarines propeller.
Now if we can make a reactor small and light enough to fit into an aircraft - it's already been done for some satellites - then we have a heat source but what are we going to use for propulsion?
Last edited by Saint Jack; 24th Apr 2013 at 07:50.