9 nuclear inventions the Atomic Age nearly unleashed

During the Cold War's Atomic Age, engineers and scientists reimagined everything from transportation to warfare through nuclear power. These ambitious projects included nuclear-powered aircraft like the NB-36H bomber, spacecraft propelled by controlled atomic explosions, atomic tanks, nuclear cars, and tactical nuclear weapons like the portable "Davy Crockett" rifle system. While some concepts reached testing phases, safety concerns, radiation risks, and technical limitations ultimately doomed these experiments, leaving them as symbols of mid-century atomic ambition.