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Project Pluto: The Nuclear Crowbar

Tory II C Nuclear Ramjet Engine

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Nuclear Ramjets: What are they?
Project Pluto tested two nuclear ramjet engines Tory II A and Tory II C. Ramjets are a type of engine which use their immense speed to pressurize air coming into the inlet of their engines. In the case of this vehicle, the air entering the inlet would already be an astounding 1000 °F, just from friction caused by how fast the vehicle would be traveling. This air would then be heated to 2000 °F by the heat of the reactor, which it essentially passed directly through.

This rapid increase in thermal energy would create thrust. Superheated air would blast out the exhaust nozzles of this vehicle, keeping it at a speed of nearly Mach 3 for days or possibly even weeks at a time. It's important to understand that, other than rockets or missiles, there was no competitor in terms of speed at the time. No known engine could compare. In terms of longevity of flight, there still isn't. No gasoline or battery can yet match the sheer power density of nuclear fuel. The idea of a plane that can fly for weeks without refueling is amazing now...it is easy to imagine how tantalizing the possibility seemed to planners in the mid 20th century.

Because the ramjets needed high speed to operate, the SLAM would be accelerated initially by rockets, which would loft it up into the atmosphere and accelerate it to the correct speed.

The work on these nuclear ramjets fell under the control of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in Alameda County, California.

I've attached a link to a PDF from the program written by the head, Ted Merkle, assessing the capability of nuclear propulsion. This document was written early in the process of development and strongly influenced how the ramjets used in Project Pluto would be designed.