Nuclear powered airships

Updated:
Originally post many moons ago ( 9.23.12)

Updated 1.8.18:

Want to force the Norks to quit?  Show them that we can shoot down anything that they aim at us.

With this idea, we can convince them to give it up.

But we can do a whole lot more...  Just have to have the will to do it.

the original post follows:

Speculation alert.

Another brainstorm here.  Kirk Sorensen didn't like the nuclear aircraft idea.  But what if you used an airship instead?  You wouldn't have to support the weight of the reactor with aerodynamic lift, but would supply it with lift from the airship itself.

These airships are said to be quite capable of lifting heavy stuff.  I tried to get an idea of how much and if it would be enough to put a reactor on-board.  If you could get a reactor on an airship, the thing could fly indefinitely.  The only time you'd have to come down would be for resupply of the people-- not fuel as in conventional aircraft.  They could work like nuclear aircraft carriers or subs.

Instead of using light water reactors, you could use molten salt reactors.

The buoyancy of the airship would give you time to restart a reactor if needed, or go to a backup source of power until you could power up again.

It would have all the advantages mentioned for molten salt reactors, such as inherent safety of these types of reactors, proliferation resistance, and waste reduction.

What would you do with this thing if you had it?

Good question.

Intelligence gathering would appear to be one use.

Transportation to almost any location on Earth is another.  High altitudes may be out, but perhaps the thing could lift itself to very high altitudes.  If that is possible, it may also be possible to speed up to high speeds because wind resistance would be much less at higher altitudes.

Here's another idea:  Put an Airborne Laser-- not the plane, but the laser--- on one of these things.  It could shoot down anything that came against it.