[Hunton Peck]

I recall reading about the possibility of nuclear-powered command & control planes also. I don’t know if that idea ever made it to anything you could even call a planning stage.

[U-238]

Its possible. But they would have to land anyhow when they run out food and water.Alternative underground command posts were built in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Virginia (two), and West Virginia.

[MasterGunner01]

All of this talk about nuclear powered aircraft remains academic because — planes do CRASH. That was the minor factor that killed the nuclear powered strategic bomber in the 1950s (along with the ICBM as a delivery system).

When a nuclear powered aircraft crashes — and they will crash at sometime trough mechanical failure or human mistakes — the chances of the reactor core being exposed are very great. How many countries want exposed reactor cores on their property? Zero. Even the Russians never accepted the idea of a split open reactor spewing radioactive contamination around. (And that's saying something for Russian's desire for survival.)