Tupolev Tu-119 ... had two conventional turboprop engines and two direct-cycle nuclear jet engines, and got around the shielding weight issue by simply not including it.
Ruined some people's day though - next paragraph: "We had all been irradiated, but we ignored it. Of the two crews, only three men survived- a young navigator, a military navigator and me. The first to go, a young technician, took only three years to die".
Funny how someone who is not a radiologist can blurt out nonsense and nobody questions it. If you follow the link to the main article:
"...radiation shielding, which was one of the main concerns for the engineers. Liquid sodium, beryllium oxide, cadmium, paraffin wax and steel plates were used for protection."
Clearly, the Soviets weren't suicidal. They were obviously looking for lightweight ways to shield the neutron radiation, which is very damaging to both humans and electronics. The gamma radiation would still reach the crew, but attenuated by the distance. Gamma isn't too bad, because little of it is absorbed.
> a young technician, took only three years to die
Well, that wasn't radiation poisoning (it kills within days or not at all), and it wasn't cancer (that takes longer to develop). What was it? Ethanol poisoning?
Tupolev Tu-119 ... had two conventional turboprop engines and two direct-cycle nuclear jet engines, and got around the shielding weight issue by simply not including it.
This made my day.