A key section of The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. §2181(a), reads:
No patent shall hereafter be granted for any invention or discovery which is useful solely in the utilization of special nuclear material or atomic energy in an atomic weapon. Any patent granted for any such invention or discovery is revoked, and just compensation shall be made therefor. This is a relatively obscure aspect of patent law that essentially amends 35 U.S.C. §101. This leads to an interesting question: 'just what is an atomic weapon?'. The question is far tougher to answer than it may seem at first glance. Are atomic weapons any kind of device that is used induce nuclear explosions? If so, then tons of patents related to theoretical nuclear-fueled spacecraft are either unpatentable outright, or only have limited protection. In 1958, shortly after the passage of The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the government, in conjunction with General Atomics, began researching the possibility of using nuclear weapons to propel spacecraft in "Project Orion". Although the Space Race, and the bureaucratic paradigm shift engendered by the emergence of NASA, quickly lead to scientists and engineers to abandon the project for more imminently feasible spacecraft, interest persists to this day. Carl Sagan, in his famous Cosmos program, suggested using nuclear weapons as propulsion(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQnka2wNa_M). Carl Schroeder, in his Lockstep novels, describes a futuristic space-faring society where nuclear propulsion reaching 3% lightspeed is the only known means of long-distance space travel. So this field has been stimulating the imaginations of visionaries for a long time. Due to the lack of immediate benefit, the difficulties procuring the means to invent in this field, and the longtime role of patent pools in the field of aircraft and spacecraft that patenting would be commonplace for these ideas, but it isn't. Looking at the applications in the area may explain why. Consider US20060056570, "Fission fragment propulsion for space applications," and read his independent claim(claim 10): 10. A spacecraft propulsion engine that directly uses the kinetic energy of nuclear fission fragments to produce spacecraft thrust, comprising: a. a heat sink with one or more of its surfaces not located within a containment structure or any other form of outer shell. b. a heat exchanger for removal of nuclear fission waste heat. c. a sub critical-mass fission zone external to the spacecraft, not located within a containment structure or any other form of outer shell. He can't actually claim anything unique about the fuel here because of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. His claims 1-9 were canceled, likely because of this law as well. Many of the novel aspects of such a craft would likely be identical to atomic weapons, just used in a different way. If you check the inventor, Donald G. Sutherland, you'll see that he applied for a related patent but abandoned it as well(US20070127617A1 "Nuclear fission fragment kinetic energy rocket engine"). Honestly, I think it is time to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 for more clarification on the patentability of nuclear-fueled spacecraft.
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