Marrying Pluto with Venus

I am musing about the unobtainia around a Pluto Ramjet for a low-density mostly carbon-dioxide atmosphere. The Project's design in the 1950s was for Tory II-A, a solid reactor running about in the 1500s K (Wiki: 2330 °F). The SLAM ladz had a "Tory III" lined up before the whole project was cancelled... for Earth. Here we are at the Venus blog. Let's talk Tory IV.

I am wondering if I can raise its temperature, for an alternative to chemical scram. Higher temperature means faster exhaust, which I will need to raise my ramjet to higher altitudes and speeds. Aiming to catch up to Mach 28.

We don't need Coors anymore. The 21st Century ramjet's nuclear core can be surrounded with tantalum-hafnium-carbide (TaHfC) which stays solid up to 4488 K. This allows a liquid core, like LARS UPDATE 7/27 but that's silly - luckily, we can probably get a vapourised core out of most heavy metals below this temp.

As for the Venerean ambience, ToughSF a couple years back did a relevant piece, on reverting global warming. At 3000-4000 K the ramjet would be breaking the atmo into carbon monoxide and oxygen. Above 4000 K: pure carbon and oxygen. Hence ToughSF's interest.

As they say for NERVA, the propellant is the coolant. Either way I'll want oxygen ions not to corrode my ceramic - nor carbon to clog the exhaust with soot. I don't care as much about neutrons. I only want the thing up for maybe 48 hours.

The molten core would start to cluster further back but at its cruising speed would sink to the bottom - leaving a low-pressure vapour at the top like the empty part of a thermometer. To keep the core more evenly distributed around the ring: consider spinning it. There is certainly the incoming air to turn the fan. This does slow the exhaust a bit, and it adds mass - the heat-resistant ceramic also, I hear, is dense. To mitigate, we add magnets to keep the ions, maybe even the neutrons, where they should be - outside. And we can siphon electricity for the cockpit.

Overall this design doesn't look like Mach 28. It looks more like a Mach 8. Still a rival for the scramjet and it will stay up longer and higher. A platform, in low atmospheric pressure, to push the Lightcraft rocket(s) toward Mach 28.

UPDATE 3/19: Compartments, with low critical masses. 7/27: LOL! Let's skip right to vapour.