The United States wanted to hide nuclear weapons in the Arctic ice tunnel. The plan was expanded in their faces

The United States wanted to hide nuclear weapons in the Arctic ice tunnel. The plan was expanded in their faces

go so far as these things, Camp Century was a pretty good coverage. E ‘was nominally conceived as a military research of the subway station, about 150 miles to the east were lying by the American Air Force base in Thule, Greenland. The stated goal of Camp Century was to improve the US defense capabilities in the Arctic region – for the development of better survival skills and transport, and to obtain useful knowledge on the harsh climate and the physical properties of the region. with a sort of secret of a basically we covered for an operation of super-secret. The United States since 1951, when the Thule Air Base and radar station has opened the field for the first time. In 1958, the US Army sent Cold Regions Research Engineering Laboratories (CRREL) more than two hundred men (the structure was an exclusively male society) the first team to use for centuries. Do not be fooled “Camp” at Camp Century. This was not just a bunch of tent on the tundra. That it was as close to a modern city as you can get in the middle of nowhere. And it was all completely or partially underground. This was good, because you do not want to spend too much time outdoors. This is an inhospitable environment on top. Century, only 800 miles from the North Pole has been removed. The average temperature was almost minus 10 degrees Celsius. The average annual accumulation of snow were four meters, and it was not uncommon to see temperatures dip in red, 50-, 60- or even 70-degree range when the wind at over 125 mph could really get kicking. This means that even simple tasks may be incredibly difficult as fundamental subsequent delivery of the plant. Everything had to be brought in from the country. Sure, you could fly from Thule supplies rather quickly, but that’s only if the weather played a role – and that was rare. Field century was provided by first portable nuclear reactor in the world, the PM-2A ( “A” for “Arctic”) with electricity. Developed as part of the US Army Nuclear Power Program (ANPP), the Camp Century reactor was designed to study the ability to generate electricity and space heating remote, difficult to access locations. The army feared that it might cost too much oil or coal power plant, raising the possibility that some of their remote bases but important could be cut out altogether in a war. The reactor may be a test pattern for the delivery of consistent performance, regardless of the geopolitical situation. The PM-2A at Camp Century generate 1.5 megawatts of electricity per year and a large amount of thermal energy. But why would they need a lot of power to run a Dinky Arctic Science conditioning? The real reason for Century Court – and all his power – was to serve as a testing ground for what came next: Project Iceworm. The nuclear reactor, and methods of providing broader study on the feasibility of ice as a platform for major combat operations have all been designed to see if the stationing of American nuclear weapons in the ice shelf of Greenland was a possibility. Get your fix history in one place: subscribe to the weekly newsletter of the history Iceworm time for the placement of a maximum of 600 known medium-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons in a series of underground tunnels. Ultimately, the tunnel system would extend nearly 2,500 miles from the soil, and the railroad would link thousands of individual firing positions. Even if you only have hundreds of missiles you want, you could advise the Soviets maintain several places from which we could launch any missile. The rocket was a modified version of the first US Air Force ICBM, the Minuteman. But this would be shorter, for medium ranges, and renamed the “Iceman”. At first glance, it was a great plan. The missiles could hide beneath the massive ice sheet, resistant to Soviet attacks, and then pop out when it was time to start. They would direct way in the Soviet Union – and end a war before you start – over the Arctic. Iceworm a large company would be and it’s not entirely clear how he was expected to remain a mystery. When fully staffed (and we’re still talking about probably only men), the project for 11,000 people called an area of ​​more than 53,000 square miles to work – about the size of New York. The brass of the Kennedy administration liked the idea. It gives them the flexibility to develop nuclear weapons that they preferred. JFK administration wanted to have options, and project Iceworm would have an important center for its nuclear strategy. But you’ll never know, because he never did Iceworm to the operational phase. Nature has put the brakes on things. You could create a layer of ice more than two times the size of Texas assume to be stopped. You would be wrong. The Greenland ice sheet, like all the ice on Earth, are (albeit very, very slowly) moving constantly. And this was a big problem for Camp Century and Iceworm project. All your perfectly drilled tunnels, ditches and caves will not last. It could restrict crunches as ice next to them. It might extend, at which point the ceiling would no longer support the walls accurately measured. He had dropped precipitously to 1962, only a few years of operation, the ceiling of the room that houses the reactor 2A PM, and was five meters are raised for further operating business. Government scientists encrypts the effects of ice sheet movement cause so much faster than had been expected. samples of ice cores, the scientific team presented the bad news after taking: The movement of the ice sheet would not Iceworm project feasible in just two years. Camp Century was canceled in 1965 staff and formally closed the following year. Project Iceworm never really gets off the ground. In 1969, a US military special team visited the ruins of the century field to control the damage to the system. When the team left, they assumed that the secret of Iceworm project would be permanently hidden beneath the ice, not to feel again. The boy, they were wrong. Climate change is happening whether we like it or not. (More precisely, climate change is a reality, believe it or not). And no region is more sensitive to climate change and the Arctic. This is not new information – initially detected the vulnerability of Arctic scientists for warming in the 19th century. This is due to a phenomenon known as albedo answers in which a set of initial heat in motion a chain reaction that significantly increases the rate of warming. Here’s how it works: Most of the Arctic is the snow and ice, which is, you know, you know. If you remember the fifth grade science class, it is known that the white surfaces reflect sunlight (and dark surfaces absorb). “Albedo” is actually a scientific measure of how white (or reflective) with a surface. Snow and ice have an albedo, ie higher (or higher) 80%, 80% beat the sun’s energy, the surface is reflected back into space. The sea water, on the other hand tend to have a much darker color (blue, green, brown) to be, and they have an albedo less than 10%. Almost no energy is sent back from whence it came. While the earth is warming, the Arctic ice melts. melting ice caused dark water. Dark water causes more warming. More warming is causing more melting. More melting bring the darker water. The albedo feedback. It is all of us. Look at the US Department of Defense and intelligence community is this trend with growing concern. They see the melting of the Arctic as an economic problem and security. This is because the Arctic region is the largest trove of unexplored oil deposits on earth – 90 billion barrels of oil, natural gas and 44 cubic feet Katherine billion barrels thousand seven hundred and liquid natural gas. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, climate change “the risk of increased competition between the Arctic and non-Arctic nations to increase access to sea lanes and resources.” Two of these Arctic nations: the United States and Russia. Yikes. By bombarding the Moon Vince Houghton, published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2019 by Houghton Vincent.
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