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a secret Cold War-era US mission to plan missile launch sites under the ice in Greenland. The plan was to dig 2,500 miles of tunnels in which 600 nuclear missiles could be stored and perhaps someday launched. Greenland was an ideal location because of its proximity to Russia. It was kept secret from Denmark, of which Greenland is a constituent country. As a cover story, the US Army claimed it was building Camp Century, a Danish-sanctioned “research facility.” In reality, it was all a cover; the underground research facility gave the US an excuse to dig underground to install missiles.
People lived and worked there year-round—the underground camp included a chapel, a theater, and a hobby shop, all contained in interconnected tunnels. All the power was supplied by the world’s first mobile nuclear reactor.
While the camp used some traditional building materials like wood and steel, most of the tunnels were simply dug into the ice. It was projected to last ten years without significant maintenance, but the glaciers moved faster than expected, eventually rendering the camp unusable. It was evacuated and completely abandoned in 1967.
The U.S. military assumed that constant snowfall and crushing glaciers would permanently envelop the research facility. However, in 2016, an investigation found that because global warming has caused the ice sheet covering Camp Century to melt, the site could be discovered by the end of the century, and perhaps sooner. If and when that happens, any waste — radioactive or otherwise — that is discovered will be taken with the base.
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