NASA scientists flying over Greenland with radar equipment discovered a secret US Army base called Camp Century, buried under 100 feet of ice.
Camp Century was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1959-1960. It was designed to house up to 200 soldiers and 600 nuclear missiles, powered by a nuclear reactor.
It was part of Project Iceworm, an ambitious plan to build a network of nuclear launch sites that could withstand a first strike. However, the ice sheet proved less stable than expected, and the project was abandoned in 1967.
When the base was abandoned, it was left with thousands of tons of waste, including radioactive material, which has since been buried under 30 meters of ice and snow.
Scientists are concerned that as the Greenland ice sheet continues to melt, this buried waste could start to leach into the environment and potentially even the ocean.
NASA’s latest radar imaging has provided the clearest view yet of the structures and contents of the abandoned base, but the researchers are primarily focused on using this data to better understand the overall melting of the Greenland ice sheet.
Source: ScienceAlert
