13 abril 2021

The Arctic Lighthouses Run By Nuclear Power

Starting in the 1930s the Soviet Union built a chain of remote lighthouses along its arctic coastline. This waterway, called the arctic route, was used by boats to travel from western Russia to its less-populated eastern territories. Because of their remoteness, and Soviet policies supporting nuclear energy, the lighthouses were powered by a type of nuclear battery. This meant the lighthouses were autonomous and did not require humans living in the remote and cold locations. New nuclear batteries were being placed along the arctic route up to 1990.

Then the Soviet Union fell. For about a decade the arctic route lighthouses were neglected. During this time, a number of nuclear batteries went missing, either getting lost to the sea, or scavenged by humans probably wanting to sell their metal for scrap. In 1996, the new Russian government started to properly and safely decommission the batteries. As of 2021, all the lighthouse nuclear batteries have officially been removed.

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