It’s quite an imposing structure is it not, a massive edifice thrusting up out of the ocean though you will never guess what it is. Well you might guess the lighthouse bit, but go on have a guess at what is so special about it.
It is one of many Atomic Powered Lighthouses that the Soviets built. That’s right atomic powered. You see the Russian Northern coast is a vast territory that runs for a few thousand of miles and is all inside the Arctic Circle. The long polar winters mean no daylight at all, each day passing without any sign of the Sun rising above the horizon. There is only darkness for 100 plus days a year.
Now back before GPS these waters could be difficult to navigate easily so the Communist Party decided to build a chain of lighthouses like the one above along the coast, however because they were situated hundreds of miles away from any populated areas these lighthouses had to be unmanned and fully autonomous. So they developed and installed special lightweight atomic reactors, and left these lighthouses to get on with it. Crazy eh.
See more photos at English Russia
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August 31st, 2009 at 2:10 pm UTC
Would be fantastic to set off a series of explosions along the coast!
Love the look of the blog btw!