Real Engineering

The Nuclear Reactor Hidden Under Greenland

The video uncovers a clandestine Cold War project that placed a nuclear‑powered military base beneath Greenland’s ice sheet. Built by the U.S. Army under the code name Project Iceworm, the installation—centered on Camp Century—remains buried under 90 metres of snow, detectable only by radar anomalies. Declassified reports show the Army intended a network of tunnels spanning 130,000 km², with 2,100 launch tubes for Minuteman‑type missiles that could be moved on underground trains. Construction relied on massive snow‑plows, corrugated steel arches, and the PM‑2A portable reactor, a 1.5 MW plant using 93 % enriched uranium—far beyond civilian standards. A highlighted excerpt from “The Strategic Importance of Greenland” stresses that NATO’s 1950 deterrent relied on Arctic airbases, prompting the U.S. to secure Danish permission for Thule and then push deeper inland. The video also details the reactor’s control‑rod system using europium oxide and the makeshift air‑blast chillers that kept the plant from freezing. The revelation underscores how extreme engineering was driven by nuclear brinkmanship, leaving a dormant radioactive footprint in a pristine environment. It also revives debate over U.S. ambitions in Greenland and the long‑term hazards of abandoned Arctic nuclear infrastructure.