Camp Century - Wikipedia

Camp Century was an Arctic United States military scientific research base in Greenland.[ 1] situated 240 km (150 mi) east of Pituffik Space Base. When built, Camp Century was publicized as a demonstration for affordable ice-cap military outposts and a base for scientific research.[ 2] [ 3]

According to documents declassified in 1996, Camp Century was a preliminary camp for Project Iceworm whose end goal was to install a vast network of nuclear missile launch sites that could survive a first strike.[ 4] Missiles were never fielded at the facility and obtaining the necessary consent from the Danish Government to do so was never broached.

The camp operated from 1959 until 1967. It consisted of 21 tunnels with a total length of 9,800 feet (3.0 km) and was powered by a nuclear reactor. Project Iceworm was aborted after realization that the ice sheet was not so stable as originally assessed, and that the missile basing concept would not be feasible. The reactor was removed and Camp Century later was abandoned. However, hazardous waste remains buried under the ice and has become an environmental concern.[ 5]

Ice core samples from Camp Century were used to create stable isotopes analyses used to develop climate models.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8] Analysis of soil contained in the samples suggests that the site was ice-free as recently as 400,000 years prior, indicating a much reduced Greenland ice sheet and therefore much higher sea levels.[ 9] Since 2017, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland has maintained a climate monitoring presence at Camp Century with the Camp Century Climate Monitoring Program.[ 10] This monitoring presence includes measuring climate variables, snow and ice temperatures, and ice-penetrating radar surveys of the subsurface debris and contaminant field.

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