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Middletown, Pennsylvania

Three Mile Island Historical Marker

On the outskirts of Pennsylvania’s capital city, a reminder of the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history.
Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

Geographical Institute of the University of Porto

A seismograph and a bunker from the Cold War still sit under this university building.
McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Observation Hill

The steep slope known as “Ob Hill” overlooks an Antarctic research station.
A mural celebrating Russian space exploration remains on the wall at Prypiat's abandoned post office, which once served nearly 50,000 residents.
abandoned

Tragedy Lingers Inside Chornobyl's Abandoned City

It’s been nearly 40 years since a reactor exploded at this Soviet nuclear power plant, but disaster has a long half-life.
Matthew Christopher December 11, 2024
Cave of Kelpius, United States
bunkers

10 Places to Wait Out the End of the World

The end is always nigh.
Atlas Obscura November 12, 2024
Helen, Washington

Hanford Reach National Monument

The only undammed section of the Columbia River in the United States has been preserved, ironically, by its proximity to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Visaginas, Lithuania

Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Saint John

Originally built for nuclear power plant workers, this church sits between apartment buildings.
Upton, New York

Brookhaven Gamma Forest

Starting in 1961, Brookhaven National Labs regularly irradiated a section of forest with a canister of Cesium-137 to study the effects of hard gamma radiation on an ecosystem.
Maralinga Tjarutja, Australia

Woomera Ground Zero for British Atomic Tests

This remote site in the Australian Outback is where the British government conducted atomic bomb tests in the 1950s.
Los Alamos, New Mexico

Main Gate Park

This building is a recreation of the gatehouse that separated Los Alamos from the outside world during the era of the Manhattan Project.
The birth of jazz music can be traced all the way back to this unassuming New Orleans public square.
skulls

5 of Our Favorite Podcasts Exploring Surprising Bits of Human History

From a complaint logged on an ancient tablet to the birth of jazz in a tiny New Orleans public square.
The Podcast Team January 19, 2024
Krakow, Poland

Nuclear Bunkers of Nowa Huta

An underground city beneath Krakow's postwar socialist utopia.
"Cheese of all kinds make delicious and nourishing spreads, too," Adams wrote in her column.
nuclear

Make This Fallout Shelter–Friendly 1960s Ham Spread

The author of this recipe hoped you would never need it.
Andrew Coletti October 13, 2023
An example fallout shelter from a 1957 government guidebook, stocked with "a 14-day shelter food supply which may be stored indefinitely, a battery-operated radio, auxiliary light sources, a two-week supply of water, and first aid, sanitary and other miscellaneous supplies and equipment."
cold war

What Would You Eat in a Cold War Fallout Shelter?

Nuclear war readiness meant stocking the pantry and recipes for canned ham salad.
Andrew Coletti October 6, 2023
An empty gap defines the border between the U.S. and Canada.
nuclear

Four of Our Favorite Classic Podcast Episodes

From a nuclear lake to a Kenyan post office, check out these places where there’s much more than meets the eye.
The Podcast Team September 29, 2023
Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Tashkent Metro Stations

An underground world of gorgeous, palatial metro stations designed as a nuclear shelter complex.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, in an undated photo, doing math without looking.
crime

Wonder Is Everywhere: Inside Oppenheimer’s Los Alamos, the End of the Hermit House, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White July 21, 2023
One of the Icecap shot towers.
List

15 Nuclear History Sites That You Can Visit

From massive craters to secret cities, these places are relics of the Atomic Age.
Jonathan Carey July 7, 2023