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All Argentina Huemul Island
Huemul Island is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Huemul Island

The island houses the ruins of a secret nuclear fusion lab that once employed high-profile Nazi scientists

Argentina

Added By
Gabe DeRita
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View from Richter’s Office.   Gderita / Atlas Obscura User
View from Richter’s Office.   Gderita / Atlas Obscura User
Shipwreck just offshore from Huemul Island Dock.   Gderita / Atlas Obscura User
Bombed lab facility used for target practice.   Gderita / Atlas Obscura User
Lab Building Ruins.   Gderita / Atlas Obscura User
Lab building with bullet holes.   Gderita / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Huemul Island, a short distance offshore from Bariloche, Argentina, is green and tranquil. But it’s more than meets the eye. There, obscured by dense trees, lie the ruins of an energetic past involving secret nuclear experiments and Nazi scientists.

In 1949, president Juan Perón personally invited Ronald Richter, an Austrian scientist famous for developing a particle accelerator for the Nazis, to Argentina to work on fusion energy. Richter was given carte blanche and hundreds of millions of pesos, as well as the entirety of Huemul Island, to pursue his work. 

But after initial claims of success, the work was revealed to be fraudulent and the project shut down in 1952. Three years later, Perón was overthrown, and Richter was arrested for fraud in the aftermath. The advanced scientific complex was left to rot, eventually being used as target practice for the military. 

Today, trees and vines are reclaiming the structures once home to cutting-edge nuclear experiments run by the Nazi physicists. Visit the island, and you'll enjoy its eerie calm and fascinating history, as well as sweeping views of the town and surrounding mountains from Richter’s old office atop the island’s lone hill. 

Related Tags

Islands Nazis Energy Nuclear Ruins Abandoned Laboratories

Know Before You Go

The island is accessible by private boat or kayak. Tours can be arranged through Frasson Travel  - Senza Limiti.

Community Contributors

Added By

Gderita

Edited By

mrout, prannazzo

  • mrout
  • prannazzo

Published

June 20, 2019

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Sources
  • https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nuclear-island
  • http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2017/ph241/allman2/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huemul_Project
Huemul Island
Argentina
-41.10509, -71.396135

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