Atomic energy for Antarctica

The rise and fall of “Nukey Poo”

Bibliographic Data

ID9221886
AuthorsHanne Nielsen (0000-0002-2761-7727, University of Tasmania, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume60
Publication date2024-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolar Record (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-2474 • E-ISSN: 1475-3057
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0032247424000111
OpenAlexW4402693827
LanguageEN
References cited36

Antarctica is often cast as a last wilderness, untouched by humans and set aside for peace and science. Yet it also has a nuclear past that foreshadowed a shift in human interactions with the continent, away from development and towards protection. This paper examines the discourse around the installation and the dismantlement of PM-3A, the first and only large-scale nuclear reactor to have been used on the Antarctic continent. Affectionately known as “Nukey Poo,” the reactor was greeted with optimism by the USA and was seen as a catalyst for a more comfortable and technologically advanced future for the humans at McMurdo Station. This techno-optimism spurred visions of a resource-rich Antarctic future. When it became apparent a decade on that the reactor was too costly and had been leaking, the narration shifted to centre on environmental protection, resulting in the removal of a mountainside of gravel in the name of ecological restoration. The reactor is gone, but not forgotten – the site is designated as a Historic Site and Monument under the Antarctic Treaty System. Spanning from the Cold War to the Madrid Protocol era, the story of Nukey Poo provides a useful lens through which to track the evolution of attitudes towards Antarctica and to reflect on imagined Antarctic futures

Energy (signal processing) · Geography · Meteorology · Physics · Environmental Science · Geology · Polar Research and Ecology · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life · Twentieth Century Scientific Developments

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