The Navy's Nuclear Power Plant in Antarctica

Thisreportprovides historical information relating to the operation, maintenanceand technical support of the PM-3A Nuclear Power Plant and the Seawater Distillation Plant, located at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This final report is an accumulation of the information gathered over the ten and one-half years of Naval operation and also provides the background information which has lead to the decision to decommission and remove the PM-3A from Antarctica. 

The effort was not a successful one with power available for McMurdo Station for only 72% of the time and more than 400 reactor malfunctions recorded.

The US Department of Defense continues to explore nuclear power as an electricity and logistics solution for forward operating bases (FOB), and Russia has a floating nuclear power plant operating in Siberian waters in 2020, so this experience remains an important reference point.

May also be of interest to those who have enjoyed reading about human activity in extreme conditions in books such as INTO THIN AIR, ICE STATION ZEBRA, and WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE.