Project Chariot: The US Government’s Plan To Nuke Alaska SIX Times
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Operation Plowshare was a US Government program in the 1950s that had the goal of finding peaceful uses for nuclear weapons. And yes, you read that right. It was partly a sincere effort to find practical uses for the most awesome power humanity had ever harnessed, and partly a cynical attempt to justify stockpiling nukes. One of those Plowshare projects was called Project Chariot, which aimed to create a new harbor in Alaska by setting off SIX hydrogen bombs in a river inlet near Cape Thompson. This is the story of that insane idea.
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LINKS LINKS LINKS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads
https://groundtruthalaska.org/articles/ProjectChariot/
https://st.llnl.gov/news/look-back/plowshare-program
https://www.osti.gov/opennet/reports/plowshar.pdf
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/actual-1950s-proposal-nuke-alaska
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gnome_(nuclear_test))
https://www.nps.gov/people/manhattan-project-scientists-edward-teller.htm
https://www.uaf.edu/tribal/academics/112/unit-2/alaskastatehoodandbuilduptoalaskanativelandclaims.php
https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/were-going-to-work-miracles/
https://www.atomicarchive.com/history/cold-war/page-6.html
https://nuclearprinceton.princeton.edu/project-chariot
https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/slideshows/counties-with-the-highest-cancer-rates-in-the-us?slide=3
https://alaskapublic.org/news/2014-08-09/as-project-chariot-clean-up-ends-legacy-lingers-for-point-hope
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1992/12/06/053092.html?pageNumber=26
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Intro
1:20 – The Atomic Craze
2:39 – Operation Plowshare
4:47 – Project Chariot
8:55 – The Problem
12:40 – Conspiracies
15:20 – Sponsor – Nebula
@trikcdust
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Idk if it's just me but the editing seemed a tad more chaotic than usual and it almost made me spit my drink out a couple times, keep up the good work 🫡
@jamespatrick5930
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
I went to the Hickarea Apache reservation in north New Mexico 2 times for archery tournaments.
They were really pissed of at the US government for setting off an atomic bomb in their reservation. The Nuke was lowered into the earth on train track. There are pictures of I going in on the internet.
@shalashaska9946
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
I'm just shocked there's still people who argue against the bombings of Japan. I assume it's just people who don't actually understand the history
@jerzykiler4386
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
It’s hard to believe that creating a harbour using nuclear bombs wasn’t just a poor cover up story..
It’s so ludicrous (for many different reasons) that only folks in Langley could come up with it.
The question we shall all ask is why it was cancelled. Again, I’m not interested in the official story/theory.
@jaredwblack
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Whew! I'm relieved, because I thought we were going to be told that the current administration is planning to drop nuclear bombs on Alaska
@johnman84
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
I'm glad he turned to magic instead.
@oziumentisis
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Nuclear demolition you say? I'm surprised you didn't bring up Dimitri Khalezov and his WTC underground nuclear demolition theory! lol
@crashwelder5337
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
I know, "nothing makes you hornier than a weapon of Untold human suffering" was meant in jest but apparently you haven't met Stephen Miller. Along with him there are several 100s if not 1000s of people around the world that probably actually blow their nuts off at the thought of dropping a nuclear bomb of any sort on places like Iran, Afghanistan, various portions of Russia, Taiwan and even parts of the United states. So, I guess I'm just putting that out there
@Tonytaylormusic
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Where my Alaskans at?
@Globovoyeur
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
I was hoping you'd discuss Dan O'Neill's book "The Firecracker Boys" (St. Martin's Griffin, 1994). Maybe it's the book you mentioned in passing. It really goes into detail about the planning and PR for Project Chariot. One thing that jumped out at me when I read it: the AEC claimed the radiation release would be negligible, but an internal memo estimated a release on the order of 1.5 BILLION Curies. For comparison, Chernobyl spilled "only" 40 to 86 million Curies.
@johnman84
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
When you buy or build a new sailboat, the first thing you do is drop a winch handle on the deck. 😎
@historylife4436
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Yes, Sunny reference awesome!
@Camandersol
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
1:02
Would having 6 nuclear bombs buried underground somewhere near your town even effect cancer rates?
I mean the radioactive material is contained INSIDE the bomb, AND buried. The radiation definitely isn't going to be able to reach the surface.
So unless someone dug them up, or they were IN a water source… How would they even effect the town in any way?
@zidbits1528
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Love the Always Sunny reference! To this day, I'm shocked by how many people haven't seen a single episode. Everyone I know has heard of it, but very few have actually sat down and watched it.
@TheGreatSteve
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Guy in Hiroshima, "Maybe that just happened?"
@ChefBillybaroo
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
So if they were successful, and they actually did it, it would still be like 4000 years before we could ever walk a mile in Alaska as of today at 7:08 PM… I’m glad irrational people actually had a grip…
@morgellon7877
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
First and only so far.
@wayneklein2474
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
What a dumb idea.
@briscoelcamino7850
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
They saw the Russians do that and were like we can do that!
@nitehawk86
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Project Plowshare is full of madness. 🙂
@williamlitsch5506
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
I don't think the implementation in Alaska was for use. It was like HAARP. It was a test case for use elsewhere. For instance, this exact plan is still considered a potential use for excavating a canal through Gaza. It was probably intended as a model for strategic deployment across narrow land gaps.
@lucasmcdonald5610
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
Been awhile since I watched one of your videos. Didn't realise how much I missed your face! Great video. Thank you 😊
@AlphaRaine
July 7, 2026 at 2:50 am
for the Dennis clips, you get an automatic thumbs-up from me
Comments are closed.