Soviet Generators Powered Arctic Lighthouses

The Soviet Union built a chain of remote lighthouses and navigation beacons along its Arctic and Far Eastern coasts, powering them with small nuclear generators. By the late 1980s, it had deployed 1,007 radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which converted heat from radioactive decay into electricity and kept the lights operating without crews. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, many stations fell into disrepair, and several generators went missing or remained unaccounted for.

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