CivilsKash
The Nuclear Secret Buried Under Nanda Devi’s Ice?
During the Cold War, India and the CIA ran a covert intelligence mission to Spy on Chinese nuclear and military program by installing a nuclear-powered surveillance device atop Nanda Devi in the Himalayas.
In 1965, an expedition carrying a plutonium-238–powered SNAP battery was forced to abandon the device after extreme weather, leading to the mysterious loss of radioactive material deep within the mountain ecosystem—a secret kept hidden for decades.
Multiple joint India–US expeditions later attempted recovery, but the plutonium was never conclusively found, raising long-term environmental concerns.
Today, climate change, accelerated glacial melt, and seismic fragility have revived fears that radioactive material could leach into Himalayan water systems feeding the Holy Ganga river, endangering millions.
In 1965, an expedition carrying a plutonium-238–powered SNAP battery was forced to abandon the device after extreme weather, leading to the mysterious loss of radioactive material deep within the mountain ecosystem—a secret kept hidden for decades.
Multiple joint India–US expeditions later attempted recovery, but the plutonium was never conclusively found, raising long-term environmental concerns.
Today, climate change, accelerated glacial melt, and seismic fragility have revived fears that radioactive material could leach into Himalayan water systems feeding the Holy Ganga river, endangering millions.