Tag Archives: Cold War

Two ideologies, two plutonium programs, and too reckless!

http:// (*see note at bottom of the post) The more read about the Cold War, the more I am convinced that both sides lost. Not only did both the Americans and Soviets/Russians gut large parts of their economies by wasting … Continue reading

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Up to 690,000 American’s died from our own nuke tests!

Yes, you read the post title correctly. According to a 2017 study by researchers from the University of Arizona, between 340,000 and 690,000 Americans are estimated to have died from fallout and radiation-linked diseases generated by the 100 atmospheric atomic … Continue reading

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American “Atomgrads” of the Cold War era…and beyond

Back on May 6th and May 8th respectively, posts were published on the “Atomgrads” of the Soviet Union. One pertained to the nuclear weapon “Atomgrads,” while the other discussed nuclear energy ones. This post will list the four (4) known … Continue reading

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Too close for comfort: Indiana’s brush with a nuclear nightmare

http:// As a child of the Atomic Age and the Cold War growing up on the far north side of Indianapolis, I never realized just how dangerously close my state came to suffering a major nuclear catastrophe a mere 55 … Continue reading

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Nuclear nomenclature that’s now commonplace in English

  As I have been researching a variety of Atomic Age topics for this blog, it became apparent that there are common terms we now use that arose from that time period. As a child growing up in a nuclear … Continue reading

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Soviet-era “Atomgrads,” part 1 – Nuclear Weapon Cities

http:// During the Cold War, the Soviet Union developed a series of “Atomgrads“ or nuclear cities.   Nearly all of these cities were newly planned and designed to provide housing and community services for the future scientists and their families … Continue reading

Posted in Asia, atomic age, cities, culture, economic development, energy, environment, Europe, geography, government, health, historic preservation, history, Housing, infrastructure, Maps, military, place names, placemaking, planning, pollution, Russia, Science, Statistics, technology, urban planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Doomsday Bunker Cities and Towns

The following post lists known bunker cities and towns that have been built as a way to survive a nuclear or biological holocaust and/or maintain continuity of government. Many were constructed during the Cold War era, some of which are … Continue reading

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“Bridge of Spies” – introspective art at its best

My wife and I had the pleasure of seeing Bridge of Spies last night. As this post title notes, it is truly a masterful work of art. Subtle, yet compelling, the movie depicts Cold War era intrigue and fears in … Continue reading

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Review of “Inventing Los Alamos” – Atomic utopia and urban paradox

I just had the pleasure of reading a most interesting book entitled, Inventing Los Alamos: The Growth of an Atomic Community by Jon Hunner.  Part historical account, part urban planning study, Inventing Los Alamos is a worthwhile read for anyone … Continue reading

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American as baseball, hot dogs, and vodka – Spy towns of the Cold War

I always find it interesting how certain blog post ideas come to me. This one was totally on a lark. I was watching NCIS Los Angeles Tuesday night and near the end of the episode, Hetty and Callen were in … Continue reading

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