Keep away from these lighthouses

Imagine steering a ship along the desolate northern Russian coast; an endless succession of rocky outcroppings, half-hidden by polar fog. Worse yet, imagine manning one of these frozen outposts, hundreds of miles from civilization and technology. The Communist party of the Soviet Union found a solution to avert the latter fate: self-sustaining nuclear-powered lighthouses. From English Russia:

… special lightweight small atomic reactors were produced in limited series to be delivered to the Polar Circle lands and to be installed on the lighthouses. Those small reactors could work in the independent mode for years and didn’t require any human interference, so it was very handy in the situation like this. It was a kind of robot-lighthouse which counted itself the time of the year and the length of the daylight, turned on its lights when it was needed and sent radio signals to near by ships to warn them on their journey.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union the lighthouses lay abandoned, looted by fearless robbers looking for precious metals. They are also apparently a tourist attraction. See all the photos.

Via Warren Ellis

For more spooky architecture of the past see WWII AT-ATs