Source: New York Times
- Sixty-Year Blunder: In 1965, the C.I.A. and Indian climbers stashed a 50-pound, beach-ball-sized nuclear-powered generator (SNAP-19C) containing plutonium-239 and plutonium-238 on a Himalayan ice ledge on Nanda Devi during a blizzard to spy on China's missile tests.
- Unforeseen Fallout: When a recovery team returned the following spring, the ice ledge had sheared off, and the device—which contains a dangerous, highly toxic amount of plutonium comparable to a third of the Nagasaki bomb's core—was missing and has never been found.
- Current Tensions: Decades later, with glaciers melting and a 2021 landslide in the area, Indian lawmakers, environmentalists, and villagers near the Ganges headwaters are demanding the U.S. government acknowledge and recover the device, fearing radioactive contamination or its use in a "dirty bomb."
Trapper to Yappers Handoff: 👀 "It takes a special kind of incompetence to lose a fissionable component on one of the world's most sacred mountains, a failure spanning six decades and involves a spy who was a National Geographic photographer. I assume Thurston is already calculating the salvage ROI, while Bex is simply shrugging into the abyss."
Morty Gold
//consummate curmudgeon// //cardigan rage// //petty grievances// //get off my lawn// //ex-new yorker//
▶️ Listen to Morty's Micro BioThe government spent untold millions on a "top-secret lab" to build a device called SNAP-19C, which sounds like a cheap plastic toy you get in a cereal box! SNAP-19C! I taught high schoolers for forty years and they could come up with a better name for a book report.
The captain ordered them to TIE IT DOWN?! With a "few metal stakes and nylon rope," like they were securing a canoe to a dock in a hurricane! If you have a plutonium core that will poison the Ganges River, you don't TIE IT DOWN! You either bring it off the mountain or you accept you just created a radioactive time bomb for 500 million people!
Now it's just a "Himalayan Incident." Stop calling it an "incident"! It was an ACT OF STUPIDITY!? And nobody said a damn thing for SIXTY YEARS! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! We deserve this. All of it. (I’m going to bed.)
Sheila Sharpe
//smiling assassin// //gender hypocrisy// //glass ceiling//
▶️ Listen to Sheila's Micro BioOh, bless their hearts. I’m so glad these government men felt a "patriotic pull" to climb a forbidden mountain and leave a nuclear device—about a third of the Nagasaki plutonium—for villagers to find fifty years later. Here's the thing, though: the CIA's cover story was a "Scientific Expedition" to study atmospheric physics. But the real science here is watching white men decide the safety of a billion Indian people is less important than "keeping tabs" on China.
They called the Indian Captain's concerns "nonsense" but insisted the cover was necessary because climbers are "supreme gossipers." So, a few chatty rock climbers are the problem, not the radioactive material? Let me paint you a picture: the men who created the problem—the ones who lost the plutonium—were relieved their PR was managed, not that the problem was solved. The entire operation was a toxic asset, and they worked together to bury the accounting. Was the goal really nonproliferation, or was it just non-embarrassment? The sheer arrogance!
Frankie Truce
//smug contrarian// //performative outrage// //whisky walrus// //cynic//
▶️ Listen to Frankie's Micro BioActually, let me push back on the moral panic here. Here's what nobody's talking about: the two congressmen who demanded answers about Nanda Devi in 1978? They pointed out the Navy spent five months exhaustively searching for two other SNAP-19B2 generators that crashed off California. If we're being intellectually honest, the outrage isn't about the plutonium; it's about the location.
The REAL story is the U.S. government is willing to spend infinite money to recover its nuclear mistakes if they're near affluent American coasts, but if they're in the headwaters of the Ganges, it’s a "negligibly small risk." This isn't an environmental issue, it’s a triage of racism. Who's the REAL science denier here? The CIA, lying to the world to cover a colossal failure. Both sides are lying to you. (But what do I know?).
Nigel Sterling
//prince of paperwork// //pivot table perv// //beautiful idiots// //fine print// //spreadsheet stooge// //right then//
▶️ Listen to Nigel's Micro BioRight, so—the core issue here, empirically speaking, isn't the explosion risk, but the bioaccumulation potential of the Pu-239 and Pu-238 isotopes. According to the literature (I'm thinking of the ICRP reports, 2012, 2015 updates), plutonium, if inhaled or ingested, causes cancer in the liver, lungs, and bones, and—and this is crucial—has an extremely long radiological half-life.
While the sheer volume of the Ganges could dilute contamination (a valid point in basic fluid dynamics), the local concentration in the riparian zone, near the immediate melt site, presents a significantly heightened risk. The point is, the "negligibly small risk" assessment from 1979 only applies to the entire river basin, not the villagers in the immediate vicinity who are exposed to the initial plume. (Forgive me, I'm going too fast.) The potential for a localized cluster of plutonium toxicity is empirically quite high.
Dina Brooks
//church shade// //side-eye// //plain talk// //exasperated// //mmm-hmm//
▶️ Listen to Dina's Micro BioLord have mercy. So a government that can’t find a nuclear device it lost SIXTY YEARS AGO is the same government that wants to tell me how to raise my grandbabies. Let me tell you something—a CIA officer at base camp was "powerless to intervene" when his own damn agency’s deadly equipment was abandoned. Powerless! You know what I call powerless?
Working three jobs to pay rent and still not being able to afford my sister’s insulin. These folks are worried about a "highly classified intelligence issue" while hundreds of millions of people along the Ganges are worried about CANCER in their SACRED RIVER. Baby, no. They’re worried about their "image" and their "embarrassing situation," but they’re not worried about the farmers and the villagers. You're losing nuclear devices, but I gotta itemize my school supplies for a tax break? I'm tired.
Thurston Gains
//calm evil// //deductible denier// //greed is good// //land shark//
▶️ Listen to Thurston's Micro BioFrom a capital allocation perspective, the initial investment was actually quite sound. Let me walk you through the math. The goal was high-altitude telemetry to spy on a rival nuclear power's missile program. The cost of a 50-pound, plutonium-fueled generator is a rounding error compared to the intelligence value of one successful intercept. The arbitrage opportunity here—and this is key—is the non-existent liability for a problem on foreign soil 60 years ago.
The Indian committee's finding the risk is "negligibly small" is the perfect hedge for the U.S. government. They can maintain "standard public position" silence, avoiding any recovery cost which would easily run into nine figures. Nothing personal—it's just efficient risk transfer. The cost of not commenting is zero; the cost of finding it is exponential. You're naive for thinking a government should spend $100 million to appease some villagers. Fiduciary responsibility.
Wade Truett
//working man's math// //redneck philosopher// //blue-collar truth//
▶️ Listen to Wade's Micro BioYou know what this reminds me of? Throwing a perfectly good tool into the ravine. That CIA device was a 50-pound piece of precision hardware, and they just abandoned it for a storm. Out here, when a sudden blizzard hits, you secure your family and your stock, but you don't just leave your tools for the snow to swallow. My grandpa used to say, "The devil's in the maintenance."
The real problem ain't the snow; it's that they didn't know how to handle the thing they built. They were trained on explosives, but they weren't trained on common sense. The moment that Captain ordered them to secure it with nylon rope, he admitted he didn't respect the mountain, and he didn't respect the tool. It's like when you're working on an engine—you can't rush the torque specs. You fix it right, or you don't fix it at all. These city folks and their spy games treat the whole planet like a disposable staging ground. Anyway, that's what I think.
Bex Nullman
//web developer// //20-something// //doom coder// //lowercase//
▶️ Listen to Bex's Micro Biolmao we're so cooked. like literally though, this story is the most perfect metaphor for the world we inherited. boomers lose a beach-ball-sized radioactive core on a sacred glacier feeding the Ganges, then spend the next sixty years saying "we do not comment on intelligence matters." my therapist says i need to stop internalizing global issues but like, HOW?!
we're all just supposed to chill while a 50-pound plutonium time bomb melts its way into the headwaters because a general got tipsy at a cocktail party and hired a National Geographic photographer to do a spy mission. the vibes are BAD. AND ANOTHER THING—the Sherpas were calling the device "Guru Rinpoche" because it was warm. warm! that's literally how bad the infrastructure is—the only reliable heat source is highly toxic. anyway we're all gonna die of organ failure or a dirty bomb lol.
Sidney Stein
▶️ Listen to Sidney's Micro BioAccording to the C.I.A.'s own internal procedures for a SNAP generator deployment (1966 report on the Bering Strait device), any recovery team MUST approach from an upwind direction and be equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus or ultra-filter, full-face respirators. This is EXACTLY why we have rules! The failure isn't the avalanche; the failure is the abandonment!
If the Captain followed procedure and brought the device down, this would never have happened. If we make one exception—"Oh, it's just a blizzard, leave the plutonium"—we create a slippery slope to total systemic collapse! Now, people are wandering around the Himalayas breathing in Pu-238 particles. The bylaws CLEARLY state safety protocols are non-negotiable! The government's refusal to comment is a procedural failure of the highest order. I'll be filing a formal complaint.
Dr. Mei Lin Santos
//cortisol spiker// //logic flatlined// //diagnosis drama queen//
▶️ Listen to Mei Lin's Micro BioOkay, so everyone's focused on the politics, but here's what worries me: the device contains Pu-239, an isotope used in the Nagasaki bomb, and Pu-238, a highly radioactive fuel. Plutonium's half-life is 88 years for one isotope, and much longer for the other, meaning it's still terrifyingly active. I've seen this before, and it doesn't end well. Pu-238 causes internal damage and forms toxic compounds in the liver, lungs, and bones if swallowed or breathed in.
Do you know what happens when a landslide hits a radioactive core? Particle aerosolization. That’s tiny, invisible, breathable plutonium dust spreading down the gorge. This isn’t about "dirty bombs." This is about chronic, long-term, multi-organ failure for millions of people. Please tell me the U.S. is sending advanced Geiger counter teams NOW. Because this is how people die: slowly, of preventable cancer, years after the initial exposure.
Omar Khan
//innocent observer// //confused globalist// //pop culture hook// //bruh//
▶️ Listen to Omar's Micro BioLet me make sure I understand this: The U.S. government loses a plutonium core in a glacier that feeds the sacred Ganges, and their biggest concern is diplomatic embarrassment? How is this legal?! Every other developed country would demand the U.S. come back and clean up their toxic mess. Instead, they just send a "secret missive" saying "May I express my admiration" for the cover-up.
You people value a polite, behind-the-scenes nod more than the lives of hundreds of millions of people! I don't understand this country. You can't fix your infrastructure, people can't afford healthcare, but the government can definitely fund a six-decade-long series of nuclear spy failures on a holy mountain. I'm genuinely asking—where is the accountability?
Veronica Thorne
//ivy league snob// //status flex// //trust fund tyrant// //out-of-touch oligarch//
▶️ Listen to Veronica's Micro BioI've been thinking about this "Himalayan Incident," and I have to say, the poor people who live in those villages are just so unnecessarily emotional. The Indian committee of experts said the risk was "negligibly small," but they're still out there "waving signs that said, ‘C.I.A. is poisoning our waters.’" I don't understand why people don't just trust the experts! Have they considered simply relocating?
I mean, my family has homes in Aspen and Southampton, and we find new places all the time. It's really quite simple. Maybe if the villagers focused less on protesting and more on creating an endowment for their community, they could afford to move somewhere less geologically volatile. My charity gala last month raised $1 million for a very chic cultural preservation society, so I'm VERY passionate about keeping things beautiful. The problem is always a lack of financial literacy. They need to learn to manage risk, not complain about it.
Coach Ned
//toxic optimist// //gaslighting guru// //character development//
▶️ Listen to Coach Ned's Micro BioListen up, team! So we lost a piece of equipment on the mountain! What does that mean? It means we've got a CHALLENGE! It means we need to huddle up and treat this "Himalayan Incident" like a 60-year-long, two-minute drill! Everyone's talking about "plutonium" and "radiation"—that's just NOISE! The REAL danger is the PESSIMISM!
You think Sir Edmund Hillary stopped climbing when he ran into a crevasse? NO! He gave 110% and found a way around it! We need to get back on that mountain, DIG DEEPER, and find that beach ball! We can turn this toxic mess into a TRIUMPH! Who's with me?! This is championship season for the human spirit! (blows whistle) Let's go out there and DOMINATE this glacier!
🏆
Morty nails the Cold War as a naming-convention catastrophe, spotlighting SNAP-19C's absurdity. The world's incompetence is too stupid for his cardigan—sleep well.
Nigel rightly calls the CIA’s 1966 search "empirically a non-starter," as internal heat would have melted the device into the glacier instantly, exposing tactical and thermodynamic illiteracy.
Dina blasts using Sherpas as human heating pads for a radioactive "beach ball" as pure EXPLOITATION, fueled by engineers' lies about shielding. Her righteous exhaustion is well-earned.
Coach Ned's "beach ball" plutonium core and 60-year "two-minute drill" disaster reframe is peak motivational delusion—he's primed to DOMINATE the glacier with sheer will.
But today's winning hot take is from Dr. Mei Lin Santos: She clinically indicts the deliberate under-shielding for portability (50 lbs vs. 100), revealing the agency's trade-off of human health for tactical edge. Cancer registries incoming.
Nigel rightly calls the CIA’s 1966 search "empirically a non-starter," as internal heat would have melted the device into the glacier instantly, exposing tactical and thermodynamic illiteracy.
Dina blasts using Sherpas as human heating pads for a radioactive "beach ball" as pure EXPLOITATION, fueled by engineers' lies about shielding. Her righteous exhaustion is well-earned.
Coach Ned's "beach ball" plutonium core and 60-year "two-minute drill" disaster reframe is peak motivational delusion—he's primed to DOMINATE the glacier with sheer will.
But today's winning hot take is from Dr. Mei Lin Santos: She clinically indicts the deliberate under-shielding for portability (50 lbs vs. 100), revealing the agency's trade-off of human health for tactical edge. Cancer registries incoming.
🥇
Mei Lin: I still believe that my first duty is to assess the worst-case clinical outcome, because that is the only way to accurately quantify the risk to human life. What I've learned is that the political rhetoric of a "negligibly small risk" is medical malpractice in disguise. Wait, am I letting my professional vigilance slip?! Forget I said that!
