Operation Hat

In 1964, China began nuclear testing in the Xinjiang Province. The CIA was interested in observing these tests, of course. And so, Operation Hat was born.

The High Concept idea was to observe the tests from the Nanda Devi Mountain in the Himalayas. It gets better - they designed a portable monitoring station designed to be lugged up the mountain in component parts. The whole thing was to be powered by something called SNAP - Space Nuclear Auxiliary Power

Originally designed for the military, SNAP was a cone shaped contraption providing power through several pounds of plutonium. Seemed like a perfect idea, and better than lugging up a ton of batteries, until they lost the damn thing.

In 1965, an expedition headed up the mountain. Two thousand feet from the summit, weather conditions forced the climbers to turn back. They left the monotoring station on the mountain, intending to return and set it up when the conditions permitted.

In 1966, they discovered that an avalanche had swept away the station, plutonium and all. It was buried under thousands of pounds of rock and snow.

The headwaters of the Ganges River lie in the Himalayas. A major source is the southern slope of Nanda Devi, right where the SNAP is buried. If the casing deteriorates because of age and pressure, millions of people risk contamination.

To this day, the SNAP has not been found. Tests indicated no contamination, so the search for the generator was abandoned. But, despite weak assurances, it's probably only a matter of time before it breaks.