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Every decade or so, someone in nuclear engineering decides water is just a little too… ordinary.

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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you mix brilliant nuclear engineering with Cold War optimism and a dash of reckless enthusiasm, look no further than the Soviet Project 705 Alfa-class submarines.

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South of Rincón, Puerto Rico—tucked behind surf breaks and palm trees—sits a lonely concrete dome that once symbolized the atomic future of the Caribbean. Today, it’s a quiet relic. But in the early 1960s, that dome housed one of the most ambitious nuclear experiments ever attempted.