industrial Workers Museum, Vemork

Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum, Vemork - darkometer rating : 3 - This site at a disused hydroelectric power station is not only one of Norway 's most significant industrial heritage sites, with an associated cultural/technical museum, but it is also a place of quite immense historical importance with regard to the course that WWII took, namely in terms of the development of the atomic bomb . At the time Vemork had the world's key production plant for heavy water (a rare and important moderator substance for controlling nuclear fission). This was a major concern for the Allies as by 1940 Norway had become occupied by Nazi Germany . So British commandos and Norwegian resistance fighters set about sabotaging the plant, which after a few failed attempts did indeed culminate in success and terminally thwarted any nuclear efforts of the Nazis . Who knows what could have been otherwise … > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: The industrialization of the Rjukan valley began in the early 20th century, and a major part of this was the completion in 1911 of the hydroelectric power station at Vemork, a few miles up the valley from Rjukan town and close to the mighty Rjukanfossen waterfall (in fact partly harnessing its waters' power). At the time it was the largest power station in the world. The main industry developed in the area (and powered by the Vemork plant) was synthetic fertilizer production. For this a range of technologies were devised that included highly energy-consuming processes to bind atmospheric nitrogen into nitric acid and/or ammonia.