Unusual target choices

[mmartin798]

I just finished placing all the US warhead locations as listed in the 4th edition, along with all the Canadian targets that were visible on the map I used. I found a couple that I thought were odd choices and wondered if there anyone had a reasonable justification for them other than the warhead needed to go someplace and this was in range.

The first is a dam in Michigan. It is not too far south of a nuclear power plant. That is important to note. The way this dam works is it uses power generated by the reactor overnight to run the turbines backwards to fill a man-made pond with water from Lake Michigan. Then during the day, water is let out of the pond to generate power at the dam to even out the peak electricity demands upon the nuclear reactor. So basically a big battery. If the dam was left alone, it would generate power for maybe 3-4 days and then stop working.

The second is the decommissioned Stanley R Mickelsen Safeguard Complex in North Dakota for the ABM system allowed under the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. This site came online in 1 April 1975, fully operational 28 September 1975 and deactivated 10 February 1976. Satellite pictures show the pylon that held the phased radar array empty, the roads around it in disrepair as well as a few buildings.