Utopia Planitia Ice Mine
The Utopia Planitia Ice Mine is a terraforming construct consisting of hundreds of open-cycle nuclear reactors that use thermal energy output to melt the vast reservoir of water-ice under Utopia Planitia while simultaneously cooling themselves. The reactors are built in mobile housings that bore further into the ice once they expend a local supply.
The Ice Mine was crucial in developing a dynamic water cycle on Mars, introducing massive quantities of underground water back into the surface environment. To that end, the Ice Mind has a number of ducts to convey water vapor into the atmosphere and channel liquid water into the Martian Aqueduct System for transport to other regions. The Ice Mine system was also built with barriers to prevent most of the water from settling back into the reservoir and refreezing.
Due to a lack of human upkeep, some of the reactors in the Ice Mine have failed and exploded or melted down, introducing radiation into the Utopian water supply. The majority of the reactors are still running and converting ice hundreds of years later, however.
The Pacific Asia Coalition seized control of the Utopia Planitia Ice Mines at the turn of the 23rd Century, giving them exclusive control of the Ice Mines' water supply. This also allowed them to contain the compromised reactors and resume maintenance of the working reactors.
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