Wind Turbine and Mine Tailings Above the NSA’s Bluffdale Data Center

The NSA's Utah Data Center in Bluffdale carries the formal name Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center, along with the nickname "Bumblehive." Built between 2011 and 2013 at a cost of roughly $1.5 billion, the complex totals about 1.5 million square feet, though only a portion of that is actual server space. Outside analysts have estimated its potential data storage capacity at anywhere from 3 to 12 exabytes. The facility sits near Camp Williams, a Utah National Guard training post that supplied land and infrastructure support for its construction, in the valley south of Salt Lake City near the Jordan Narrows.

Photo taken in September 2023.