is the centre of Tinn municipality in Telemark , Norway . It was recorded on 1 January 2005 as having a population of 3,568 inhabitants.
The town was first established between 1905 and 1916 when the Norwegian Hydro company started Saltpetre production there. The site was chosen because Rjukanfossen, a 104-metre waterfall, provided an easy means of generating large quantities of electricity.
Rjukan was also the location during World War II of a Heavy-water plant used by Nazi Germany , which was investigating the possibility of building an Atomic Bomb . This led the Allies to Sabotage The Facilities . However, Hans Suess , a German nuclear specialist stationed at Rjukan, said that it would take five years to upgrade the plant to produce militarily useful quantities of heavy water.
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