Nevada Test Site

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Nevada Test Site
November 1951 nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. Test is shot "Dog" from Operation Buster, with a yield of 21 kilotons. It was the first U.S. nuclear field exercise conducted on land; troops shown are a mere 6 miles from the blast.
Type	Nuclear testing range
Location	37°07′N, 116°03′W near Las Vegas in the United States
Area	~1,350 mi² (~3,500 km²)
Operator	United States Department of Energy
Status	Active
In use	1951–present
Testing
Nuclear tests	925+
Map showing location of the site

The Nevada Test Site is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the City of Las Vegas, near 37°07′N, 116°03′W. Formerly known as the Nevada Proving Ground, the site, established on January 11, 1951 for the testing of nuclear weapons, is composed of approximately 1,350 square miles (3,500 km²) of desert and mountainous terrain. Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a one-kiloton (4 terajoule) bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on January 27, 1951. Many of the iconic images of the nuclear era come from NTS.

Contents 1 Quick Facts 2 History 2.1 1951 - 1992 2.2 1992 - Present 3 Landmarks and Geography 4 Cancer and Test Site 5 Nuclear test series carried out at Nevada Test Site 6 Gallery 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Quick Facts

The Nevada Test Site has:

• 1,100 buildings
• 400 miles (643 km) paved roads
• 300 miles (482 km) unpaved roads
• 10 heliports
• 2 airstrips

[edit] History

[edit] 1951 - 1992

Between 1951 and 1992, there were a total of 925 announced nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site. 825 of them were underground (seismic data has indicated there may have been many unannounced underground tests as well). The site is covered with subsidence craters from the testing. The Nevada Test Site was the primary testing location of American nuclear devices; only 129 tests were conducted elsewhere (many at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands).

During the 1950's, the mushroom cloud from these tests could be seen for almost 100 miles in either direction, including the city of Las Vegas, where the tests became tourist attractions. Americans headed for Las Vegas to witness the distant mushroom clouds that could be seen from the downtown hotels.

On July 17, 1962 the test shot "Little Feller I" of Operation Sunbeam became the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site. Underground testing of weapons continued until September 23, 1992, and although the United States did not ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the articles of the treaty are nevertheless honored and further tests have not occurred. Tests not involving the full creation of a critical mass ("subcritical" testing) continue.

One notable test shot was the "Sedan" shot of Operation Storax, a 104 kiloton shot for the Operation Plowshare which sought to prove that nuclear weapons could be used for peaceful means in creating bays or canals — it created a crater 1,280 feet (390 m) wide and 320 feet (100 m) deep that can still be seen today. While most of the larger tests were conducted elsewhere, NTS was home to tests in the 500 kiloton to 1 megaton (2 to 4 petajoule) range, which caused noticeable seismic effects in Las Vegas.

[edit] 1992 - Present

The site was scheduled to be used to conduct the testing of a 700-ton conventional explosive in an operation known as Divine Strake in June 2006. The bomb is a possible alternative to nuclear bunker busters, which Congress has been reluctant to fund, despite support from President Bush. [1] However, after objection from Nevada and Utah members of Congress, the operation was postponed until 2007.

As of 2004, the test site offers public tours on approximately a monthly basis, although the taking of souvenir material is prohibited. Additionally, all image taking devices are prohibited, and tour members are required to wear Dosimeters.

[edit] Landmarks and Geography

The town of Mercury, Nevada is located on the grounds of the NTS, and at one time housed contingents from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia). Area 51 and the proposed high-level nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain are located nearby. The BREN Tower, a 465 meter high guyed tower orignally for radiation experiments with an unshielded reactor simulating the amounts of radiation received by survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is located in the NTS at Jackass Flats.

[edit] Cancer and Test Site

In a report by the National Cancer Institute, released in 1997, it was determined that ninety atmospheric tests at the Nevada Test Site deposited high levels of radioactive iodine-131 (5.5 exabecquerels) across a large portion of the contiguous United States, especially in the years 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1957—doses large enough, they determined, to produce 10,000 to 75,000 cases of thyroid cancer. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 allowed for people living downwind of NTS suffering from certain illnesses likely to have been caused by fallout exposure to receive compensation of $50,000. As January 2006, over 10,500 of such claims had been approved, and around 3,000 denied, for a total amount of over $525 million in compensation dispensed to "downwinders".[2]

[edit] Nuclear test series carried out at Nevada Test Site

Operation Ranger — 1951 Operation Buster-Jangle — 1951 Operation Tumbler-Snapper — 1952 Operation Upshot-Knothole — 1953 Operation Teapot — 1955 Project 56 — 1955 Operation Plumbbob — 1957 Project 57, 58, 58A — 1957-58 Operation Hardtack II — 1958 Operation Nougat — 1961-62 Operation Sunbeam — 1962 Operation Dominic II — 1962-63 Operation Storax — 1963 Operation Niblick — 1963-64 Operation Whetstone — 1964-65 Operation Flintlock — 1965-66 Operation Latchkey — 1966-67 Operation Crosstie — 1967-68 Operation Bowline — 1968-69 Operation Mandrel — 1969-70 Operation Emery — 1970

Operation Grommet — 1971-72 Operation Toggle — 1972-73 Operation Arbor — 1973-74 Operation Bedrock — 1974-75 Operation Anvil — 1975-76 Operation Fulcrum — 1976-77 Operation Crescent — 1977-78 Operation Quicksilver — 1978-79 Operation Tinderbox — 1979-80 Operation Guardian — 1980-81 Operation Praetorian — 1981-82 Operation Phalanx — 1982-83 Operation Fusileer — 1983-84 Operation Grenadier — 1984-85 Operation Charioteer — 1985-86 Operation Musketeer — 1986-87 Operation Touchstone — 1987-88 Operation Cornerstone — 1988-89 Operation Aqueduct — 1989-90 Operation Sculpin — 1990-91 Operation Julin — 1991-92

[edit] Gallery

Map showing the NTS and other federal territories in southern Nevada

Per capita thyroid doses in the continental United States of iodine-131 resulting from all exposure routes from all atmospheric nuclear tests conducted at the Nevada Test Site

The Yucca Flat area of the Nevada Test Site is scarred with subsidence craters from underground nuclear testing

Preparing for an underground test. The emplacment tower lowers the nuclear device into the drilled shaft; the cables run to instruments that record information from the experiment

[edit] See also

• U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
• BREN Tower
• Upshot-Knothole Grable (Frenchman Flat)
• Big Explosives Experimental Facility (BEEF)
• U1a Experimental Facility
• Atomic Testing Museum

[edit] External links

• DOE Nevada Test Site
• Origins of the Nevada Test Site
• Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
• Account of NTS fallout in 1955 (PDF)
• Study Estimating Thyroid Doses of I-131 Received by Americans From Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Test, National Cancer Institute (1997)
• Atomic Testing Museum
• Location maps:
  • Small map
  • Detailed map showing the individual areas
• Annotated bibliography for the Nevada Test Site from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.12° -116.05°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

v • d • e  Agencies under the United States Department of Energy

Energy Information Administration • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission • National Nuclear Security Administration • Bonneville Power Administration • Southeastern Power Administration • Southwestern Power Administration • Western Area Power Administration National Laboratory System Albany • Ames • Argonne • Berkeley • Brookhaven • Fermilab • Idaho • Livermore • Los Alamos • NBL • NETL • NREL • NTS • Oak Ridge • Pacific Northwest • PPPL • RESL • Sandia • SLAC • SNS • TJNAF