The Nevada National Security Site (NNSS; N2S2) initially named the Nevada Proving Ground (1951–1955), and later the Nevada Test Site (NTS; 1955–2010)) is a reservation of the United States Department of Energy located in the southeastern portion of Nye County, Nevada, approximately 65 mi (105 km) northwest of Las Vegas. The site was established in December 1950 when President Harry S. Truman authorized the designation of a portion of the Nellis Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range for testing American nuclear devices by the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The first atmospheric test was conducted at the site's Frenchman Flat area by the AEC on January 27, 1951. About 928 nuclear tests were conducted here through 1992, when the United States stopped its underground nuclear testing. The site consists of about 1,350 sq mi (3,500 km2) of desert and mountainous terrain. Some 1,100 buildings in 28 areas are connected by 400 mi (640 km) of paved roads, 300 mi (480 km) of unpaved roads, ten heliports, and two airstrips. The site is privately managed and operated by Mission Support and Test Services LLC, a joint venture of Honeywell, Jacobs, and Huntington Ingalls, on behalf of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The mushroom clouds from the 100 atmospheric tests were visible from almost 100 mi (160 km) away; they could be seen from the Las Vegas Strip in the early 1950s. Many iconic images at nuclear science museums throughout the United States come from the site. Las Vegas experienced noticeable seismic effects. Westerly winds routinely carried the fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests, increasing rates of cancer in Utah and elsewhere, according to a 1984 medical report. The site has hosted 536 publicized and organized anti-nuclear protests, with 37,488 participants and 15,740 involved in arrests, according to government records.
History
The site was established as a 680-square-mile (1,800 km2) area by President Harry S. Truman on December 18, 1950, within the Nellis Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range.
1951–1992
The site was the primary testing location of American nuclear devices from 1951 to 1992; 928 announced nuclear tests occurred there. Of those, 828 were underground (62 of the underground tests included multiple, simultaneous nuclear detonations, adding 93 detonations and bringing the total number of NTS nuclear detonations to 1,021, of which 921 were underground). The site contains many subsidence craters from the testing. The site was the United States' primary location for tests smaller than 1 Mt (4.2 PJ). One hundred twenty-six tests were conducted elsewhere, including most larger tests. Many of these occurred at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands.
During the 1950s, the mushroom clouds from atmospheric tests could be seen for almost 100 mi (160 km). The city of Las Vegas experienced noticeable seismic effects, and the distant mushroom clouds, which could be seen from the downtown hotels, became tourist attractions. The last atmospheric test detonation at the site was "Little Feller I" of Operation Sunbeam, on July 17, 1962. Although the United States did not ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, it honors the articles of the treaty, and underground testing of weapons ended as of September 23, 1992. Subcritical tests not involving a critical mass continued.
One notable test shot was the "Sedan" shot of Operation Storax on July 6, 1962, a 104-kiloton-of-TNT (440 TJ) shot for 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.
1992–present More than 27 subcritical tests have been conducted at the site. In 2018, the State of Nevada sued the federal government to block a plan to ship "more than a metric ton" of plutonium to the site for temporary storage. In 2022, the government acknowledged that 13,625 cubic meters of radioactive material conforming to its disposal criteria had been shipped to the site for disposal.
Destruction and survivability testing Testing of the various effects of detonation of nuclear weapons was carried out during above-ground tests. Many kinds of vehicles (ranging from cars to aircraft), nuclear-fallout and standard bomb-shelters, public-utility stations and other building structures and equipment were placed at measured distances away from "ground zero", the spot on the surface immediately under or over the center of the blast. Operation Cue tested civil defense measures. Such civilian and commercial effects testing was done with many of the atomic tests of Operation Greenhouse on Eniwetok Atoll, Operation Upshot-Knothole and Operation Teapot at the site. Homes and commercial buildings of many different types and styles were built to standards typical of American and (less-often) European cities. Other such structures included military fortifications (of types used by both NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact) and civil-defense as well as "backyard"-type shelters. In such a typical test, several of the same buildings and structures might be built using the same layouts and plans with different types of materials, paints, general landscaping, cleanliness of the surrounding yards, wall-angles or varying distances from ground zero. Mannequins were placed in and around the test vehicles and buildings, aside from some left out in the open, for testing clothing and shock effects. High-speed cameras were placed in protected locations to capture effects of radiation and shock waves. Typical imagery from these cameras shows paint boiling off the buildings, which are then pushed violently away from ground zero by the shock wave before being drawn toward the detonation by the suction caused by the climbing mushroom cloud. Footage from these cameras has become iconic, used in various media and available in the public domain. This testing allowed the development of Civil Defense guidelines, distributed to the public, to increase the likelihood of survival in case of air- or spaceborne nuclear attack.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
