Nevada Test Site

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

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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 References 9 External links

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

History

1951–1992

Between 1951 and 1992, there were a total of 928 announced nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site. Of those, 828 were underground; seismic data have 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; 129 tests were conducted elsewhere (many at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands). During the 1950s, 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. From 1986 through 1994, two years after the United States put full-scale nuclear weapons testing on hold indefinitely, at least 536 demonstrations were held at the test site involving 37,488 participants and 15,740 arrests, according to government records. After the demonstrations, held by the American Peace Test, Nevada Desert Experience and Corbin Harney through the Shundahai Network continued to protest the government's continued nuclear weapons work and effort to put a repository for highly radioactive waste adjacent to the test site at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

1992–Present

The site was scheduled to be used to conduct the testing of a 1,100-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. On 22 February 2007 the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) officially canceled the experiment. As of 2004, the test site offers public tours on approximately a monthly basis, although the taking of souvenir material is prohibited. Additionally, image taking and communication devices are prohibited.^[2] While there are no longer any explosive tests of nuclear weapons at the site, there is still subcritical testing, used to determine the viability of the United States' aging nuclear arsenal. Additionally, the site is the location of the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex, which sorts and stores low-level radioactive waste that is not transuranic and has a half life of no greater than 20 years. Bechtel runs this complex. Located at the ground zero for the Operation Teapot nuclear test is the Transportation Incident Exercise Site, which replicates multiple terrorist radiological incidents with train, plane, automobile, truck, and helicopter props.

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, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. 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 originally 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.

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 (NTS) 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 for at least two years in particular Nevada, Arizona or Utah counties, between January 21, 1951 – October 31, 1958 or June 30, 1962 – July 31, 1962, and suffering from certain cancers or other serious illnesses deemed to have been caused by fallout exposure to receive compensation of $50,000. By January 2006, over 10,500 claims had been approved, and around 3,000 denied, for a total amount of over $525 million in compensation dispensed to "downwinders".^[3] Uranium miners, mill workers and ore transporters are also eligible for $100,000 compassionate payment under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Program, while $75,000 is the fixed payment amount for workers who were participants in the above-ground nuclear weapons tests.

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 — 1957–1958 Operation Hardtack II — 1958 Operation Nougat — 1961–1962 Operation Plowshare — 1961–1973 (sporatic, at least one test a year) Operation Sunbeam — 1962 Operation Dominic II — 1962–1963 Operation Storax — 1963 Operation Niblick — 1963–1964 Operation Whetstone — 1964–1965 Operation Flintlock — 1965–1966 Operation Latchkey — 1966–1967 Operation Crosstie — 1967–1968 Operation Bowline — 1968–1969 Operation Mandrel — 1969–1970 Operation Emery — 1970

Operation Grommet — 1971–1972 Operation Toggle — 1972–1973 Operation Arbor — 1973–1974 Operation Bedrock — 1974–1975 Operation Anvil — 1975–1976 Operation Fulcrum — 1976–1977 Operation Crescent — 1977–1978 Operation Quicksilver — 1978–1979 Operation Tinderbox — 1979–1980 Operation Guardian — 1980–1981 Operation Praetorian — 1981–1982 Operation Phalanx — 1982–1983 Operation Fusileer — 1983–1984 Operation Grenadier — 1984–1985 Operation Charioteer — 1985–1986 Operation Musketeer — 1986–1987 Operation Touchstone — 1987–1988 Operation Cornerstone — 1988–1989 Operation Aqueduct — 1989–1990 Operation Sculpin — 1990–1991 Operation Julin — 1991–1992

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

See also

• U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
• BREN Tower
• Upshot-Knothole Grable (Frenchman Flat)
• Atomic Testing Museum
• Corbin Harney
• Nevada Desert Experience

References

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
• Images of the Nevada Test Site on the atomic bomb website
• 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
• Nevada Test Site is at coordinates 37°07′N 116°03′W / 37.12, -116.05Coordinates: 37°07′N 116°03′W / 37.12, -116.05

•  • e Agencies under the United States Department of Energy

Secretary of Energy Deputy Secretary of Energy Energy Information Administration • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Under Secretary of Energy for Energy and Environment Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management • Office of Electricity Deliverability & Energy Reliability • Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy • Office of Environmental Management • Office of Fossil Energy • Office of Legacy Management • Office of Nuclear Energy, Science & Technology Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security National Nuclear Security Administration Under Secretary of Energy for Science Office of Science Power Marketing Administrations 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