Nevada Test Site

Nevada National Security Sites
Nevada Test Site
Nye County in Nevada
Near Las Vegas, Nevada in United States
A November 1951 nuclear test at Nevada Test Site, Operation Buster–Jangle "Dog". It had a yield of 21 kilotons of TNT (88 TJ), and was the first U.S. nuclear field exercise conducted with live troops maneuvering on land. Troops shown are 6 mi (10 km) from the blast.
Nevada Test Site is located in the United States
Nevada Test Site
Map showing location of the site
Coordinates37°07′N 116°03′W / 37.117°N 116.050°W / 37.117; -116.050
TypeNuclear Weapons Research Complex
Area1,350 sq mi (3,500 km2)
Site information
OwnerGovernment of the United States
OperatorUnited States Department of Energy
Controlled byNational Nuclear Security Administration
Open to
the public		Yes
(Limited reservation and clearance is required)
StatusActive
Defining authorityUnited States Geological Survey
(For geography, ground waters, terrains and mapping)
Site history
Built1951 (1951)
In use1951–Present
Test information
Nuclear tests928

The Nevada National Security Sites (N2S2[1] or NNSS), popularized as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010,[2] is a reservation of the United States Department of Energy located in the southeastern portion of Nye County, Nevada, about 65 mi (105 km) northwest of the city of Las Vegas.

Formerly known as the Nevada Proving Grounds of the United States Army, the site was acquired in 1951 to be the testing venue for the American nuclear devices. The first atmospheric test was conducted at the site's Frenchman Flat area by the United States Atomic Energy Commission (USAEC) on January 27, 1951. About 928 nuclear tests were conducted here through 1994, 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).[3][4]

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.[5] Las Vegas experienced noticeable seismic effects. Westerly winds routinely carried the fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests, increasing cancer in Utah and elsewhere, according to a 1984 medical report.[6][7]

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.[8]

  1. ^ "Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas gets new name: Nevada National Security Site, or N2S2". Fox News. March 20, 2015. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  2. ^ "Nevada nuclear bomb site given new name". United Press International. August 23, 2010. Archived from the original on August 27, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
  3. ^ "NNSA Awards Nevada National Security Site Management & Operating Contract to Mission Support and Test Services, LLC". Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  4. ^ "Prime Contracts". NNSS. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
  5. ^ The Nevada Test Site. Emmet Gowin. Foreword by Robert Adams. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2019, pp. 148, 157. (Publ. DOE/NV-209, 1993).
  6. ^ Johnson, Carl (1984). "Cancer Incidence in an Area of Radioactive Fallout Downwind From the Nevada Test Site". Journal of the American Medical Association. 251 (2): 230–6. doi:10.1001/jama.1984.03340260034023. PMID 6690781.
  7. ^ Falk, Jim (1982). Global Fission:The Battle Over Nuclear Power, p. 134.
  8. ^ Western Shoshone spiritual leader dies[permanent dead link‍]