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NOTICE:
The page below has been permenently FROZEN as of January 2000.
Due to resource limitations,
this section of our website is no longer maintained,
so some links may not work and some information may be out of date.
We have retained this page for archive reference only,
and we cannot vouch for its accuracy.
Broken links will not be repaired,
and minor errors will not be corrected.
You are responsible for independently verifying any information you may find here.
Nevada Test Site
Although there may be useful links here,
this page is not actively maintained (after 1997). For new links
see our new Nevada Test Site page.
The Nevada Test Site
is a Rhode Island-sized testing ground
northwest of Las Vegas where the U.S. conducted the majority of its
nuclear weapons tests during the Cold War. From its founding in 1951
until the final Divider test in 1992, over 900 atomic explosions
were detonated in this barren desert. In the 1950s, atomic
tests were conducted above ground and resulted in devastating
health effects to the "Downwinders" northeast of the site in
Nevada and Utah. Since then, tests were conducted only underground,
resulting in a pockmarked "lunar" landscape. The
NTS is operated by the Department of Energy, which has become
increasingly open about the site's history and its environmental
problems. The NTS is bounded on three side by the Nellis Air
Force Range and adjoins "Area 51" a secret military
base at its northeast corner. Today, the Test Site is under
consideration for various storage and processing projects for
dangerous materials, and some non-nuclear and sub-critical explosions are
still conducted there.
[gc 12/5/96]
General Information
The Nevada Proving Ground was created by Pres. Harry Truman on Jan.
11, 1951, and the first atomic test, Operation Ranger, was conducted
on Jan. 27, 1951.
The final nuclear test, Divider, was conducted on Sept. 23, 1992.
In between, there were 99 above ground tests and over 800 below ground
tests.
The NTS is broken up into numbered areas of varying sizes, from 1
to 30, with the omission of Areas 13, 21, 24 and 28. (Area 13 is
an off-site location in the Nellis Range north of Groom Lake.)
Local Documents
External Links
- Department
of Energy Nevada Operations Office
- Searches
- Maps: Xerox
PARC Map Server. Old boundaries of Nellis range are shown in
red. More recent boundaries connect the two large red sections on
the north.
- Article: "A tour of the Test Site".
11/1/93
- NTS Radio Frequencies. Wackenhut Security
9/2/95
- Served Agencies
- History
- Official Information:
- Law and Government
- Federal Register articles
- Unofficial Information:
- Test Site Contractors:
- Former Contractors
- E.G. & G. (Edgerton, Germeschausen & Grier)
- R.E.E.Co. (Reynolds Electrical and Engineering, EG&G subsidiary)
- EG&G Energy Measurement Systems, official*
- Adjoining and Affiliated Facilities:
- Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project." (DOE): official*
- Major Points of Interest:
- Mercury. Company town used to house NTS workers, off US-95.
- Frenchman Flat. Early above ground Atomic testing.
- Control Point One (CP-1). Command Center for the Atomic tests.
- Yucca Flat. Later below ground Atomic testing.
- Sedan Crater. Largest bomb crater on the
NTS, and Snowboarding slope ?
- Papoose Lake Road. Leads to a secret Flying Saucer Base ? Bob Lazar.
- Mercury Highway. Leads to the secret facility at Area
51
- Rainier Mesa. Location of horizonal tunnels, equipped with a railroad
network.
- Pahute Mesa. Most recent area of underground testing.
- Jackass Flats. NERVA area, Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle
Application.
- Test Site Tales:
- Misc:
Information
The Dept. of Energy conducts free all-day public tours of the Nevada
Test Site.
Tours are usually conducted quarterly, and you need to sign up in advance.
Contact DOE at 702-295-0941.
For new links
see our new Nevada Test Site page.
Created: 1995
Last Modified: 1/8/97 gc.e
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