The Nevada National Security Site, originally the Nevada Test
Site, was the home of America’s domestic nuclear weapons testing. 100 open air tests, or “shots” as they are
called by NNSS, were conducted in the 50’s and 60’s and 828 underground tests
were conducted until 1992. The site is
still used for subcritical testing, DHS training, weapons R&D, weapons
assembly, radioactive waste storage, and other activities not discussed. It’s also a good place to take a device one
finds with nuclear materials mated with explosives, that is if you didn’t want
to bury it where you found it.
|
GRABBLE - May 25, 1953 |
The site has tours open to the public once a month, but
reservations need to be made in advance.
More information on the free tours is available on their website. The problem is their site looks like it hasn’t
been updated in a year and the email address is dead. What you should do is call National Security
Technologies (tour operator company) at 702-295-0944 and ask about tour
availability. Frequently there are
cancelations so short notice booking is possible. I booked my aunt and I on a tour about two
weeks before the tour date, others on the tour reserved space about a year ago.
|
PRISCILLA - June 24, 1957 |
The tour was great!
The tour guide worked at the site doing nuclear tests for 20 years and
is very passionate about the area and its history. The tour departs Las Vegas in a new coach bus
in the morning and arrived back in the afternoon. No cameras or electronic devices are
permitted. The NNSS is very desolate,
but there are some fun things to view.
Frenchman Flats was the original areal test site and still has remnants
of the test structures. The railway trestles
are an amazing display of the destructive force of a relatively small
blast. Some of the test houses are still
standing too. Some of underground
craters are huge; Sedan for example is more than 1,200 feet wide and 350 feet
deep. The bus also drove us into the
Bilby crater to help give a sense of scale. The landscape is pot marked with dozens and
dozens of craters. There are also the
remnants of the cancelled US-UK Icecap test.
This test was a few weeks from detonation when the testing moratorium
was signed. All the test facilities are
in place and it looks ready to go on short notice. It’s somewhat eerie to see it 21 years later,
but is a great visual of what testing was like.
|
Icecap Test |
Some of the modern uses for the Nevada National Security
Site are also displayed. There was a
tour of the radioactive waste dump that was interesting (I’ve also very
comfortable with how waste is stored). We
also drove through a DHS training area with quite a few wrecked vehicles. Some of the current uses were kept a good
distance away and Area 51 is about 12 miles from the Sedan crater.
|
Sedan Shot |
It was a great tour and fun way to experience Las Vegas off
the strip. I also recommend the MobMuseum in downtown if you have time. The
Westin on Flamingo felt dated, but it’s the closest SPG location to The
Strip.
|
NNSS Landscape |