View source for Nevada Test Site

{{Short description|US Department of Energy reservation in Nevada}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}}{{More citations needed|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox military installation
| name                   = Nevada National Security Sites
| ensign                 = 
| ensign_size            = 
| native_name            = Nevada Test Site 
| partof                 = <!-- for elements within a larger site -->
| location               = [[Nye County, Nevada|Nye County]] in [[Nevada]] 
| nearest_town           = [[Las Vegas]], Nevada
| country                = [[United States]]
| image                  =Exercise Desert Rock I (Buster-Jangle Dog) 002.jpg
| alt                    = 
| caption                ={{small|A November 1951 nuclear test at Nevada Test Site, [[Operation Buster–Jangle]] "Dog". It had a yield of {{convert|21|ktonTNT}}, and was the first U.S. nuclear field exercise conducted with live troops maneuvering on land. Troops shown are {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} from the blast.}}
| image2                 = <!--secondary image, major command emblems for airfields -->
| alt2                   = 
| caption2               = 
| coordinates            =
{{coord|37|07|N|116|03|W|type:landmark_region:US-NV|display=inline,title}}
| gridref                = 
| type                   = Nuclear Weapons Research Complex
| image_map              = 
| image_mapsize          = 
| image_map_alt          = 
| image_map_caption      = 
| pushpin_map = United States
| pushpin_mapsize = 300
| pushpin_label_position = none
| pushpin_map_caption = Map showing location of the site
| pushpin_map_alt        = 
| pushpin_relief         = 
| pushpin_image          = 
| pushpin_label          = 
| pushpin_mark           = 
| pushpin_marksize       = 
| code                   = <!--facility/installation code -->
| site_area              = {{convert|1350|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| floor_area             = 
| height                 = 
| length                 = 
| ownership              = [[Government of the United States]]
| operator               = [[United States Department of Energy]]<!--- The site is privately managed and contracts are awarded by the NNSS. Many contractors have come and go.--->
| controlledby           = [[National Nuclear Security Administration]]
| open_to_public         = '''Yes'''<br>{{small|(Limited reservation and clearance is required)}}
| condition              = 
| site_other_label       =Defining authority  
| site_other             =[[United States Geological Survey]]<br>{{small|(For geography, ground waters, terrains and mapping)}}
| website                = 
| built                  = {{Start date|1951}}
| built_for              = 
| builder                = 
| architect              = 
| dates                  = 1951–Present
| materials              = 
| status                 = Active
| fate                   = <!--changed from demolished parameter-->
| demolished             = 
| battles                = 
| events                 = 
| current_commander      = <!-- current commander -->
| past_commanders        = <!-- past notable commander(s) -->
| garrison               = <!-- such as the 25th Bombardment Group -->
| occupants              = <!-- squadrons only -->
| designations           = 
| nrhp                   = 
| subcritical_tests   = 
| nuclear_tests       = 928
| thermonuclear_tests = 
| other_tests_label   = <!-- changed from "Other tests" to wording of your choice --> 
| other_tests         = 
| remediation         = 
| image3              = 
| alt3                = 
| caption3            = 
| footnotes              = <!-- catchall in case it's needed to preserve something in infobox that doesn't work in new code -->
}}

The '''Nevada National Security Sites''' ('''N2S2'''<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/nevada-test-site-north-of-las-vegas-gets-new-name-nevada-national-security-site-or-n2s2/| title=Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas gets new name: Nevada National Security Site, or N2S2| website=[[Fox News]]| date=2015-03-20| access-date=July 27, 2017| archive-date=August 1, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801000912/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/23/nevada-test-site-north-las-vegas-gets-new-nevada-national-security-site-ns.html| url-status=live}}</ref> or '''NNSS'''), popularized as the '''Nevada Test Site''' ('''NTS''') until 2010,<ref>{{cite news |title=Nevada nuclear bomb site given new name |date=August 23, 2010 |url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/08/23/Nevada-nuclear-bomb-site-given-new-name/UPI-39551282594195/ |access-date=August 23, 2010 |work=[[United Press International]] |archive-date=August 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827144415/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/08/23/Nevada-nuclear-bomb-site-given-new-name/UPI-39551282594195 |url-status=live }}</ref> is a reservation of the [[United States Department of Energy]] located in the southeastern portion of [[Nye County, Nevada|Nye County]], Nevada, about {{cvt|65|mi|km}} northwest of the city of [[Las Vegas, Nevada|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 weapon|nuclear devices]]. The first [[Operation Ranger|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 weapons testing|nuclear tests]] were conducted here through 1994, when the United States stopped its underground nuclear testing.

The site consists of about {{convert|1350|sqmi|abbr=on}} of desert and mountainous terrain. Some 1,100 buildings in 28 areas are connected by {{cvt|400|mi|km}} of paved roads, {{cvt|300|mi|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 Solutions|Jacobs]], and [[Huntington Ingalls Industries|Huntington Ingalls]], on behalf of the [[National Nuclear Security Administration]] (NNSA).<ref>{{cite web |title=NNSA Awards Nevada National Security Site Management & Operating Contract to Mission Support and Test Services, LLC |url=https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-awards-nevada-national-security-site-management-operating-0 |access-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115062643/https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-awards-nevada-national-security-site-management-operating-0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Prime Contracts |url=https://www.nnss.gov/pages/nfo/PrimeContracts/PrimeContracts.html |access-date=13 January 2022 |website=NNSS |archive-date=January 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102065503/https://www.nnss.gov/pages/NFO/PrimeContracts/PrimeContracts.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[mushroom cloud]]s from the 100 atmospheric tests were visible from almost {{convert|100|mi|abbr=on}} 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.<ref>''The Nevada Test Site''. [[Emmet Gowin]]. Foreword by [[Robert Adams (photographer)|Robert Adams]]. Princeton and Oxford: [[Princeton University Press]], 2019, pp. 148, 157. (Publ. DOE/NV-209, 1993).</ref> [[Las Vegas]] experienced noticeable [[seismic]] effects. [[Westerlies|Westerly winds]] routinely carried the [[Nuclear fallout|fallout]] from atmospheric nuclear tests, increasing [[Nevada Test Site#Cancer and test site|cancer]] in [[Utah]] and elsewhere, according to a 1984 medical report.<ref name="jama1984">{{cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Carl|year=1984|title=Cancer Incidence in an Area of Radioactive Fallout Downwind From the Nevada Test Site|journal=[[Journal of the American Medical Association]]|doi=10.1001/jama.1984.03340260034023|volume=251|issue=2|pages=230–6|pmid=6690781}}</ref><ref name="Falk, Jim 1982 p. 134">Falk, Jim (1982). ''Global Fission:The Battle Over Nuclear Power'', p. 134.</ref>

The site has hosted 536 [[Nevada Desert Experience|publicized]] and organized [[anti-nuclear protests]], with 37,488 participants and 15,740 involved in arrests, according to government records.<ref name="elynews.com">[http://www.elynews.com/articles/2007/07/18/news/news04.txt Western Shoshone spiritual leader dies]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=Balon Greyjoy |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Wfm area51 map en.png|thumb|250px|A map that details the [[Federal lands|federal land]] in southern Nevada, showing the site]]
The site was established as a {{convert|680|sqmi|adj=on}} area by President [[Harry S. Truman]] on December 18, 1950, within the [[Nevada Test and Training Range|Nellis Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range]].

===1951–1992===
{{more citations needed|section|date=January 2019}}
[[File:NTS - Warning handbill.jpg|thumb|upright|This handbill was distributed 16 days before the first nuclear device was detonated at the site.]]
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<ref name="DOE/NV-209">U.S. Department of Energy / Nevada Operations Office, ''United States Nuclear Tests – July 1945 through September 1992'', December 2000, [http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_209_REV15.pdf DOE/NV-209 Rev 15] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061012160826/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_209_REV15.pdf |date=October 12, 2006 }}</ref> (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).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.osti.gov/opennet/document/press/pc25tab1.html |title=One multiple test took place in Colorado; the other 62 were at NTS |access-date=January 29, 2008 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091546/http://www.osti.gov/opennet/document/press/pc25tab1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The site contains many [[subsidence crater]]s from the testing.

The site was the United States' primary location for tests smaller than {{convert|1|MtonTNT|abbr=on|adj=on}}. 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]].

[[File:Atomic test seen from Las Vegas.jpg|thumb|Mushroom cloud seen from [[downtown Las Vegas]].]]
During the 1950s, the [[mushroom cloud]]s from atmospheric tests could be seen for almost {{convert|100|mi|abbr=on}}. The city of Las Vegas experienced noticeable seismic effects, and the distant mushroom clouds, which could be seen from the downtown hotels, [[Atomic tourism#Nuclear tests|became tourist attractions]]. The last atmospheric test detonation at the site was "[[Little Feller (nuclear tests)|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.

[[File:Sedan Plowshare Crater.jpg|thumb|[[Sedan crater]]]]
One notable test shot was the "[[Sedan (nuclear test)|Sedan]]" shot of [[Operation Storax]] on July 6, 1962, a {{convert|104|ktonTNT|adj=on}} shot for [[Operation Plowshare]], which sought to prove that nuclear weapons could be used for peaceful means in creating bays or canals. It [[Sedan Crater|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.<ref name="bull">{{cite journal|author1=Frank von Hippel|title=Subcritical experiments|url=http://thebulletin.org/subcritical-experiments|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|access-date=November 26, 2014|date=December 14, 2012|archive-date=December 5, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205153402/http://thebulletin.org/subcritical-experiments|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.courthousenews.com/nevada-balks-at-feds-plan-to-store-plutonium-near-vegas/| author=Paul Roupe| title=Nevada Balks at Feds' Plan to Store Plutonium Near Vegas| publisher=Courthouse News| date=December 3, 2018| access-date=December 4, 2018| archive-date=December 4, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204140552/https://www.courthousenews.com/nevada-balks-at-feds-plan-to-store-plutonium-near-vegas/| url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-12|title=US acknowledges shipping Idaho radioactive waste to Nevada|url=https://apnews.com/article/environment-and-nature-las-vegas-nevada-idaho-national-security-3da299374149fdb8dc719ff6e2f96789|access-date=2022-01-20|work=AP News|language=en|archive-date=January 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120185233/https://apnews.com/article/environment-and-nature-las-vegas-nevada-idaho-national-security-3da299374149fdb8dc719ff6e2f96789|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Destruction and survivability testing==
[[File:Apple-2House (10500 ft) 001.jpg|right|thumb|This model two-story house was constructed {{convert|10,500|ft}} away from the ground-zero of the ''[[Apple-2]]'' nuclear test.]]  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.<ref>{{citation| title=Operation Cue, A.K.A. Nuking Houses for Emergency Preparedness| url=https://www.popsci.com/blog-network/vintage-space/operation-cue-aka-nuking-houses-emergency-preparedness| date=November 5, 2014| first=Amy Shira| last=Teitel| access-date=May 7, 2018| archive-date=May 17, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517045510/http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/vintage-space/operation-cue-aka-nuking-houses-emergency-preparedness| url-status=live}}</ref>  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.<ref>{{citation| title=Operation Cue (1964 revision)| publisher=U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Civil Defense| year=1964| url=https://archive.org/details/Operatio1964| access-date=May 7, 2018}}</ref>

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.

==Environmental impact==
Each of the below-ground explosions—some as deep as 5,000 feet (1.5&nbsp;km)—vaporized a large chamber, leaving a cavity filled with [[Radioactive decay|radioactive]] rubble. About a third of the tests were conducted directly in [[aquifer]]s, and others were hundreds or thousands of feet below the [[water table]].<ref name="vart">Ralph Vartabedian. [https://web.archive.org/web/20091116102728/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-radiation-nevada13-2009nov13,0,3201021,full.story Nuclear scars: Tainted water runs beneath Nevada desert] ''Los Angeles Times'', November 13, 2009.</ref>

When underground explosions ended in 1992, the Department of Energy estimated that more than {{convert|300|MCi|EBq}} of radioactivity remained in the environment at that time, making the site one of the most contaminated locations in the United States. In the most seriously affected zones, the concentration of radioactivity in groundwater reaches millions of picocuries per liter. (The federal standard for drinking water is 20 picocuries per liter (0.74&nbsp;Bq/L).) Although radioactivity levels in the water continue to decline over time, the longer-lived isotopes like plutonium or uranium could pose risks for thousands of years.<ref name="vart" />

The Department of Energy has more than 48 monitoring wells at the site. Because the contaminated water poses no immediate health threat, the department ranked the site as low priority for clean-up.<ref name="vart" /> In 2009, [[tritium]] with a half-life of 12.3 years was first detected in groundwater off-site in [[Pahute Mesa]], near the locations of the 1968 Benham and 1975 Tybo tests.<ref name="LV">{{cite news|author1=Keith Rogers|title=Report: Nuclear testing remnants remain radioactive|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/report-nuclear-testing-remnants-remain-radioactive|access-date=November 26, 2014|work=Las Vegas Review Journal|date=November 19, 2014|archive-date=November 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128065102/http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/report-nuclear-testing-remnants-remain-radioactive|url-status=live}}</ref>

The DOE issues an annual [[environmental monitoring]] report containing data from the monitoring wells both on and off site.<ref name="LV" />

[[Janice C. Beatley]] started to study the botany of the Nevada test site in 1962 when she created 68 study sites. The intention had been to study the effect of radiation on the plants but this plan had to be changed when the United States abandoned atmospheric testing in 1963. The sites however became important because they recorded long term change through 1980. Much of her data was never published; however it was all transferred to the [[United States Geological Survey]] after her death. It was "an ideal place to conduct long-term ecosystem research."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/FS-040-01/|title=FS-040-01 Monitoring Of Ecosystem Dynamics In The Mojave Desert: The Beatley Permanent Plots|website=pubs.usgs.gov|access-date=2020-04-21|archive-date=July 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705230338/https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/FS-040-01/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Protests and demonstrations==
{{See also|Anti-nuclear protests in the United States}}
[[File:Anti-nuclear protest at the NTS 3.jpg|thumb|upright|Members of [[Nevada Desert Experience|Desert Lenten Experience]] hold a prayer vigil during the Easter period of 1982 at the entrance to the site.]]
In 1983, four Greenpeace activists made the first incursion into the site of an active test.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-missoulian-greenpeace-protestors-wal/159666257/| title=Greenpeace protestors walk into testing area |publisher=[[Missoulian]] |location=Missoula, MT |page=8 |date=April 21, 1983|access-date=November 24, 2024}}</ref> Two American men, one from West Germany and one from the United Kingdom hiked 30 miles on foot to hide in the desert near ground zero at Yucca Flats.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/04/18/Four-antinukers-elude-choppers/6874419490000/ | title=Four Anti-Nukers Elude Choppers |via= UPI Archives }}</ref> The four evaded capture for a week with the stated objective of delaying the test, and were charged with trespassing.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/04/20/Four-anti-nuclear-protesters-Wednesday-quit-their-five-day-mountain-roost/7403419662800/ |title=Four anti-nuclear protesters Wednesday quit their five-day mountain roost |date=April 20, 1983 |newspaper=[[United Press International]] |access-date=November 22, 2024 }}</ref>

From 1986 through 1994, two years after the United States ended nuclear weapons testing, 536 demonstrations were held at the site involving 37,488 participants and 15,740 arrests, according to government records.<ref name="elynews.com"/>

In 1986, a coalition of organizations including Greenpeace sent protestors into Frenchman's Flat.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/04/07/Greenpeace-invades-Nevada-Test-Site/1497513234000/ | title=Greenpeace 'invades' Nevada Test Site |via= UPI Archives }}</ref>

On February 5, 1987, more than 400 people were arrested trying to enter the site after nearly 2,000 demonstrators held a rally to protest nuclear weapons testing. Those arrested included the astronomer [[Carl Sagan]] and the actors [[Kris Kristofferson]], [[Martin Sheen]], and [[Robert Blake (actor)|Robert Blake]]. Five Democratic members of Congress attended the rally: [[Thomas J. Downey]], [[Mike Lowry]], [[Jim Bates (politician)|Jim Bates]], [[Leon E. Panetta]], and [[Barbara Boxer]].<ref name="query.nytimes.com">Robert Lindsey. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DE113EF935A35751C0A961948260 438 Protesters are Arrested at Nevada Nuclear Test Site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511150359/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5DE113EF935A35751C0A961948260 |date=May 11, 2020 }} ''New York Times'', February 6, 1987.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=943&dat=19870206&id=UrUOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=74IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5306,3878706 |title=Biggest Demonstration Yet at Test Site |access-date=December 20, 2015 |archive-date=May 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510103936/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=943&dat=19870206&id=UrUOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=74IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5306,3878706 |url-status=live }}</ref>

American Peace Test (APT) and Nevada Desert Experience (NDE) held most of these.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vYW67obBjSEC&pg=PA165 Political protest and cultural revolution By Barbara Epstein] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506034201/https://books.google.com/books?id=vYW67obBjSEC&pg=PA165#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=May 6, 2024 }} p. 165.</ref> In March 1988, APT held an event where more than 8,000 people attended a ten-day action to "Reclaim the Test Site", where nearly 3,000 people were arrested, including more than 1,200 in one day. This set a record for most civil disobedience arrests in a single protest.

On October 12, 1992, an 11-day protest took place at the Test Site. At the invitation of the Western Shoshone Tribe and [[Corbin Harney]], an anti-nuclear activist and spiritual leader for the [[Western Shoshone|Newe]] people, over 2,000 protesters from 12 different countries gathered for "Healing Global Wounds". In their media work, protesters and organizers demanded an end to nuclear weapons testing and return of the test site to the Western Shoshone people. Camped in the desert, participants took part in anti-racism and peaceful civil disobedience trainings. They planned actions and demonstrations, eventually using culverts and other means to enter the Test Site where 530 were arrested by [[Wackenhut]] Security forces on charges of trespassing. Full-scale nuclear weapons testing did not resume.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/10/12/At-least-530-people-demonstrating-at-a-Nevada-nuclear/9295718862400/ | title=At least 530 people demonstrating at a Nevada nuclear... |via= UPI Archives }}</ref>
 
After 1994, Shundahai Network in cooperation with [[Nevada Desert Experience]] and [[Corbin Harney]] continued the protests of the work at the site and staged efforts to stop a repository for highly [[radioactive waste]] adjacent to the test site at nearby [[Yucca Mountain]].

==Modern usage==
[[File:NNSA-NSO-1189.jpg|thumb|[[Weapon of mass destruction|WMD]]/counter-terrorism training exercise at the site.]]
The site continues to be used for nuclear weapons research and development. This includes subcritical testing. These tests are conducted jointly by [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]], and the British [[Atomic Weapons Establishment]]. A recent one was ''Ediza'' (2019),<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Brien |first=Nolan |url=https://www.llnl.gov/news/subcritical-experiment-captures-scientific-measurements-advance-stockpile-safety |title=Subcritical experiment captures scientific measurements to advance stockpile safety |work=[[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory|LLNL]] |date=24 May 2019 |access-date=16 January 2021 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105120717/https://www.llnl.gov/news/subcritical-experiment-captures-scientific-measurements-advance-stockpile-safety |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''Nightshade A'' (2020).<ref>{{cite report |last1=Danielson |first1=Jeremy |last2=Bauer |first2=Amy L. |title=Nightshade Prototype Experiments (Silverleaf) |work=[[Los Alamos National Laboratory|LANL]] |publisher=[[Office of Scientific and Technical Information|OSTI]] |date=September 2016 |doi=10.2172/1338708|osti=1338708 |doi-access=free |url=https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1338708 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The site offers monthly public tours, often booked months in advance. Visitors are not allowed to bring cameras, binoculars, or cell phones, nor are they permitted to pick up rocks for souvenirs.<ref>[http://www.nv.doe.gov/outreach/tours.aspx U.S. DOE/NNSA – Nevada Site Office, Nevada National Security Site Tours] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219203650/http://www.nv.doe.gov/outreach/tours.aspx |date=February 19, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nevada National Security Site |url=https://nnss.gov/pages/PublicAffairsOutreach/NNSStours.html |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=nnss.gov |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315102549/https://nnss.gov/pages/PublicAffairsOutreach/NNSStours.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

While there are no longer any explosive tests of nuclear weapons at the site, there is still testing done to determine the viability of the United States' aging nuclear arsenal. Additionally, the site is the location of the Area&nbsp;5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex, which sorts and stores low-level [[radioactive waste]] that is not [[Transuranium element|transuranic]] and has a half life of less than 20 years.

The Radiological/Nuclear WMD Incident Exercise Site (T-1) replicates multiple terrorist radiological incidents with train, plane, automobile, truck, and helicopter props. It is located in Area 1, at the former site of tests EASY, SIMON, APPLE-2, and GALILEO.<ref>[http://www.ctosnnsa.org/WMDIncidentSite.html Counter Terrorism Operations Support – WMD Incident Site] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725212515/http://www.ctosnnsa.org/WMDIncidentSite.html |date=July 25, 2011 }}</ref>

==Landmarks and geography==
{{GeoGroup|section=Landmarks and geography}}
A table of interesting places in and around the NNSS is presented here, which corresponds with many of the descriptions in the Nevada Test Site Guide.<ref>{{Cite report|url=http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_715_Rev1.pdf|access-date=December 25, 2013|title=Nevada Test Site Guide|publisher=National Nuclear Security Administration|volume=DOE/NV-715 Rev 1|year=2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227180818/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_715_Rev1.pdf|archive-date=February 27, 2013}}</ref>
{{clear}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Interesting locations in the NNSS
 |-
 ! Name
 ! Location
 ! Notes
 |-
 ! [[Mercury, Nevada|Mercury]]
 | Area 23 {{coord|36.6594|-115.99642|name=Mercury}}
 | The base housing and office area for the site.
 |-
 ! Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE), formerly known as U1a
 | Area 1 {{coord|37.00819|-116.05894|name=U1a}}
 | PULSE, formerly known as U1a, is an underground laboratory used for physics experiments that obtain technical information about the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. U1h and U1g, shafts which add data access, ventilation and other utilities to the facility, are just north of this entrance.
 |-
 ! Industrial area
 | Area 1 {{coord|37.06561|-116.13411|name=Industrial area}}
 | Houses $20 million worth of mining tools; contains an area for creating site grout and stemming mixes.
 |-
 ! Doomtown
 | Area 5 {{coord|36.79805|-115.93416|name=Doomtown}}
 | The original effects test area and close cousin to Survival City in Area 1.
 |-
 ! EPA's NTS Dairy
 | Area 15 {{coord|37.20829|-116.04037|name=EPA Dairy}}
 | A dairy and pig farm maintained from 1964 to 1984 by the EPA, mainly to provide experimental data for uptake of milk contamination, following ''Operation Schooner''.
 |-
 ! [[Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository]]
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.85282|-116.42672|name=Yucca Mountain}}
 | Yucca Mountain radioactive disposal site. This is the north entrance; the south entrance is about {{convert|1.7|mi}} SSW.
 |-
 ! A Tunnel
 | Area 16 {{coord|37.01245|-116.19565|name=A tunnel entrance}}
 | Shoshone Mountain, Tunnel A Entrance.
 |-
 ! B Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.19345|-116.19887|name=B tunnel entrance}}
 | [[Rainier Mesa]], Tunnel B Entrance.
 |-
 ! C, D, and F Tunnels
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.19322|-116.19999|name=C, D and F tunnel entrances}}
 | Rainier Mesa, tunnels C, D, and F Entrances – separate, but very close together.
 |-
 ! E Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.18816|-116.19477|name=E tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel E Entrance.
 |-
 ! G Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.1694|-116.1947|name=G tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel G Entrance.
 |-
 ! I Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.21876|-116.16036|name=I tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel I Entrance.
 |-
 ! J Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.21884|-116.16319|name=J tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel J Entrance.
 |-
 ! K Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.21878|-116.15891|name=K tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel K Entrance.
 |-
 ! N Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.20169|-116.19187|name=N tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel N Entrance.
 |-
 ! P Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.22906|-116.1535|name=P tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel P Entrance.
 |-
 ! T Tunnel
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.21589|-116.16711|name=T tunnel entrance}}
 | Rainier Mesa, Tunnel T Entrance.
 |-
 ! X Tunnel
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.74542|-116.32816|name=X tunnel entrance}}
 | Two tunnel entrances, used by the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory for depleted uranium testing.
 |-
 ! Operation Icecap
 | Area 7 {{coord|37.0808|-116.04558|name=Icecap}}
 | Operation Icecap was being built up when the 1992 Comprehensive Test Ban was signed.  The equipment was left in place, including the {{convert|.5|e6lb|kg}} instrumentation payload, the crane, the wiring, and many of the recording trailers.
 |-
 ! Operation Gabbs
 | Area 2 {{coord|37.13796|-116.07353|name=Gabbs}}
 | Operation Gabbs was another shaft detonation scheduled for 1993 that was laid to rest by the '92 test ban treaty.
 |-
 ! Operation Greenwater
 | Area 20 {{coord|37.23086|-116.44725|name=Greenwater}}
 | The third suspended test was Operation Greenwater, the test of the space X-Ray laser system, a part of the [[Strategic Defense Initiative|Star Wars concept]]. The {{convert|45|m}} tower remains on the site.
 |-
 ! [[Operation Teapot#Apple-2|Survival City]]
 | Area 1 {{coord|37.05305|-116.10339|name=Survival City}}
 | The alternative to Doomtown. Used in the Teapot Desert/Rock exercises, and the Civil Defence/PR effort Operation Cue. Name taken from "News of the Day" newsreel about the Apple 2 test.
 |-
 ! Fortune Training Area
 | Area 1 {{coord|36.98689|-116.04384|name=Fortune Training Area}}
 | Fortune was a training facility for building bomb test sites.  Site reused for Unicorn test in 2005–06.
 |-
 ! [[Divine Strake]]
 | Area 16 {{coord|37.02245|-116.18203|name=U16b tunnel, "Divine Strake"}}
 | U16b tunnel entrance complex, including ''Divine Strake'' proposed 700t chemical blast tunnel on the north, the latter heavily protested, delayed, and eventually abandoned.
 |-
 ! Plutonium Valley
 | Area 11 {{coord|36.97659|-115.96228|name=Plutonium Valley}}
 | Area contains scattered raw plutonium from plutonium dispersal safety tests.
 |-
 ! Original [[BREN Tower]]
 | Area 4 {{coord|37.09869|-116.09685|name=BREN original placement}}
 | Original site of the Bare Reactor Experiment in Nevada (BREN), a reactor on a tower which emulated bomb explosions for medical studies.  A Japanese village was constructed around it because it focused on war bomb injuries.  BREN was later moved to Area 25.
 |-
 ! [[BREN Tower]]
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.78062|-116.24358|name=BREN move here}}
 | The BREN (Bare Reactor Experiment, Nevada) is a {{convert|453|m|abbr=on}} tall tower originally in Yucca Flat, used to experimentally irradiate ground targets with gamma and neutrons.  Moved to Jackass Flat, for HENRE (High Energy Neutrons Action Experiment) and demolished in 2012.
 |-
 ! [[NERVA|Nerva]] Test Stand
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.83162|-116.27809|name=Nerva test stand}}
 | Test stand for the "Nerva" nuclear rocket.
 |-
 ! [[Nuclear thermal rocket|KIWI-TNT]]
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.83285|-116.27914|name=KIWI-TNT}}
 | Test of the Nerva engine to destruction, to determine worst-case scenario for runaway reactor.  1.6 Mci released.
 |-
 ! DAF
 | Area 6 {{coord|36.89827|-116.04814|name=DAF}}
 | Device Assembly Facility: bombs and components are made ready for testing here.
 |-
 ! RWMS-5
 | Area 5 {{coord|36.85758|-115.9551|name=RWMS-5}}
 | Radioactive Waste Management Facility, Area 5
 |-
 ! E-MAD Building
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.80646|-116.30476|name=E-MAD}}
 | Engine Maintenance and Disassembly Building, used for handling radioactive NERVA engines; site being dismantled.
 |-
 ! R-MAD Building
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.8161|-116.23936|name=R-MAD}}
 | Reactor Maintenance and Disassembly Building, maintained radioactive NERVA reactors.  Also used in the MX program; site being dismantled.
 |-
 ! ETS-1 Test Stand
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.8321|-116.31217|name=ETS-1 test stand}}
 | Engineering Test Stand 1, a stand for testing nuclear rockets in a standard upright position.
 |-
 ! [[LGM-118 Peacekeeper|MX]] Testing Area
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.69946|-116.37952|name=MX test area}}
 | MX missile test track and silo
 |-
 ! JASPER
 | Area 27 {{coord|36.77496|-116.11703|name=JASPER}}
 | Houses the Joint Actinide Shock Physics Experimental Research, a two-stage light-gas gun for shock experiments.
 |-
 ! Camp 12
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.19598|-116.15624|name=Camp 12}}
 | Camp for miners and others working on the Rainier Mesa in the '70s.
 |-
 ! BEEF
 | Area 4 {{coord|37.09611|-116.09262|name=BEEF}}
 | Big Explosives Experimental Facility. Explosive testing facility utilized by Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel deployed to the NNSS.
 |-
 ! Area 3 RWMS
 | Area 3 {{coord|37.04445|-116.02425|name=RWMS}}
 | Low level Radioactive Waste Management Facility.  Waste (mostly dirt) is buried in a selection of old subsidence craters.
 |-
 ! [[Pulsed Power|Atlas Pulse Power]]
 | Area 6 {{coord|36.97946|-116.03965|name=Atlas Pulse Power}}
 | The Atlas Pulse Power Facility
 |-
 ! Apple-2 houses
 | Area 1 {{coord|37.04434|-116.07397|name=Apple-2 houses}}
 | Three "typical American" houses built for the Apple-2 civil defense event.  The one on the left is {{convert|1.5|mi}} from the 29kt blast, the right one {{convert|2|mi}}.  The left one is on the monthly tour bus route.  The two towers are from later seismic studies.
 |-
 ! News Nob
 | Area 6 {{coord|36.945|-116.05|name=News Nob}}
 | The location from which VIPs and news people would watch nuclear tests.
 |-
 ! Annie Emplacement
 | Area 5 {{coord|36.7128|-115.9673|name=Annie emplacement}}
 | Location of "[[Atomic Annie]]" (M65 280mm nuclear field artillery) emplacement for [[Upshot-Knothole Grable]] test.<ref>[https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1821223 Desert Research Institute Cultural Resources Report TR118, Project Number188305, DOE/NV/0003590-53] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219163650/https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1821223 |date=February 19, 2024 }}, p.  29</ref>
 |-
 ! BACHUS Site
 | Area 12 {{coord|37.19569|-116.1584|name=BACHUS}}
 | Biotechnology Activity Characterization by Unconventional Signatures, a biowarfare simulation facility.
 |-
 ! Rad/NucCTEC
 | Area 6 {{coord|36.89026|-116.03093|name=Rad/NucTEC}}
 | Radiological/Nuclear Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Complex Homeland Security operational nuclear test and training center
 |-
 ! [[Project Pluto]]
 | Area 26 {{coord|36.81744|-116.14906|name=Project Pluto}}
 | Ram-jet nuclear-powered cruise missile engine development project; site being dismantled.
 |-
 ! Lockheed-Martin AOF
 | Area 6 {{coord|36.92692|-116.00755|name=AOF – UAV test area}}
 | Aerial Operations Facility; a testing area for UAVs.
 |-
 ! [[Desert Rock exercises|Camp Desert Rock]]
 | Area 22 {{coord|36.62593|-116.01937|name=Camp Desert Rock}}
 | The Army Camp that housed the participants in Operations Desert Rock I-VIII. Across the road is the Pig Hilton, where test subjects were housed.
 |-
 ! Test Control Point
 | Area 6 {{coord|36.93453|-116.05482|name=Test Control Point}}
 | NTS Test control center (CP-1). These two buildings controlled the tests performed at the site.
 |-
 ! NNSS-CTOS
 | Area 1 {{coord|37.05263|-116.10308|name=CTOS}}
 | Counter Terrorism Operations Support, a location for training in emergency preparedness in radiological emergencies.
 |-
 ! Super Kukla
 | Area 27 {{coord|36.77907|-116.11041|name=Super Kukla}}
 | A naked reactor test area designed to test equipment under a hostile radioactive environment, 1965–78.
 |-
 ! Bleachers
 | Area 5 {{coord|36.7014|-115.9731|name=VIP Bleachers}}
 | Bleacher area for viewing of Frenchman Flat events.(14 Atmospheric Tests)<ref>Nevada Test Site Guide DOE/NV-715 Rev. 1, p. 8</ref>
 |-
 ! BODF
 | Area 4 {{coord|37.08068|-116.08697|name=BODF}}
 | Buried Objects Detection Facility, area to test and calibrate mine sweeping equipment against buried objects.
 |-
 ! Gun Turret [[USS Louisville (CA-28)|USS ''Louisville'']]
 | Area 2 {{coord|37.13945|-116.10904|name=Gun Turret}}
 | Used in calibration of ''Whitney, Shasta, Diablo'' and ''Smoky'' tests. Made of "old" steel from 1940s U.S. heavy cruiser (USS ''Louisville'' CA 28) damaged from kamikaze on January 5, 1945; it was "aimed" at the shot cab to get radiation data.
 |-
 ! Hazmat Spill Facility
 | Area 5 {{coord|36.80138|-115.95075|name=Hazmat Spill Facility}}
 | Hazmat Spill Test Facility – used to test Hazmat strategies and tactics. Became the Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex in 2005.
 |-
 ! RBIFF
 | Area 26 {{coord|36.81645|-116.16486|name=RBIFF}}
 | Re-entry Body Impact Fuze Flights
 |-
 ! Ship of the Desert
 | Area 5 {{coord|36.87486|-115.92957|display=inline=Ship of the Deserte}}
 | A massive tracked structure designed to capture neutrons from the ''Diagonal Line'' experiment.
 |-
 ! Rock Valley Study
 | Area 25 {{coord|36.68406|-116.19397|name=Rock Valley Study}}
 | The circles are the Rock Valley Study Area, environmental research area for studying radiation in the desert ecosystem.
 |-
 ! Climax Mine
 | Area 15 {{coord|37.22352|-116.05895|name=Climax Mine}}
 | Location of an old silver mine, recycled for three nuclear tests and the Spent Fuel Test in which spent nuclear fuel was stored in a mine drift to study the effects on the granite walls.
 |-
 ! The Forest
 | Area 5 {{coord|36.795|-115.951|name=The Forest}}
 | The famous forest on the desert, swept by the blasts of ''Encore'' and ''Grable''.<ref>Shots Encore to Climax – The Final Four Tests of the UPSHOT-KNOTHOLE Series DNA6018F, p. 46</ref>
|-
![[The House in the Middle]]
|Area 5 {{coord|36.788757|-115.954654|name=House in the Middle}}
|1954 short documentary from the Encore test. A clean, freshly painted house might save your home in a nuclear attack.<ref>[https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1821223 Desert Research Institute Cultural Resources Report TR118, Project Number188305, DOE/NV/0003590-53] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219163650/https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1821223 |date=February 19, 2024 }}, p. 15</ref>
|}

==Cancer and test site==
{{main|Downwinders}}
[[File:US fallout exposure.png|thumb|right|300px|[[Iodine-131]] fallout exposure in [[Rad (unit)|rads]]]]
Many communities east of the Nevada Test Site, including [[Cedar City]], [[Enterprise, Utah|Enterprise]], and [[St. George, Utah]], received fallout from above-ground [[nuclear testing]] in the [[Yucca Flats]] at the site. Winds routinely carried the fallout of these tests directly through St. George and southern Utah.  Marked increases in [[cancer]]s such as [[leukemia]], [[lymphoma]], [[thyroid cancer]], [[breast cancer]], [[melanoma]], [[bone cancer]], [[brain tumor]]s, and gastrointestinal tract cancers were reported from the mid-1950s through 1980.<ref name="jama1984" /><ref name="Falk, Jim 1982 p. 134" />

On May 19, 1953, the 32-[[kiloton]] (130 [[joule|TJ]]) atomic bomb (nicknamed "Harry") was detonated at the site. The bomb later gained the name "[[Upshot-Knothole Harry|Dirty Harry]]" because of the amount of off-site [[Nuclear fallout|fallout]] generated by the bomb.<ref>[http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0526-05.htm Meeting Dirty Harry in 1953] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618094720/http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0526-05.htm |date=June 18, 2013 }}. Chester McQueary, ''CommonDreams.org.''</ref>

A 1962 [[United States Atomic Energy Commission]] report found that "children living in St. George, Utah may have received doses to the [[thyroid]] of [[radioiodine]] as high as 120 to 440 [[Rad (unit)|rads]]" (1.2 to 4.4 Gy).<ref name="ieer">Pat Ortmeyer and Arjun Makhijani. "[http://www.ieer.org/latest/iodnart.html Let Them Drink Milk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820105629/http://www.ieer.org/latest/iodnart.html |date=August 20, 2014 }}," ''[[The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'', November/December 1997, via [http://www.ieer.org/index.html IEER] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413011459/http://www.ieer.org/index.html |date=April 13, 2012 }}. Retrieved October 31, 2007.</ref> A 1979 study reported in the ''[[New England Journal of Medicine]]'' concluded that:

<blockquote>A significant excess of [[leukemia]] deaths occurred in children up to 14 years of age living in Utah between 1959 and 1967. This excess was concentrated in the cohort of children born between 1951 and 1958, and was most pronounced in those residing in counties receiving high fallout.<ref>Gerald H. Clarfield and William M. Wiecek (1984). ''Nuclear America: Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States 1940–1980'', Harper & Row, New York, p. 215.</ref></blockquote>

In 1982, a lawsuit brought by nearly 1,200 people accused the government of negligence in atomic and/or nuclear weapons testing at the site, which they said had caused leukemia and other [[cancer]]s. Dr. [[Karl Z. Morgan]], Director of Health Physics at [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]], testified that radiation protection measures in the tests were substandard to best practices at the time.<ref name="karl">{{Cite web |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502EFDE1238F930A25755C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print |title=Karl Z. Morgan, 91, Founder of the Field Of Health Physics, Dies in Tennessee |access-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-date=May 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506034211/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/13/us/karl-z-morgan-91-founder-of-the-field-of-health-physics-dies-in-tennessee.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a report by the [[National Cancer Institute]], released in 1997, it was determined that 90 atmospheric tests at the site deposited high levels of [[radioactive]] [[iodine]]-[[isotope|131]] (5.5 [[becquerel|exabecquerels]]) across much of the contiguous United States, especially in the years 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1957{{snd}}doses large enough, it claimed, to produce 10,000 to 75,000 cases of [[thyroid cancer]]. The [[Radiation Exposure Compensation Act]] of 1990 allowed for people living downwind of the site for at least two years in particular Nevada, Arizona, or Utah counties, between January 21, 1951, and October 31, 1958, or June 30 and 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 2014, over 28,000 [[downwinders|downwinder]] claims for a total compensation of $1.9&nbsp;billion had been processed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/omp/omi/Tre_SysClaimsToDateSum.pdf |title=Radiation Exposure Compensation System: Claims to Date Summary of Claims Received by 05/08/2014 |access-date=February 24, 2006 |archive-date=September 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907192321/http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/omp/omi/Tre_SysClaimsToDateSum.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, the [[Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program]] Act of 2000 provides compensation and medical benefits for nuclear weapons workers who may have developed certain work-related illnesses.<ref>[https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/ocasabt.html Office of Compensation Analysis and Support] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910114954/https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/ocasabt.html |date=September 10, 2017 }}. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.</ref>

Uranium miners, mill workers, and ore transporters are also eligible for $100,000 compassionate payment under the [[Radiation Exposure Compensation Act|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 the site==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* [[Operation Ranger]] – 1951
* [[Operation Buster–Jangle]] – 1951
* [[Operation Tumbler–Snapper]] – 1952
* [[Operation Upshot–Knothole]] – 1953
* [[Operation Teapot]] – 1955
* [[Project 56 (nuclear test)|Project 56]] – 1955
* [[Operation Plumbbob]] – 1957
* [[Project 57]], [[Project 58/58A]] – 1957–1958
* [[Operation Hardtack II]] – 1958
* [[Operation Nougat]] – 1961–1962
* [[Operation Plowshare]] – 1961–1973 (sporadic, at least one test a year)
* [[Operation Sunbeam]] (aka Dominic II) – 1962
* [[Operation Storax]] – 1963
* [[Operation Niblick]] – 1963–1964
* [[Operation Whetstone]] – 1964–1965
* [[Operation Flintlock (Nuclear test)|Operation Flintlock]]&nbsp;– 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 (Nuclear test)|Operation Anvil]] – 1975–1976
* [[Operation Fulcrum]] – 1976–1977
* [[Operation Cresset]] – 1977–1978
* [[Operation Quicksilver (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 (Nuclear test)|Operation Musketeer]] – 1986–1987
* [[Operation Touchstone]] – 1987–1988
* [[Operation Cornerstone]] – 1988–1989
* [[Operation Aqueduct]] – 1989–1990
* [[Operation Sculpin]] – 1990–1991
* [[Operation Julin]] – 1991–1992
{{col-end}}

== Areas ==
[[File:USGS NTS detonations.png|thumb|Nuclear explosions in various areas of the site<ref name="usgs2003">United States Geological Survey. [http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr-03-125/ofr-03-125.pdf ''Geologic Surface Effects of Underground Nuclear Testing''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325162805/http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr-03-125/ofr-03-125.pdf |date=March 25, 2009 }}. Accessed on April 18, 2009.</ref>]]
The site is broken down into areas.  Some of the areas and their uses include the following:

===Area 1===
[[File:Nevada National Security Site’s U1a Complex (51400163008).jpg|thumb|Tunnel in the U1a Complex within Area 1]]
Area&nbsp;1 held eight nuclear tests for a total of nine detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />
Four early atmospheric tests were conducted above Area 1 in the early 1950s, as well as three underground tests in 1971 and 1990. In 1955, a [[Civil Defense]] experiment (called [[Operation Cue]] in the press) studied nuclear blast effects on various building types; a few structures still stand.

Heavy drilling equipment and concrete construction facilities are sited in Area 1. Non-destructive X-ray, gamma ray, and subcritical detonation tests continue to be conducted in Area 1.

The radioactivity present on the ground in Area 1 provides a radiologically contaminated environment for the training of [[Certified first responder|first responders]].<ref>[http://www.nv.doe.gov/nationalsecurity/homelandsecurity/responder.aspx First Responder Training] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930002024/http://www.nv.doe.gov/nationalsecurity/homelandsecurity/responder.aspx |date=September 30, 2011 }}. ''US Department of Energy. Nevada Operations Office. National Security. Homeland Security''</ref>

===Area 2===
{{main|Area 2 (Nevada National Security Site)}}

Area 2 was the site of 144 tests comprising 169 detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" /> A test named "Gabbs" was intended for early 1993 but was cancelled in 1992 due to a pre-emptive halt to testing based on the [[Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty]].<ref name="DOE/NV-1212"/>

===Area 3===
Area&nbsp;3 held 266 nuclear tests for a total of 288 detonations, including Upshot-Knothole 'Harry',  more than in any other area of the site.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

As part of [[Operation Tinderbox]], on June 24, 1980, a large satellite prototype ([[Defense Satellite Communications System#DSCS II|DSCS III]]) was subjected to radioactivity from the "Huron King" shot in a vertical line-of-sight (VLOS) test undertaken in Area&nbsp;3. This was a program to improve the database on nuclear hardening design techniques for defense satellites.

The final nuclear test detonation at site was [[Operation Julin]]'s "Divider" on September 23, 1992, just prior to the moratorium ending all nuclear testing.<ref name="Gross">{{cite journal|last1=Gross|first1=Daniel A.|title=An Aging Army|journal=Distillations|date=2016|volume=2|issue=1|pages=26–36|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/an-aging-army|access-date=March 20, 2018|archive-date=March 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320230842/https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/an-aging-army|url-status=live}}</ref> Divider was a safety experiment test shot that was detonated at the bottom of a shaft sunk into Area&nbsp;3.

In 1995 and 1997, plutonium-contaminated soil from "Double Tracks" and "Clean Slate 1" of [[Operation Roller Coaster]] (1963) was picked up from the [[Tonopah Test Range]] and brought to the Area&nbsp;3 Radioactive Waste Management Site as a first step in eventually returning Tonopah Test Range to an environmentally neutral state. Corrective action regarding the contaminated material from the "Clean Slate&nbsp;2" and "Clean Slate 3" tests has yet to be agreed upon.<ref name="DOE/NV-1046">{{cite web |url=http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_1046.pdf |title=Plutonium Dispersal Tests at the Nevada Test Site |author=National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office |date=April 2010 |work=Fact Sheets |access-date=December 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927020910/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_1046.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref>

===Area 4===
[[File:NTS - Big Explosives Experimental Facility.jpg|thumb|right|Big Explosives Experimental Facility (BEEF) in Area&nbsp;4]]
Area&nbsp;4 held 40 nuclear tests for a total of 44 detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

It is home to the Big Explosives Experimental Facility (BEEF).<ref name="DOE/NV-715">''Nevada Test Site Guide'', National Nuclear Security Administration, [http://www.nv.energy.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_715_Rev1.pdf DOE/NV-715] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016144932/http://nv.energy.gov/library/publications/historical/DOENV_715_Rev1.pdf |date=October 16, 2011 }}</ref>

===Area 5===
{{main|Area 5 (Nevada National Security Site)}}
Area&nbsp;5 held 19 nuclear tests.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />
Five atmospheric tests were detonated, starting on January 27, 1951, at Area&nbsp;5 as part of [[Operation Ranger]]. These were the first nuclear tests at the site. Further tower detonations were studied at Area&nbsp;5, and the ''[[Upshot-Knothole Grable|Grable]]'' shot which was fired from a [[M65 Atomic Cannon]] located in Area&nbsp;11 exploded in Area&nbsp;5. The ''[[Operation Plumbbob|Priscilla]]'' test was conducted at Area&nbsp;5 on June 24, 1957.

Five underground tests were set up at Area&nbsp;5; four of those included accidental release of radioactive materials. On March 16, 1968, physicist [[Glenn T. Seaborg]] toured the upcoming ''Milk Shake'' shot of [[Operation Crosstie]].<ref name="radiochemistry.org">[http://www.radiochemistry.org/history/nuke_tests/pdf/nts_cdrom3.pdf Radiochemistry.org. History. Nuke tests] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620161944/http://radiochemistry.org/history/nuke_tests/pdf/nts_cdrom3.pdf |date=June 20, 2010 }}. ''Nevada Test Site Images'' (cdrom 3; PDF file)</ref>
''Milk Shake''{{'}}s radioactive release was not detected outside of the site's boundaries.

===Area 6===
[[File:Device Assembly Facility 2019 extracted.jpg|thumb|Device Assembly Facility in Area&nbsp;6]]
[[File:NTS - Control Point.jpg|thumb|Control Point in Area&nbsp;6]]
Area&nbsp;6 held four nuclear tests for a total of six detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" /> The area features an asphalt runway, that was constructed on top of a dirt landing strip, that had existed since the 1950s. Some buildings, including a hangar, are situated near the runway.<ref>{{cite news |url =http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada/you-know-area-51-just-what-the-world-area-6 |title =You know Area 51, but just what in the world is Area 6? |date =March 5, 2016 |access-date =March 5, 2016 |newspaper =Las Vegas Review-Journal |last =Rogers |first =Keith |archive-date =March 6, 2016 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160306095516/http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada/you-know-area-51-just-what-the-world-area-6 |url-status =live }}</ref>

The Device Assembly Facility (DAF)<ref name="DOE/NV-715" /> was originally built to consolidate nuclear explosives assembly operations. It now serves as the Criticality Experiments Facility (CEF).

The Control Point<ref name="DOE/NV-715" /> is the communication hub of the site. It was used by controllers to trigger and monitor nuclear test explosions.

In 1982, while a live nuclear bomb was being lowered underground, the base [[Richard Mingus#Under attack|came under attack]] by armed combatants. The combatants turned out to be a security team conducting an improperly scheduled drill. {{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

More recently, an airstrip in Area 6 is in use by the Departments of Defense and Homeland security to test UAV sensors.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-05 |title=You know Area 51, but just what in the world is Area 6? |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/you-know-area-51-but-just-what-in-the-world-is-area-6/ |access-date=2024-04-14 |website=Las Vegas Review-Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=December 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205060551/https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/you-know-area-51-but-just-what-in-the-world-is-area-6/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Area 7===
Area&nbsp;7 held 92 nuclear tests.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

During [[Operation Buster]], four successful tests were conducted via airdrop, with bomber aircraft releasing nuclear weapons over Area&nbsp;7.

Shot "Icecap" planned for 1993 was abandoned in Area&nbsp;7 following 1992's testing moratorium. The tower, shaft and wiring remain in place, along with a crane intended to lower the nuclear test package into the shaft.<ref name="DOE/NV-1212">{{cite web |url=http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_1212.pdf |title=Icecap |author=National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office |date=January 2011 |work=Fact Sheets |access-date=December 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927020831/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_1212.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref>

===Area 8===
[[File:Operation Emery - Baneberry.jpg|thumb|upright|Radioactive materials were accidentally released from the 1970 Baneberry shot in Area&nbsp;8.]]
Area 8 held 13 nuclear tests for a total of 15 detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

Area 8 hosted the "Baneberry" shot of [[Operation Emery]] on December 18, 1970. The Baneberry {{convert|10|ktonTNT|abbr=on|adj=on}} test detonated {{convert|900|ft|m}} below the surface but its energy cracked the soil in unexpected ways, causing a fissure near ground zero and the failure of the shaft stemming and cap.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://asc.llnl.gov/news/news_archive/baneberry.pdf |title=Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. News Archive. Tarabay H. Antoun. ''Three Dimensional Simulation of the Baneberry Nuclear Event'' |access-date=April 24, 2010 |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527170837/https://asc.llnl.gov/news/news_archive/baneberry.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> A plume of fire and dust was released, raining fallout on workers in different locations within the site. The radioactive plume released {{convert|6.7|MCi|PBq}} of radioactive material, including {{convert|80|kCi|PBq|abbr=on}} of Iodine<sup>131</sup>.<ref name="cancer.gov">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cancer.gov/i131/fallout/Chapter2.pdf |title=National Cancer Institute. National Institute of Health. ''History of the Nevada Test Site and Nuclear Testing Background'' |access-date=April 24, 2010 |archive-date=December 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221175816/http://www.cancer.gov/i131/fallout/Chapter2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Area 9===
Area&nbsp;9 held 115 nuclear tests for a total of 133 detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

In Area 9, the {{convert|74|ktonTNT|abbr=on|adj=on}} "Hood" test on July 5, 1957, part of [[Operation Plumbbob]], was the largest atmospheric test ever conducted within the continental United States; nearly five times larger in yield than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. A balloon carried Hood up to 460 meters above the ground where it was detonated. Over 2,000 troops took part in the test in order to train them in conducting operations on the nuclear battlefield. {{convert|11|MCi|PBq|lk=on}} of [[iodine-131]] (<sup>131</sup>I) were released into the air.<ref name="cancer.gov" />

===Area 10===
[[File:Nevada Test Site craters.jpg|thumb|North end of Yucca Flat, where most tests have been conducted.]]
Area&nbsp;10 held 57 nuclear tests for a total of 71 detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

The first underground test at the site was the "Uncle" shot of [[Operation Jangle]]. Uncle detonated on November 29, 1951, within a shaft sunk into Area&nbsp;10.

The "John" shot of Plumbbob, on July 19, 1957, was the first test firing of the nuclear-tipped [[AIR-2 Genie]] air-to-air rocket designed to destroy incoming enemy bombers with a nuclear explosion. The {{convert|2|ktonTNT|abbr=on|adj=on}} warhead exploded approximately three miles above five volunteers and a photographer who stood unprotected at "ground zero" in Area&nbsp;10 to show the safety of battlefield nuclear weapons to personnel on the ground.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://calitreview.com/273 |title=California Literary Review. Peter Kuran. Images from ''How To Photograph an Atomic Bomb''. (22 October 2007) |access-date=April 24, 2010 |archive-date=May 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524175010/http://calitreview.com/273 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The test also demonstrated the ability of a fighter aircraft to deliver a nuclear-tipped rocket and avoid being destroyed in the process. A Northrop [[F-89 Scorpion|F-89J]] fired the rocket.

The [[Sedan (nuclear test)|"Sedan" test]] of [[Operation Storax]] on July 6, 1962, a {{convert|104|ktonTNT|abbr=on|adj=on}} shot for the [[Operation Plowshare]] which sought to discover whether nuclear weapons could be [[peaceful nuclear explosion|used for peaceful means]] in creating lakes, bays or canals. The explosion displaced 12 million tons of earth, creating the [[Sedan crater]] which is 1,280 feet (390 m) wide and 320 feet (100 m) deep.

===Area 11===
{{main|Area 11 (Nevada Test Site)}}
Area&nbsp;11 held 9 nuclear tests.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />
Four of the tests were weapons safety experiments conducted as [[Project 56 (nuclear test)|Project 56]]; they spread so much radioactive material  that Area 11 has been called "Plutonium Valley". As is the case with Area 1, background radiation levels make Area 11 suitable for realistic training in methods of radiation detection.<ref name="DOE/NV-1046" />

===Area 12===
{{main|Area 12 (Nevada National Security Site)}}
Area 12 held 61 nuclear tests between 1957 and 1992, one of which involved two detonations. All tests were conducted below Rainier and Aqueduct mesas.

Area 12 was the primary location for tunnel tests and used almost exclusively for that purpose. The tunnel complexes mined into Rainier and Aqueduct Mesa include the B-, C-, D-, E-, F-, G-, I-, J-, K-, N-, P-, and T-Tunnel complexes, and the R- and S- shafts.

===Area 13===
There is no Area 13 within NNSS, though such a name is attached to a section of [[Nellis Air Force Range]] which abuts the northeastern corner of Area&nbsp;15.<ref>[http://ndep.nv.gov/boff/ffco1.htm Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. Bureau of Federal Facilities. Federal Facility Agreement & Consent Order. ''FFACO Description of Facilities''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606051915/http://ndep.nv.gov/boff/ffco1.htm |date=June 6, 2013 }}</ref> [[Project 57]]'s weapons safety test was conducted here on April 24, 1957, spreading particles emitting alpha radiation over a large area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA995165|title=Operation PLUMBBOB. Summary Report, Test Group 57, Nevada Test Site|publisher=Defense Nuclear Agency |access-date=December 18, 2010|date=October 10, 1958|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823130434/http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA995165|archive-date=August 23, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

===Area 14===
Area 14 occupies approximately {{convert|26|sqmi|km2}} in the central portion of the NNSS. Various outdoor experiments are conducted in this area.<ref name="DOE/EIS-246-D">National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office, ''Draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement Nevada'', ch.2, July 2011, [http://nnsa.energy.gov/sites/default/files/nv_sweis/environmentalimpact/v1b1/Chapter%2002.pdf DOE/EIS-246-D] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018105613/http://nnsa.energy.gov/sites/default/files/nv_sweis/environmentalimpact/v1b1/Chapter%2002.pdf |date=October 18, 2011 }}</ref> No atmospheric or underground nuclear tests were conducted in Area 14.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

===Area 15===
[[File:NTS - EPA Farm 003.jpg|thumb|[[United States Environmental Protection Agency|EPA]] farm in Area&nbsp;15]]
Three underground detonations took place in area 15 in the 1960s.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

''Pile Driver'' was a notable [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] test. A large underground installation was built to study the survivability of hardened underground bunkers undergoing a nuclear attack. Information from the test was used in designing hardened missile silos and the [[North American Aerospace Defense Command]] facility in Colorado Springs.<ref name="DOE/NV-715" />

The abandoned Crystal and Climax mines are found in Area 15. Storage tanks hold contaminated materials.<ref name="DOE/NV-715" />

From 1964 to 1981, the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] operated a {{convert|36|acre|m2|adj=on}} experimental farm in Area&nbsp;15. Extensive plant and soil studies evaluated the uptake of pollutants in farm-grown vegetables and from the forage eaten by a dairy herd of some 30 [[Holstein Friesian cattle|Holstein cows]]. Scientists also studied horses, pigs, goats, and chickens.<ref name="DOE/NV-715" />

===Area 16===
Area&nbsp;16 held six nuclear tests.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

===Area 17===
No nuclear tests took place in Area&nbsp;17.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

===Area 18===
Area&nbsp;18 held five nuclear tests<ref name="DOE/NV-209" /> and includes the [[Pahute Mesa Airstrip]].<ref name=usgs2003 />

===Area 19===
{{Main|Pahute Mesa}}
Pahute Mesa is one of four major nuclear test regions within the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). It occupies {{convert|243|sqmi|km2}} in the northwest corner of the NNSS. The eastern section is known as Area 19 and the western section as Area 20.

A total of 85 nuclear tests were conducted in Pahute Mesa between 1965 and 1992. Three of them&nbsp;– Boxcar, Benham and Handley&nbsp;– had a yield of over one megaton. Three tests were conducted as part of [[Operation Plowshare]] and one as part of Vela Uniform.

===Area 20===
{{Main|Pahute Mesa}}
The western section of Pahute Mesa, with a portion of the 85 nuclear tests conducted in the Pahute Mesa occurring in this section.

===Area 21===
There is no Area 21 within NNSS, though such a name is attached to a section of [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]].<ref name="gizmodo.com">{{Cite web |url=https://gizmodo.com/why-is-it-called-area-51-1679175108 |title=Gizmodo. ''Why Is It Called Area 51'' |access-date=October 8, 2019 |archive-date=October 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008190428/https://gizmodo.com/why-is-it-called-area-51-1679175108 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Area 22===
No nuclear tests took place in Area&nbsp;22.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" /> Area 22 once held [[Camp Desert Rock]], a staging base for troops undergoing atmospheric nuclear blast training; as many as 9,000 troops camped there in 1955. [[Desert Rock Airport]]'s runway was enlarged to a {{convert|7500|ft|m|abbr=on}} length in 1969 by the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]. It is a transport hub for personnel and supplies going to NNSS and also serves as an emergency landing strip.

===Area 23===
No nuclear tests took place in Area&nbsp;23.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" /> The town of [[Mercury, Nevada]] lies within Area&nbsp;23. The area is the main pathway to and from NNSS test locations by way of [[U.S. Route 95]]. An open sanitary landfill is located to the west of Mercury, and a closed hazardous waste site abuts the landfill. Mercury is also the main management area for the site which includes a bar and large cafeteria, printing plant, medical center, warehousing, fleet management, liquidation and recycling center, engineering offices, dormitories, and other administrative areas for both the O&M contractors, LLNL, LANL, and SNL personnel. At its height in the 1950s and '60s, it also held several restaurants, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and a motel.

===Area 24===
There is no Area 24 within NNSS, though such a name is attached to a satellite site of the NNSS referred to as the North Las Vegas Facility.<ref name="gizmodo.com"/>

===Area 25===
{{Main|Area 25 (Nevada National Security Site)}}

===Area 26===
[[File:Nevada Test Site - Port Gaston - 1.JPG|thumb|Mostly abandoned buildings and structures at Port Gaston]]
No nuclear tests took place in Area&nbsp;26,<ref name="DOE/NV-209" /> the most arid section of the NNSS. An old abandoned mine, the Horn Silver Mine, was used for waste disposal between 1959 and the 1970s; some of the waste is radioactive. Water flow past the shaft could pose a human health risk, so corrective action has been planned.<ref>[http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=818649 DOE Scientific and Technical Information. ''Corrective Action Investigation Plan for Corrective Action Unit 527: Horn Silver Mine, Nevada Test Site, Nevada: Revision 1 (Including Records of Technical Change No. 1, 2, 3, and 4)'' (6 December 2002) ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525092216/http://www.osti.gov/bridge/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=818649 |date=May 25, 2011 }} {{doi|10.2172/818649}}</ref>

In 1983 the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]], the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]], and the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] performed the NUWAX-83 tests near Port Gaston in Area 26, simulating the explosion of a nuclear-armed helicopter and the resulting spread of nuclear debris over 65 acres. The radioactive material used to simulate the accident became inert in less than six months.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Associated Press|title=Nevada, US Simulate Nuclear Accident|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19830506&id=_wkwAAAAIBAJ&pg=6863,2608308&hl=en|access-date=May 13, 2015|newspaper=[[The Ledger|Lakeland Ledger]]|date=May 6, 1983|archive-date=April 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425054409/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=19830506&id=_wkwAAAAIBAJ&pg=6863,2608308&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

An eight-square-mile complex was constructed in Area 26 in support of [[Project Pluto]].<ref name="DOE/EIS-246-D" /> It consisted of six miles of roads, the critical assembly building, the control building, the assembly and shop buildings, and utilities.<ref name="DOE/NV-763">{{cite web |url=http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_763.pdf |title=Project Pluto |author=National Nuclear Security Administration / Nevada Site Office |date=April 2010 |work=Fact Sheets |access-date=December 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303003018/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_763.pdf |archive-date=March 3, 2012 }}</ref>  Those buildings have been used recently as mock reactor facilities in the training of [[Certified first responder|first responders]].

===Area 27===
{{Main|Area 27 (Nevada National Security Site)}}

===Area 28===
Area 28 no longer exists; it was absorbed into Areas 25 and&nbsp;27.<ref name="DOE/NV-715" />

===Area 29===
No nuclear tests took place in Area&nbsp;29.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" /> The rugged terrain of Area 29 serves as a buffer between other areas of NNSS. A [[helipad]] is present at Shoshone Peak.

===Area 30===
[[File:Crosstie Buggy 001.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Crosstie Buggy]]'' test]]
Area 30 occupies approximately {{convert|59|sqmi|km2}} at the center of the western edge of the NNSS. Area 30 has rugged terrain and includes the northern reaches of Fortymile Canyon. It is used primarily for military training and exercises.<ref name="DOE/EIS-246-D" />

Area 30 was the site of a single nuclear test, the ''[[Crosstie Buggy]]'' row charge experiment, part of [[Operation Plowshare]], which involved five simultaneous detonations.<ref name="DOE/NV-209" />

==See also==

{{Portal|Nevada}}
* [[Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents]]
*[[Savannah River Site]]– the DOE reservation with similar operations as NTS
* [[Semipalatinsk Test Site]]
* [[Novaya Zemlya#Nuclear testing|Novaya Zemlya Test Site]]
* [[Area 51]]/[[Area 52 (Nevada)|Area 52]]
* [[Totskoye nuclear exercise]]
* [[International Day against Nuclear Tests]]

==References==
{{reflist|35em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nevada Test Site}}
* [https://www.nnss.gov/ DOE Nevada Test Site]
* [http://digital.library.unlv.edu/ntsohp/ The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100830054900/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/publications/historical/DOE_MA0518.pdf Origins of the Nevada Test Site]
* [http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/documents/cfr/title28/part79.html Radiation Exposure Compensation Act] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050201082816/http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/documents/cfr/title28/part79.html |date=February 1, 2005 }}
* [http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/atomic_tests_nevada/ ''Atomic Test Effects In The Nevada Test Site Region'' published by the AEC in 1955, a document with a civilian audience in mind.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060524075353/http://www.et.byu.edu/~shb34/school/ground-zero.pdf Account of NTS fallout in 1955] (PDF)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060128223326/http://rex.nci.nih.gov/massmedia/Fallout/contents.html ''Study Estimating Thyroid Doses of I-131 Received by Americans From Nevada Atmospheric Nuclear Bomb Test''], [[National Cancer Institute]] (1997)
* Rice, James. ''Downwind of the Atomic State: Atmospheric Testing and the Rise of the Risk Society''. (New York University Press, 2023): https://nyupress.org/9781479815340/downwind-of-the-atomic-state/
* [https://archive.today/20130117072231/http://www.atomcentral.com/nts.html Images of the Nevada Test Site] on the atomic bomb website
* Location maps:
** [http://www.ufomind.com/area51/maps/overview/general.jpg Small map]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20070812061207/http://desertsecrets.com/ntscolormap.html Detailed map showing the individual areas (archived 2007-08-12 at archive.org)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060721233704/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=places%2FNevada+Test+Site%2C+Nevada Annotated bibliography for the Nevada Test Site from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [http://www.sltrib.com/arts/ci_10849700 'Exposed' spreads anti-nuke message]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/sets/72157624701776252/detail/ Nevada Test Site aerial photos] by [[Doc Searles]], all licensed [[Creative Commons]]
{{hidden begin|title=[[Historic American Buildings Survey]] (HABS) documentation:|toggle=left}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-26-A |id=nv0165 |title=Nevada Test Site, Reactor Maintenance & Disassembly Complex, Junior Hot Cell, Jackass Flats, Area 25, South of intersection of Roads F & G, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-27 |id=nv0166 |title=Nevada Test Site, Japanese Village, Area 4, Yucca Flat, 4-04 Road near Rainier Mesa Road, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-27-A |id=nv0167 |title=Nevada Test Site, Japanese Village, Type B Structure |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-27-B |id=nv0168 |title=Nevada Test Site, Japanese Village, Type C Structure |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-27-C |id=nv0169 |title=Nevada Test Site, Japanese Village, Type C Elevation |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28 |id=nv0225 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Area 15, Yucca Flat, 10-2 Road near Circle Road, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28-A |id=nv0279 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Laboratory Building |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28-B |id=nv0280 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Storage Shed |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28-C |id=nv0281 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Silo Type |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28-D |id=nv0282 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Quonset Hut Type |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28-E |id=nv0283 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Shelter Unit Type |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28-F |id=nv0284 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Weather Tower |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NV-28-G |id=nv0285 |title=Nevada Test Site, Environmental Protection Agency Farm, Power Substation |link=no}}
{{hidden end}}
{{hidden begin|title=[[Historic American Engineering Record]] (HAER) documentation:|toggle=left}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-25 |id=nv0207 |title=Nevada Test Site, Engine Maintenance Assembly & Disassembly Facility, Area 25, Jackass Flats, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-29-A |id=nv0246 |title=Nevada Test Site, Reactor Maintenance Assembly & Disassembly Facility, Area 25, Jackass Flats, Junction of Roads F & G, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-30-A |id=nv0247 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell C Facility, Building No. 3210, Area 25, Jackass Flats, Road J, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-30-B |id=nv0248 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell C Facility, Elevated Water Tower |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-30-C |id=nv0249 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell C Facility, West Camera Bunker |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-31 |id=nv0250 |title=Nevada Test Site, Super Kukla Facility, Area 27, Rock Valley, South of Cane Spring Road, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-31-A |id=nv0251 |title=Nevada Test Site, Super Kukla Facility, Containment Building |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-31-B |id=nv0252 |title=Nevada Test Site, Super Kukla Facility, High Bay |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-32 |id=nv0255 |title=Nevada Test Site, Pluto Facility, Area 26, Wahmonie Flats, Cane Spring Road, Mercury vicinity, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-32-A |id=nv0256 |title=Nevada Test Site, Pluto Facility, Disassembly Building |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-32-B |id=nv0257 |title=Nevada Test Site, Pluto Facility, Guard House |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-32-C |id=nv0258 |title=Nevada Test Site, Pluto Facility, Water Filtering System Brock House |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-32-D |id=nv0259 |title=Nevada Test Site, Pluto Facility, Water Tower |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-32-E |id=nv0260 |title=Nevada Test Site, Pluto Facility, Test Car Wash Stand |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-33 |id=nv0261 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell A Facility, Area 25, Jackass Flats, Road F, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-33-A |id=nv0262 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell A Facility, Test Cell A Building & Addition |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-33-B |id=nv0263 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell A Facility, Tunnel |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-33-C |id=nv0264 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell A Facility, Spherical Dewar |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-33-D |id=nv0265 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell A Facility, Moveable Shed |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-33-E |id=nv0266 |title=Nevada Test Site, Test Cell A Facility, Bunker |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-37-A |id=nv0321 |title=Nevada Test Site, Frenchman Flat Test Facility, Main Switching Bunker, Intersection of 5-03 Road & Short Pole Line Road, Area 5, Frenchman Flat, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-37-B |id=nv0322 |title=Nevada Test Site, Frenchman Flat Test Facility, Well Five Booster Stations |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NV-47 |id=nv0475 |title=Nevada Test Site, BREN Tower Complex, Jackass Flats, Area 25, Mercury, Nye County, NV |link=no}}
{{hidden end}}

{{United States Department of Energy}}
{{Nuclear weapons tests of the United States }}
{{US anti-nuclear movement}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Nevada Test Site| ]]
[[Category:Nuclear test sites]]
[[Category:American nuclear test sites]]
[[Category:Nevada historical markers]]
[[Category:Geography of Nye County, Nevada]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Nye County, Nevada]]
[[Category:Continuity of government in the United States]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Nevada]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:British nuclear test sites]]
[[Category:Atomic tourism]]
[[Category:1951 establishments in Nevada]]