Nevada Test Site

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Nevada Test Site" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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.
Map showing location of the site
Coordinates	37°07′N 116°03′W / 37.117°N 116.050°W / 37.117; -116.050
Type	Nuclear Weapons Research Complex
Area	1,350 sq mi (3,500 km2)
Site information
Owner	Government of the United States
Operator	United States Department of Energy
Controlled by	National Nuclear Security Administration
Open to the public	Yes (Limited reservation and clearance is required)
Status	Active
Defining authority	United States Geological Survey (For geography, ground waters, terrains and mapping)
Site history
Built	1951 (1951)
In use	1951–Present
Test information
Nuclear tests	928

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) miles 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]