Nevada Test Site

The Nevada National Security Sites (N2S2 or NNSS), popularized as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a reservation of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Energy/PRp6Cz8g">United States Department of Energy</a> located in the southeastern portion of <a href="/facts/Nye_County%2c_Nevada/BDeK44Sy">Nye County</a>, Nevada, about 65 mi (105 km) northwest of the city of <a href="/facts/Las_Vegas%2c_Nevada/DLwGjxJt">Las Vegas</a>. 
Formerly known as the Nevada Proving Grounds of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Army/WACWBEK9">United States Army</a>, the site was acquired in 1951 to be the testing venue for the American <a href="/facts/Nuclear_weapon/QVdBcMdm">nuclear devices</a>. The first <a href="/facts/Operation_Ranger/76FJWT7N">atmospheric test</a> was conducted at the site's <a href="/facts/Frenchman_Flat/1hcB39QD">Frenchman Flat</a> area by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Atomic_Energy_Commission/7VXrvVJ9">United States Atomic Energy Commission</a> (USAEC) on January 27, 1951. About 928 <a href="/facts/Nuclear_weapons_testing/s2srGDFP">nuclear tests</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Heliports/MJG4cfMJ">heliports</a>, and two airstrips. The site is <a href="/facts/Privately_held_company/B4wdkyJX">privately</a> managed and operated by Mission Support and Test Services LLC, a <a href="/facts/Joint_venture/f2Fv8QqA">joint venture</a> of <a href="/facts/Honeywell/qjkujlwJ">Honeywell</a>, <a href="/facts/Jacobs_Solutions/wb7ducMH">Jacobs</a>, and <a href="/facts/Huntington_Ingalls_Industries/3nDz8aXu">Huntington Ingalls</a>, on behalf of the <a href="/facts/National_Nuclear_Security_Administration/s0xIr6ka">National Nuclear Security Administration</a> (NNSA). 
The <a href="/facts/Mushroom_cloud/u6Cjh6Ig">mushroom clouds</a> from the 100 atmospheric tests were visible from almost 100 mi (160 km) away; they could be seen from the <a href="/facts/Las_Vegas_Strip/pDH2kIzl">Las Vegas Strip</a> in the early 1950s. Many iconic images at nuclear science museums throughout the United States come from the site. <a href="/facts/Las_Vegas/DLwGjxJt">Las Vegas</a> experienced noticeable <a href="/facts/Seismic/Lony1LYX">seismic</a> effects. <a href="/facts/Westerlies/d0YEBstH">Westerly winds</a> routinely carried the <a href="/facts/Nuclear_fallout/I1kJkLKt">fallout</a> from atmospheric nuclear tests, increasing cancer in <a href="/facts/Utah/te7zUyBX">Utah</a> and elsewhere, according to a 1984 medical report. 
The site has hosted 536 <a href="/facts/Nevada_Desert_Experience/q6vbNAyw">publicized</a> and organized <a href="/facts/Anti-nuclear_protests/URRQSpyb">anti-nuclear protests</a>, with 37,488 participants and 15,740 involved in arrests, according to government records.

Nevada Test Site open-in-new

Nevada Test Site