Nye County HistoryEST. 1864 · NEVADA

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Nevada Test Site

Historic Photographs of Nye County

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The Nevada National Security Site(NNSS), previously the Nevada Test Site (NTS), is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles northwest of the city of Las Vegas. Formerly known as the Nevada Proving Grounds, the site was established on 11 January 1951 for the testing of nuclear devices, covering approximately 1,360 square miles of desert and mountainous terrain. Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a 1-kiloton-of-TNT (4.2 TJ) bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on 27 January 1951. Many of the iconic images of the nuclear era come from the NTS. During the 1950s, the mushroom clouds from atmospheric tests could be seen for almost 100 mi. The city of Las Vegas experienced noticeable seismic effects, and the distant mushroom clouds, which could be seen from the downtown hotels, became tourist attractions.--- Status: Government Property Visitation Restricted - (1) photo
Original Date: 1957
Subject: Marines of the 4th provisional atomic exercise brigade jump off in an advance of the war games that followed detonation of the largest atomic bomb ever touched off in the U.S. at the Nevada Test Site yesterday morning. The marines were in trenches 5,700 yards from ground zero during the test. Helicopters in background took part in the exercise. There were no casualties although the shock of the blast caved in some trenches.