VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: Atomic Testing in Nevada Ended by the 1960s

Las Vegas Myth Debunked: Nevada Nuclear Testing Ended in 1960s

Editor's Note: "Vegas Myth Busted" is published every Monday, with a bonus Friday flashback edition. Today’s entry in our ongoing series originally appeared on July 24, 2023.

Director Christopher Nolan's film "Oppenheimer" brings the focus back to the era of U.S. nuclear weapons testing. The biopic explores physicist Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the world's first two atomic bombs.

After these bombs exploded at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II, the U.S. government began testing new nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site, now known as the Nevada National Security Base, located in Las Vegas Near 1951. This gave rise to the phenomenon of "nuclear tourism".

Most people believe that the era of nuclear testing ended sometime in the 1960s. Or in the 1970s. Or certainly in the 1980s. However, it wasn’t until 1992 that a nuclear bomb exploded 65 miles northwest of the Las Vegas Strip.

“This is a common misconception among our visitors,” said Joseph Kent, director of curatorial and exhibitions at the Atomic Museum. The Atomic Museum is a private national museum that has been operating in Las Vegas since 2005 as part of the 501(c)3 nonprofit Nevada Test Site Historic Foundation.

Why don’t more people realize that three years after the Mirage Hotel opened, the federal government was still detonating a nuclear bomb just a stone’s throw from Las Vegas?

Because nuclear testing is like prostitution in Las Vegas, it goes underground.

Truth Bomb

In January 1951, a nuclear warhead exploded at the Nevada Test Site (then known as the Nevada Test Site), the first of 100 similar explosions over the 1,355-square-mile plateau at the Nellis Air Force Artillery Bombing Range.

"This location was chosen because the national labs that develop these weapons can ship these weapons from one location at a much lower cost," Kent said. "It makes sense logistically because Las Vegas Sri Lanka had only about 25,000 residents at the time."

The largest atmospheric test was Operation Plumbbob in 1957. The explosion launched 74 kilotons, or 74,000 tons of TNT, equivalent to five Hiroshima bombs.

"The goal is really to make weapons more efficient and more powerful, and also to test small arms that can hit specific targets," Kent explained.

Operation Teapot was a series of 14 explosions in the first half of 1955 that measured the ability of homes, household items, food, shelters, metal buildings, equipment and mannequins (stand-ins for people) to withstand explosions at various distances.

Nuclear Attraction

A mushroom cloud rises over the Nevada desert about every three weeks, proving to be a spectacular tourist attraction. When Las Vegas nicknamed itself "Nuclear City," visitor numbers soared. Copa Room showgirl Lee Merlin was photographed as "Miss Atomic Bomb" in a mushroom cloud swimsuit. Even the famous "Welcome to Brilliant Las Vegas" sign from 1959 used the Atomic Age design style known as "Googie."

“This bomb captured the imagination of the American public in the early 1950s,” Kent said. “Everything from company logos to TV shows has a core theme. “In an episode of I Love Lucy, Lucy was seen mining uranium. "

Although the United States has provided no information about the type of weapon tested, the test itself is not top secret. The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce prints a calendar listing blast times, recommended viewing locations and planned viewing parties. The Desert Inn’s Sky Room hosts a popular event. This also applied to the coffee house in downtown Virginia, which was renamed the "Atomic Cafe" in 1952 and added a rooftop bar with great views. The Atomic Café is now the oldest independent bar in Las Vegas.

At the time, television viewing in Las Vegas was considered safe, although the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 provided a $100 million compensation package for any able-bodied resident of nearby Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The consequences they suffered suggest otherwise.

As part of the program, which ends on June 10, 2024, those in the upper hand of a blast could receive $50,000 each.

"I think people are really trying to normalize things so they're not so scary," Kent said. "Let's make it fun and silly so it's not so scary. If people had known at the time what the consequences of what they were seeing were going to be, it probably wouldn't be as exciting."

Underground Zero

After a while, the novelty of the rising death cloud wore off, and nuclear tourism ground to a halt. After the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963, fears subsided and the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This means a ban on nuclear weapons testing in the air, under water and in space.

The contract came about as the public became more aware of the dangers of testing," Kent said. "There were calls to do something different, either to stop testing or to find safer ways to do it. "

The United States has conducted a total of 828 underground tests at the Nevada Test Site. The reason it's not widely publicized is that none of the testing produced any mushroom clouds or precipitation that would have warranted warning anyone, just the occasional ground rumble and some massive craters still present at the site.

There is one significant and terrible exception. At 7:30 a.m. on December 18, 1970, an atomic bomb was lowered into a hole more than 900 feet underground and detonated as part of the Baneberry tests.About 300 feet from the hole, a crack opened in the ground and a plume of precipitation shot 8,000 feet into the atmosphere, eventually settling in parts of Nevada and California.

"The Baneberry test resulted in an unintended release of radioactive material," Kent said. "As with most accidents, they learned from it and know what to avoid in the future."

Two of the most exposed workers developed leukemia and died. After their widows fought for years for compensation, a court ruled the federal government was negligent but not liable. No compensation was given.

Field Test

Underground testing ceased in 1992, as the Soviet Union had collapsed, and Congress was the first to respond to Russia's announcement by passing a moratorium on testing. Although the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed by the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom has not been ratified by some major nuclear powers, including North Korea and Pakistan, the moratorium has been extended multiple times. and India.

Since 1992, the Nevada National Security Site has hosted counterterrorism and first responder training and supported the National Security Agency's inventory management program.

"Essentially, they are testing components of the weapons inventory that the United States must keep safe and secure as conditions change over time," Kent said.

The site also received 13,625 cubic meters of radioactive material from Idaho, the U.S. government confirmed last year.

While I cannot comment specifically, I can tell you that the NNSS has been a safe waste disposal option for decades, generally accepting low-level radioactive waste generated during DOE site cleanups. "

Tours of Nevada National Security Sites can be booked at nnss.gov.

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