Hills Have Eyes

8/2/2019 Hills Have Eyes

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Huron King Test Chamber

Visual Line of Siteunderground nuclear test(yield less than 20 kilotons)conducted June 24, 1980

Tested the effects of asystem generatedelectromagnetic pulse on afull-scale operating military

Defense SatelliteCommunications System


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Icecap Ground Zero

Location for underground nuclear test scheduled for thespring of 1993

Moratorium on nuclear weapons testing on September 23,1992

Planned test range was 20 - 150kilotons and would have beenconducted 1,550 feet underground

Tower is 157-feet tall

Inside is a 300,000 pounddiagnostic canister suspendedfrom the top of the tower


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Non-nuclear high-explosive tests

Capable of 70,000pounds of explosives

Big Explosive Experimental Facility (BEEF)


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Sedan Crater

Excavation experiment using a

104-kiloton thermonuclear device

(part of the Plowshare Program)

Conducted on July 6, 1962

Detonated 635 feet underground


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Sedan Crater(continued)

Displaced 12 million tons of earth

Crater is 1,280 feet in diameter

and 320 feet deep

Released seismic energyequivalent to a 4.75 magnitude

earthquake

Listed on the National Register

for Historic Places on April 1, 1994 Currently part of the Soils sub-project


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Soils Sub-Project Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, nuclear safety

experiments, and evaluation tests for peaceful uses of nuclearexplosives conducted at the NNSS and Nevada Test and

Training Range (operated by the U.S. Air Force) resulted in the

radioactive contamination of surface soils

Soils sub-project is responsible for:

126 Corrective Action Sites

Characterizing and/or remediating surface soil contamination

Ensuring appropriate controls (i.e. postings, barriers, etc.) arein place at the sites and conducting long-term site monitoring,

as needed


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Industrial Sites Sub-Project(continued)

The Industrial Sitessub-project remediates the

contaminated sites

Sites include leach fields,

sumps, disposal wells,

tanks, contaminated waste

piles, ordnance sites, etc.

1,112 Corrective Action Sites

1,103 formally closed



Apple II Houses

29-kiloton test wasdetonated from a 500-fttower on May 5, 1955

7,800 ft to the east of the

tower are the remains of awooden two story house

Part of a Civil Defenseexercise



Counter Terrorism OperationsSupport (CTOS)/Center forRadiological Nuclear Training

Includes more than 10 acres withmore than 20 separate training

venues First responder training to take

action in preventing or mitigatingterrorist use of radiological ornuclear devices

More than 100,000 first respondershave been trained since 1998

T-1 Training Area



Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL)provides technologies, equipment, andnational response teams to search forimprovised nuclear devices andradiation dispersal devices (dirty

bombs) RSL-Andrews provides the national

capital region response RSL-Nellis provides other national

response

Also provides consequencemanagement teams if a device were todetonate

NNSS Plays Central Role inNational Emergency Response



Defense Threat Reduction Agency testsadvanced penetrator weapons Relevant geology

Large tunnel complexes as availabletargets Numerous old bunkers used as targets

Cooperation/coordination with Nellis AirForce Base

Other defense missions Special forces training Sensor development and testing

U.S. Department of DefenseActivities: Advanced Weapons

Concepts at the NNSS



Joint Actinide Shock PhysicsExperimental Research (JASPER)

Study properties andresponses of specialnuclear materials underhigh pressure

87 shots to date (34plutonium [Pu] shots)

- First shot: JAS001March 19, 2001

- First Pu shot: JAS021July 8, 2003



Train responders in

prevention/response to terroristradiological/nuclear material

Unique NNSS training complexesand capabilities simulate realisticscenarios in radiation and chemical

environment More than 110,000 responders

trained since 1999

Homeland Security and Defense



Nevada National Security Site:

A Historical Look



U.S. enters World War II in 1941 after Japanese attackPearl Harbor

U.S. Manhattan Project begins developing first atomicbomb in 1942 to influence the outcome of the war

Manhattan Project tests first atomic bomb in New Mexicoon July 16, 1945, called Trinity

U.S. drops two atomic bombs on two cities in Japan onAugust 6 and 9, 1945 Japan surrenders August 14, 1945

Nuclear testing begins in the South Pacific Ocean in 1946

Nuclear Testing Road to the NNSS



Atomic testing in the South Pacific presented challenges

Logistics

Weather

Security

Safety Urgent need for continental test site

Top secret feasibility study, code named Nutmeg, commenced tosearch for a continental test site

Study concluded arid, southwest section of U.S. as an ideal location

President Truman officially established Nevada Proving Grounds, nowthe Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), on December 18, 1950

NNSS Established in 1950



100 atmospheric tests conducted at the NNSS from January 1951through July 1962 to study weapons-related effects, as safetyexperiments, and to study peaceful effects of nuclear explosions

Climax an airdrop test at the NNSS on June 4, 1953

Conducted aboveground in theatmosphere Tower 42 Balloon 24 Airdrop 19

Surface 11 Rocket 3 Airburst 1

Atmospheric Testing at the NNSS



Smoky tower soars 700 feet into the air aboveYucca Flat at the NNSS; first atomic tower test of

this height (Smoky detonation below)



Balloon used in the detonation of

Charleston on September 28, 1957

Fireball of Charleston lights Yucca Flat at theNNSS; 12-kiloton device was suspended by a

balloon at a height of 1,500 feet


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Two colonial,

two-story homeswere erected at3,500 feet and7,500 feet fromAnnie ground

zero

House at 3,500feet was

completelydestroyed

House at 7,500feet was badly

damaged

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