Public Tours of the Nevada

The Apple-2 houses, part of Operation National Security Site Teapot, a weapons-related series of nuclear Casual clothing is recommended (light tests in 1955, are a highlight of the Nevada Registration National Security Site tour. clothing in the summer and layers in the Free, general-interest public tours of winter), and sturdy shoes are required for the 1,360-square-mile Nevada National the rugged terrain. No shorts or sandals Background Security Site are provided monthly. Seats are permitted. are filled on a first-come, first-served Since the establishment of the basis. Six months’ worth of tours are Nevada Test Site (now known as opened up at a time, with notifications the Nevada National Security Site – What will I see? given on NNSS’ Facebook and Twitter NNSS) in 1951, thousands of people accounts. Group and media tours • Mercury is the main base camp for the from around the world continue to are available as well. For additional NNSS. visit this vast outdoor laboratory information and to register, visit www. • Frenchman Flat is the location of the with public, civic and technical tours nnss.gov/pages/PublicAffairsOutreach/ first atmospheric nuclear test, Able, on provided by the U.S. Department of NNSStours.html. Energy, National Nuclear Security the NNSS, in January 1951. Thirteen Administration Nevada Field Office Since the NNSS is a restricted-access subsequent atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted on Frenchman Flat (NNSA/NFO). government facility, visitors must apply well in advance to attend a tour. Tour between 1951 and 1962. Larger than the state of Rhode participants must be at least 14 years • The Nonproliferation Test & Island, the site features artifacts and old. Pregnant women are discouraged Evaluation Complex (NPTEC) is archaeological sites from the early from participating in tours because of the used by the chemical and petroleum settlers, as well as the many relics long bus ride and uneven terrain at the industry, and government agencies to remaining from nuclear weapons Site. test spill dispersion, test sensors, and tests, nuclear rocket experiments mitigation, as well as first-responder and a variety of other defense, training procedures. It is also the environmental and energy-related Transportation world’s largest facility for open air programs. The NNSS is located 65 miles northwest testing of hazardous toxic materials of Las Vegas, Nevada, with each tour and biological simulants. covering approximately 250 miles. • The Area 5 Radioactive Waste Transportation is provided in the form of Management Complex is the a chartered coach bus, equipped with a depository for low-level radioactive restroom. Tours depart from the National waste from the dismantlement and Atomic Testing Museum. cleanup of Department of Energy and Department of Defense weapons production complexes. Items to Bring • News Nob is the viewpoint from which Participants are given the option to either journalists, such as Walter Cronkite, bring a lunch or eat at the Bistro on site. and visiting dignitaries witnessed (The Bistro only takes credit or debit atmospheric tests. cards. No cash!) Alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited. • Sedan Crater resulted from an experiment conducted as part of the Plowshare Program which explored the peaceful uses of nuclear explosives. The 104-kiloton nuclear explosion Security Requirements displaced about 12 million tons of earth, creating a crater 1,280 feet in Prospective visitors must supply the diameter and 320 feet deep. following information:

• The Icecap modular tower was built • Full name as it appears on driver’s for a joint United Kingdom/Los Alamos license or other photo identification National Laboratory underground • Date and place (city and state) of birth nuclear test scheduled for the spring of 1993. What would have been the 929th • Home and business address, to test came to a halt when President include name of employer Bush signed the Underground Nuclear News Nob, a stop on the NNSS tour, was a • Home and business phone number gathering place for members of the press to Testing Moratorium Oct. 3, 1992. witness atmospheric tests. The tower still stands in Area 7 of the • Citizenship (foreign citizens will be NNSS. asked to supply additional information)

• T-1 Training Area. To increase ***Foreign nationals are required to domestic preparedness to combat provide additional information at least terrorist threats, the NNSA/NFO six weeks before their visit. provides a unique radiological/ nuclear weapons of mass destruction training center at the NNSS. Prohibited Articles Emergency responders are trained to take immediate, decisive actions in • Visitors are not permitted to bring response to terrorist use of radiological cell phones, cameras, binoculars, or nuclear weapons of mass telescopes or tape recorders on the destruction. tour.

A temporary modular tower designed to hold • Apple-2 Houses. Apple-2 was a • Firearms are not permitted under any the diagnostic rack for Icecap is a current 29-kiloton nuclear device placed on top circumstances. landmark at the Nevada National Security Site. of a 500-foot tower for a May 5, 1955 • Visitors may not remove soil, rock, test in Area 1 of the NNSS. A typical plant samples or metal objects from American community – complete with the NNSS. three one-story and two two-story homes, real food, American-made automobiles, mannequins and more – was constructed to measure the effects of a nuclear test. Today, the houses that remain after the Apple-2 blast are the high point of many NNSS tours. For more information, contact: U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office Office of Public Affairs

P.O. Box 98518 Las Vegas, NV 89193-8518

Phone: 702.295.3521 Fax: 702.295.0154 Email: [email protected] www.nnss.gov

DOE/NV - -1033 REV 2 Sedan Crater November 2019