Abstract
The United States Department of Energy Photograph Collection on the Nevada Test Site contains photographs prints and negatives of nuclear testing, detonations, buildings, and wildlife on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) from 1945 to 1982. The photographs primarily depict nuclear explosions at the NTS and other test sites. The photographs also include preparations for nuclear tests, facilities at the NTS, and wildlife that live on the NTS.
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Scope and Contents Note
The United States Department of Energy Photograph Collection on the Nevada Test Site contains photographs prints and negatives of nuclear testing, detonations, buildings, and wildlife on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) from 1945 to 1982. The photographs primarily depict nuclear explosions at the NTS and other test sites. The photographs also include preparations for nuclear tests, facilities at the NTS, and wildlife that live on the NTS.
Access Note
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is in Nye County, Nevada, sixty-five miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. Between 1951 and 1992, 928 atmospheric and underground nuclear tests were held at the NTS. When the test site was first established, it was managed by the Atomic Energy Commission, but the United States Department of Energy now operates the site.
President Harry S. Truman authorized use of the NTS for nuclear testing in 1951 because the NTS had favorable weather and was more accessible and secure than previous testing sites, including Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Although the NTS was close to Las Vegas and other communities in Nevada, and atmospheric tests could be seen from Las Vegas, many including the military largely dismissed the possible health hazards that nuclear radiation posed to Nevada residents. Tests conducted by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in the early 1960s, medical reports in the 1970s, and subsequent lawsuits showed that radiation did in fact affect many residents in Nevada and neighboring states.
In 1963, the United States, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom agreed to the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which prevented further atmospheric tests; consequently, the last atmospheric test at the NTS was held in 1962. The last underground test happened three decades later in 1992. In October 1992, a moratorium temporarily ended all testing. In 1993, 108 countries agreed to the Test Ban Treaty, and though the U.S. did not agree, it has honored the articles by ceasing nuclear tests.
Source:
Moore, Alan. “Nevada Test Site Overview.” Online Nevada Encyclopedia. March 18, 2010. http://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/nevada-test-site-overview
Preferred Citation
U.S. Department of Energy Photograph Collection on the Nevada Test Site, 1945-1982. PH-00282. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1994 by Derek S. Scammel, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of Energy; accession number 1994-18.
Processing Note
Materials were processed by Special Collections staff. In 2015, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Lindsay Oden wrote the collection description in compliance with current professional standards. In 2019, Jimmy Chang added materials to the collection and enhanced the collection description.