Abstract
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Project Faultless Photographs (1967 August 08-1968 February) contain black-and-white photographic prints of Project Faultness, a megaton nuclear test site in the Mojave Desert within Nye County, Nevada. The photographs depict scenes near and at the test site; buildings; and the area post-detonation.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Project Faultless Photographs (1967 August 08-1968 February) contain black-and-white photographic prints of Project Faultness, a megaton nuclear test site in the Mojave Desert within Nye County, Nevada. The photographs depict scenes near and at the test site; buildings; and the area post-detonation.
Access Note
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 United States Atomic Energy Commission held Project Faultless on January 19, 1968, detonating a nuclear bomb in the Mojave Desert area of Nye County, Nevada to study the environmental and structural effects of nuclear testing on Central Nevada, as well as to compare a nuclear bomb's seismic signals to a naturally occurring earthquake. The location was chosen to move testing locations further away from Las Vegas, Nevada in fear of damage to local buildings and natural environments. However, after detonation, the testing ground collapsed and created massive fault blocks extending thousands of feet. As a result, the site was deemed unsuitable for further testing. A bronze plaque currently marks the zero site of Project Faultless.
Sources:
Mackedon, Michon. "Project Faultless: Central Nevada's Near Miss an an Atomic Proving Ground." Eureka County Yucca Mountain Information Office. May 30, 2015. Accessed February 28, 2020. https://www.yuccamountain.org/faultless.html
"Volcanic Rocks near Project Faultless, Nye County, Nevada." Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. University of Nevada, Reno. 2020. Accessed February 28, 2020. http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/ScienceEducation/EarthCaches/ProjectFaultless.html
Preferred Citation
UNLV Libraries Collection of Project Faultless Photographs, 1967 August 08-1968 February. PH-00426. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were collected by the University Libraries Special Collections and Archives; accession number 2020-040.
Processing Note
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Jimmy Chang rehoused the materials, wrote the finding aid, and entered the data into ArchivesSpace. In 2022, Kassidy Whetstone created a collection inventory and updated the finding aid.