Question of the Day - 22 July 2018

We went several years ago. My parents had moved to Las Vegas when Dad retired and my Mom did all the research for us on things to do. My recollection was that after you signed up, the government (I don't know which department, since Homeland Security didn't exist then) did some kind of security check before approving clearance for you to go. So I think there was at least a six week wait for clearance, too. But in the end, it was a very interesting tour and the radiation badges we had to wear stayed negative so I guess we were not harmed by the site's environment. (By the way, my wife got reprimanded for trying to pick up a rock onsite.)

An alternative to visiting the 'test site' would be to visit an extensive display of pictures/commentary about the 1950's nuclear testing in Nevada. The display and placards are part of a walking path at a scenic overlook in the Mt. Charleston area , just 30 miles from Vegas. Here's how to get there : Thake US 95 North to Nevada state Highway 156 , then turn left. Follow 156 for at least ten miles. There will be a left turn that you must take , on the road that will continue all the way to the Lee Canyon visitor center. After turning left, the road will climb steeply , and there will be a scenic overlook on your left. Stop there and take the walkway to see the displays.

Visit the Atomic Testing Museum near the "Silver Sevens" Casino on Flamingo Ave. There you can sit through a perfectly safe simulation of an above ground test in "Sensurround". A good 2 hours of fascinating artifacts and information. Perhaps only an hour if you are not a museum "fan". Run by UNV and endorsed by The Smithsonian.Highly recommended. About $22 a person for adults w. minor discounts available.

Per the email address provided, I find it amusing that the nuclear test site is under the management of the Department of Energy instead of the Department of War. Do they really think that we'll believe atomic bombs were exploded in the desert to test for better ways to produce energy instead of for their obvious purpose?

Mr. Al, there is no longer a Department of War.  Instead it is the Department of Defense.  The "War Department" as it was also known was split into the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, etc. (the military branches), until it was consolidated into the Department of Defense.  Not that this answers your question.

Because they were FUN! Big Army boys have big boom to play with! Like firecrackers on Fourth of July!
One would think, seriously, that after the second or third test, nothing new would have been learned. You turn a radioactive hole in the ground into a somewhat bigger, more radioactive hole in the ground. And you shake awake all the high rollers in penthouses in Vegas.
Also, there was the sheer itchy factor of having ALL. THESE. BOMBS. and no one to blow up with them. Like a gun fanatic having nobody to shoot. It's so FRUSTRATING.

Underground tests were useless, as these were weapons and meant to be dropped on densely populated cities. You want to see what the bombs will do, you have to drop them on PEOPLE. That's why Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first atomic test sites, and the only real ones. We were intensely curious as to what would happen.

"Do they really think that we'll believe atomic bombs were exploded in the desert to test for better ways to produce energy instead of for their obvious purpose?"
I can understand your thinking on this but ever since we started using nuclear reactors (because nuclear reactors also made nuclear weapons grade material)  (Moulton Salt Reactors are safer, cheaper to build, and can not have an accident and have been around since 1950)the Nevada test site fell under the DOE since their bomb development needed the weapons grade nuclear material.  Get it!  The government never wants the public to know what they are really up to.  We might fire them in the next election if we knew.