Waste Lands
America's forgotten nuclear legacy.
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Central Nevada Test Site

Last updated: October 29, 2013

Hot Creek Valley, Nev.

This site handled (or was contaminated by) an underground nuclear detonation, according to government records. The Department of Energy initially considered cleaning up this site under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, but instead referred the site to another agency or program. See below for more details.

Other names: Central Nevada Test Area (CNTA) ● Note: The summary above has been automatically generated from details below.

Do you have additional information, photographs, or personal histories related to this site? Let the Journal know at wastelands@wsj.com

  • HOT CREEK VALLEY, NV - 1966: Aerial view of an undeground nuclear test that was conducted at the Nevada Test Site during the Calendar Year 1966.
    HOT CREEK VALLEY, NV - 1966: Aerial view of an undeground nuclear test that was conducted at the Nevada Test Site during the Calendar Year 1966.
    Photo by LRL Nevada/Courtesy National Archives
  • HOT CREEK VALLEY, NV - DATE UNKNOWN: Aerial view of the Nevada Test Site.
    HOT CREEK VALLEY, NV - DATE UNKNOWN: Aerial view of the Nevada Test Site.
    Photo by LRL Nevada/Courtesy National Archives, photo no. 757-262-65a
Government Assessments
Radioactive Materials / Other Materials of Interest
  • an underground nuclear detonation
Source: Department of Energy "Considered Sites" database and/or other government records. Note: May not be an exhaustive list; Department of Energy records focus on "primary" materials handled while under contract with its predecessor agencies.
FUSRAP* Status: Considered but eliminated
*Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. Source: Department of Energy
NIOSH* 2011 Evaluation: Not covered in 2011 report on residual radiation
*National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Source: Report on Residual Radioactive and Beryllium Contamination at Atomic Weapons Employer Facilities and Beryllium Vendor Facilities (Aug. 2011), Appendix A-2. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, as part of a federal program to compensate individuals for health damage from work in the atomics-weapons industry, analyzes information about scores of sites around the country. It looks for evidence that a site engaged in activities that might have exposed workers to harmful amounts of weapons-related radiation. If such a situation is found, the agency looks for evidence that the site was either satisfactorily cleaned up or that the risk of significant residual contamination was low. If NIOSH can't find evidence of either, it lists the site as having a potential for such contamination. However, agency officials say, this designation doesn't mean a health threat exists. It merely means that based on available evidence NIOSH can't rule out such a threat.
Notes

"The [Central Nevada Test Area] consists of three parcels totaling 2,560 acres. The parcels are spaced approximately 3 miles apart along a roughly north-south line," according to a Department of Energy fact sheet.

"The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor agency of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), acquired the CNTA in the early 1960s to develop alternative sites to the Nevada National Security Site (formerly known as the Nevada Test Site) for underground nuclear testing," according to the document. "The initial underground nuclear test at CNTA, Faultless, was conducted in borehole UC-1 at a depth of 3,199 feet below ground surface on January 19, 1968. [...] Its purpose was to evaluate the environmental and structural effects that might be expected if subsequent, higher-yield underground nuclear tests were conducted in this vicinity. [...] The nuclear detonation created a cavity with a radius of approximately 328 feet. The Faultless test did not release any radioactivity at the surface, and no additional tests were conducted at the CNTA."

Locations
The Journal has attempted to locate current owners for each site. Their responses are included when available.
"UC-1" Site Ground Zero
Address (may be historical):Approximately 70 miles northeast of Tonopah, Nev.
Current occupant/owner comment:

A December 2011 Energy Department document said the site "is on land administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). DOE established two land withdrawals through Public Land Orders 4338 and 4748 in 1967 and 1969, respectively. Public land surrounding the CNTA is used for livestock grazing and ranching, with recreational use during hunting season. No major changes in land use are anticipated. BLM approves all surface land uses, as long as it does not interfere with long-term performance and monitoring of the surface-remediated areas. Land associated with the remediated areas is restricted from any use that could

alter or modify the buried contaminated soil."

Note: Addresses and approximate coordinates derived from government documentation, property records, interviews, and/or other resources. The Journal welcomes any information to improve their accuracy. Send tips to wastelands@wsj.com
Documents
*Document title and URL extracted from Department of Energy "Considered Sites" database.
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