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Nevada Test Site Tours
The Nevada National Security Site (formerly known as the Nevada Test Site ) offers Monthly Community Public Tours.
These tours are held once a month and are designed to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the site’s history, activities, and its role in national security. The tours accommodate 50 people and are operated on a charter bus.
Tours begin at the Atomic Museum where visitors learn about nuclear history through exhibits, videos, and interactive displays. The tour then departs the museum and travels 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas to the 250-mile wide test site.
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The tour visits the following locations at the test site:
Mercury, Nevada: the location of Base Camp Mercury which provided office space and living quarters for civilian and military test personnel
Frenchman Flat: the site of numerous nuclear tests conducted between 1951 and 1962
Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex: a specialized test and evaluation facility designed to support the research, development, testing, and assessment of technologies and techniques related to nuclear nonproliferation, arms control, and nuclear security
Area 2 Gun Turret: a facility used for testing the vulnerability of military hardware, such as vehicles, tanks, and other military equipment, to the effects of nuclear detonations
Icecap Site: the Icecap program was a series of underground nuclear tests designed to study the behavior of nuclear explosions in ice and to assess their potential use for defense and military purposes.
Sedan Crater: a 1,280 foot wide man-made crater created in 1962 by the detonation of a nuclear device about 635 feet underground
T-1 Training Area: a facility equipped to simulate various nuclear and radiological incidents, allowing personnel to train for a range of emergency scenarios involving radioactive materials
Apple 2 Houses: houses from a “doom town” (mock town) that survived the Apple 2 nuclear test in 1955
Tours are led by knowledgeable tour guides who provided information about the site’s history, significance, and ongoing projects.
Visitors gain insights into the scientific and technological research conducted at the NNSS beyond nuclear testing, such as nonproliferation, national security, and emergency response.
Visitors also learn about the environmental restoration efforts being carried out at the site to mitigate the impact of past nuclear testing.
Reservations for the tour are required and participants have to meet certain eligibility criteria. Visitors must be at least 14 years old and must be either a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident/Permanent Resident Alien Foreign National. Identification and proof of U.S. citizenship is required.
Items such as cameras, camcorders or tape recorders, binoculars, telescopes, cell phones, smart watches, Bluetooth-enabled devices (including pedometers), tracking devices such as Apple tags, iPad, laptops, and backpacks are prohibited.
Visitors are not allowed to pick up or remove any objects from the site, including soil, rocks, plant samples or metal.
Have you been to any of these tours? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think of them!
Sources: “Our History.” Nevada National Security Sites, nnss.gov/about-the-nnss/nnss-history/ “Monthly Community Public Tours.” Nevada National Security Sites, nnss.gov/community/monthly-community-public-tours/
2 thoughts on “ Nevada Test Site Tours ”
Greetings, I am interested in touring the test site as well as the museum. I am in a wheelchair, does that present a problem? I notice that proof of US citizenship is required, what form of proof is acceptable?
Sorry Russell, I don’t have that info. You would have to contact the Nevada National Security Site to find out.
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Public tour dates for the first half of 2025 will be released at 10 a.m. PT August 26, 2024, via an online registration link under the Booking Tours tab. Available 2025 Dates: January 27, February 24, March 17, April 21, May 19, and June 16. The tour will visit the locations listed below. Download fact sheets on the tour points of interest ...
Learn how to visit NNSS facilities as an official visitor with an HSPD-12 badge or a sponsor. Find out the directions, prohibited articles, and protocols for accessing the site.
Free, general-interest public tours of the Site are provided two to three times each month. Six months' worth of tours are opened up at a time, with notifications posted on the NNSS website and social media accounts. Seats are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Since the NNSS is a restricted-access government facility, visitors must ...
All-American Adventure Guide October 27, 2023 2 Comments. The Nevada National Security Site (formerly known as the Nevada Test Site) offers Monthly Community Public Tours. These tours are held once a month and are designed to provide the public with an opportunity to learn about the site's history, activities, and its role in national ...
NNSS Tour Registration for non-US Citizens (= Foreign Nationals). Non-US citizens attending the TC and wishing to participate in the Tour will have to submit the UFV & A Long Format IAP-66 Form well in advance to be granted access to the Nevada National Security Site - NNSS.. Tour Information. Las Vegas, NV, USA Dec. 7, 2023. Deadline (strict - no flexibility)
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and industry. We look forward to welcoming you to the NNSS. DIRECTIONS The North Las Vegas (NLV) Facility 221 N. Rampart Blvd.is located at 232 Energy Way, North Las Vegas, NV 89030. The Site is located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, off the U.S. 95 Mercury exit. Directions to all other NNSS facilities will be provided by your host.
Starting July 20, the NNSS also began hosting public tours again. Public tours were first offered to the backlog of more than 750 people who had been scheduled to attend 2020 tours that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tours were then opened to new sign-ups Aug. 29, with all available slots filling up in fewer than five hours.
Protocol Office. The Protocol Office is the Nevada National Security Sites' primary point of contact for planning and hosting strategic visits, meetings, tours and ceremonial events for high-level dignitaries of the United States and foreign government offices, academia and industries. Protocol serves as the logistical lead on a wide range of ...
The Mission of the NNSS The Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS) helps ensure the security of the United States and its allies by: supporting the stewardship of the nation's nuclear deterrent; providing nuclear and radiological emergency response capabilities and training; contributing to key nonproliferation and arms control initiatives; executing national-level experiments in support of ...
Publication Library. The library section provides a central location for extensive information regarding the history and mission of the NNSS. These resources include fact sheets, historical and current videos, photos, and publications including environmental reports, historical documents, U.S. nuclear tests, and newsletters.
Nevada Site Operations Center At the Nevada Site Operations Center (NSOC), we are committed to ensuring the safe and efficient management of operations at the Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS). Our state-of-the-art facility serves as the nerve center, overseeing and coordinating a wide range of activities 24/7. Equipped with cutting-edge technology and staffed by highly […]
Environmental Programs Nevada National Security Site releases 2022 environmental report Articles EM Nevada meets 2023 priority cleanup commitments early Articles NNSS interns facilitate SDRD's return to UAS experimentation
NNSS fact sheets are summary documents detailing pertinent information regarding NNSS missions and programs, including the history of the Site. These documents address a variety of topics, from current mission and environmental management issues to historical backgrounds. Missions and Projects Additional Fact Sheets
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The Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) has paved the way for transformation of its Mercury campus. Site employees gathered Nov. 28 to mark the official start of construction for Building 1, the first building of a major modernization project in Mercury. The morning's festivities also commemorated the recently installed 424-kW solar project at NNSS' fire […]
The NNSS Emergency Public Information Plan provides a framework for coordinated, accurate and timely release of information to NNSS employees, the news media, potentially affected members of the public and other stakeholders in the event of an emergency at one of our facilities. Learn More.
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The Nevada National Security Sites' (NNSS) Global Security Directorate and Mission Development Office co-hosted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)-Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate at the NNSS' Special Technologies Laboratory (STL) and Remote Sensing Laboratory-Nellis (RSL-N) on August 9 and 10, 2023, respectively. Representatives from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency ...
NNSS Environmental Report The annual Nevada National Security Sites Environmental Report (NNSSER or ASER) contains information on all programs and activities conducted in and around the NNSS, at the North Las Vegas Facility, and at the Remote Sensing Laboratory-Nellis to protect the environment and the public. Activities reported include environmental management system performance and ...