Frenchman Flat: Difference between revisions
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[[File:NTS Areas Frenchman Flat.png|thumb|Frenchman Flat lies north of the town [[Mercury, Nevada|Mercury]] within the [[Nevada Test Site]], and south of [[Yucca Flat]].]] |
[[File:NTS Areas Frenchman Flat.png|thumb|Frenchman Flat lies north of the town [[Mercury, Nevada|Mercury]] within the [[Nevada Test Site]], and south of [[Yucca Flat]].]] |
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'''Frenchman Flat''' is one of the detonation sites at the [[Nevada Test Site]] (NTS) in the United States. Frenchman Flat is a dry lake, an alkaline desert depression which spans Area 5 and Area 11 within NTS.<Ref>United States Geological Survey. Publications. Dennis Grasso, [http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr-03-125/ofr-03-125.pdf ''Geologic Surface Effects of Underground Nuclear Testing: Buckboard Mesa, Climax Stock, Dome Mountain, Frenchman Flat, Rainier/Aqueduct Mesa, and Shoshone Mountain, Nevada Test Site, Nevada''], 2003. Retrieved March 8, 2009.</ref> The first nuclear test conducted at Nevada Test Site was a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on January 27, 1951. |
'''Frenchman Flat''' is one of the [[nuclear weapons]] detonation sites at the [[Nevada Test Site]] (NTS), some 65 miles from [[Las Vegas]], in the United States. Frenchman Flat is a dry lake, an alkaline desert depression which spans Area 5 and Area 11 within NTS.<Ref>United States Geological Survey. Publications. Dennis Grasso, [http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr-03-125/ofr-03-125.pdf ''Geologic Surface Effects of Underground Nuclear Testing: Buckboard Mesa, Climax Stock, Dome Mountain, Frenchman Flat, Rainier/Aqueduct Mesa, and Shoshone Mountain, Nevada Test Site, Nevada''], 2003. Retrieved March 8, 2009.</ref> The first nuclear test conducted at Nevada Test Site was a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on January 27, 1951. |
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==Area 5== |
==Area 5== |
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Area 5 consists of 246 square kilometers (95 square miles) of the southeastern portion of NTS, north of the town of [[Mercury, Nevada|Mercury]], and includes the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site, the Hazardous Waste Storage Unit, and the Spill Test Facility. In the decade 1951–1962, 14 above ground nuclear tests were conducted at Frenchman Flat, several of these atmospheric tests were weapons effects tests. Tests to determine building damage by nuclear blast left remains at the site, remains that are of historical interest. Five underground nuclear weapons were detonated at Frenchman Flat between 1965 and 1968. A carbonate aquifer makes Area 5 not as well suited to underground testing, so there were fewer detonations carried out. |
Area 5 consists of 246 square kilometers (95 square miles) of the southeastern portion of NTS, north of the town of [[Mercury, Nevada|Mercury]], and includes the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site, the Hazardous Waste Storage Unit, and the Spill Test Facility. In the decade 1951–1962, 14 above ground nuclear tests were conducted at Frenchman Flat, several of these atmospheric tests were weapons effects tests. A relatively modest 8-kiloton blast in January 1951 broke storefront windows in Las Vegas.<ref>Gerald H. Clarfield and William M. Wiecek (1984). ''Nuclear America:Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States 1940-1980'', Harper & Row, New York, p. 203.</ref> |
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Tests to determine building damage by nuclear blast left remains at the site, remains that are of historical interest. Five underground nuclear weapons were detonated at Frenchman Flat between 1965 and 1968. A carbonate aquifer makes Area 5 not as well suited to underground testing, so there were fewer detonations carried out. |
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===Waste management=== |
===Waste management=== |
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Revision as of 06:48, 10 June 2009
Frenchman Flat is one of the nuclear weapons detonation sites at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), some 65 miles from Las Vegas, in the United States. Frenchman Flat is a dry lake, an alkaline desert depression which spans Area 5 and Area 11 within NTS.[1] The first nuclear test conducted at Nevada Test Site was a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on January 27, 1951.
Area 5
Area 5 consists of 246 square kilometers (95 square miles) of the southeastern portion of NTS, north of the town of Mercury, and includes the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site, the Hazardous Waste Storage Unit, and the Spill Test Facility. In the decade 1951–1962, 14 above ground nuclear tests were conducted at Frenchman Flat, several of these atmospheric tests were weapons effects tests. A relatively modest 8-kiloton blast in January 1951 broke storefront windows in Las Vegas.[2]
Tests to determine building damage by nuclear blast left remains at the site, remains that are of historical interest. Five underground nuclear weapons were detonated at Frenchman Flat between 1965 and 1968. A carbonate aquifer makes Area 5 not as well suited to underground testing, so there were fewer detonations carried out.
Waste management
The Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site covers 732 acres, a section of desert land used for low-level waste disposal. Mixed waste, including transuranic mixed waste, is stored.[3]
Area 11
Area 11 covers 67 square kilometers (26 square miles) of the eastern border of NTS. Four atmospheric plutonium-dispersal safety tests were conducted in the northern portion of Area 11 in 1954 and 1956. Hazardous residue from these tests continue to provide a realistic environment for safety training, radiological monitoring, sampling instruction and first-responder drills. Five underground nuclear weapons were detonated in Area 11 from 1966 to 1971.[4]
See also
References
- ^ United States Geological Survey. Publications. Dennis Grasso, Geologic Surface Effects of Underground Nuclear Testing: Buckboard Mesa, Climax Stock, Dome Mountain, Frenchman Flat, Rainier/Aqueduct Mesa, and Shoshone Mountain, Nevada Test Site, Nevada, 2003. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
- ^ Gerald H. Clarfield and William M. Wiecek (1984). Nuclear America:Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States 1940-1980, Harper & Row, New York, p. 203.
- ^ Globalsecurity.org. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Nevada Test Site. Numbered Areas 4 – 8. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
- ^ Globalsecurity.org. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Nevada Test Site. Numbered Areas 9 – 15. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
