This is not a test

The Atomic Testing Museum is ground zero for a discussion of America's nuclear history

BY ROBERT KIMBERLY

It was in the Nevada desert that America's atomic weapons were nurtured into being. The Nevada Proving Ground, northwest of Las Vegas, was opened in 1951 to reduce the cost of nuclear testing, transporting supplies and scientific gear, to consolidate materials for housing and testing and for keeping a workforce in the Pacific. The name of the Nevada Proving Ground was changed in 1957 to the Nevada Test Site. The bomb was seen as a salvation against the growing threat of Communist Russia, and in capitalist Las Vegas the mushroom cloud became an additional attraction for tourists and locals alike.

The city's latest atomic attraction, the Atomic Testing Museum, has been open since December, but had its official opening, along with a free viewing, on Feb. 20. The general public was able to see the 8,000-square-foot gallery, with its collection of artifacts, displays and interactive computer stations, from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. without the usual admission cost.

The Frank H. Rogers Science and Technology Building is the functional but architecturally uninspired home to Nevada Atomic Testing History Institute (NATHI), "a one-of-a-kind facility including state-of-the-art archives and the Atomic Testing Museum that, combined, will describe and document the extraordinary technological effort that took place" at the Nevada Test Site. The Atomic Testing Museum shares the building with the Nuclear Testing Archive, the Dina Titus Public Reading Room for declassified materials and an auditorium.

All these distinct groups of the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation serve different purposes, but for most the museum will be the greatest attraction. The exhibition space is a visual explosion of displays, shiny equipment and pieces of buildings that previously resided at the test site. The museum has amassed a huge collection of nuclear artifacts, from entire offices used at the test site to consumer goods with atomic influences and bomb-related material. The walkways that take you through the space rise while going through the atmospheric testing section and descend through the underground testing areas. While the exhibitions reinforce the positive view many had for the need for the bomb, the museum is not solely a cheerleader for the history of nuclear development. The museum strives successfully to discuss the more detrimental effects of bomb-blast exposure, both in the U.S. and Japan. Because of the large volume of declassified material, much of the information that is used to criticize the legacy of atomic testing comes from the museum's neighbor, the Nuclear Testing Archive.

The Nuclear Testing Archive's collection is open to the public at the Dina Titus Public Reading Room. The reading room is home to a small percentage of the more than 310,000 documents that the archive has available on request, with most of the collection residing on the building's second floor. Before being renamed, the Nuclear Testing Archive was named the Coordination and Information Center. The Nevada Operations Office of the U.S. Department of Energy opened the Coordination and Information Center July 17, 1981, previously based at the Bechtel Nevada industrial complex in North Las Vegas to collect and make available all historical documents, records and data dealing with radioactive fallout from U.S. nuclear testing. The archive's relocation eliminates one unique experience that the Losee Road location had: a car search by Wackenhut security officers before being allowed on the Bechtel property.

While the museum just opened in December 2004, the auditorium has been used for events since the building's opening in 2003. Events have included a discussion of the Cold War by Francis Gary Powers Jr. (son of the famed U2 pilot), Sergei Khrushchev (son of deposed Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev), Dr. Noel Pugach (performing as President Harry S. Truman) and meetings where communities surrounding the test site strategize on environmental testing and bringing up concerns with public officials.

The museum is home to Nevada's atomic history, and the foundation's continuing programs allow for those who celebrate and struggle with that history to have a common meeting place.

Atomic Testing Museum

755 East Flamingo Road

702-794-5151

Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.;

Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

$10; $7 seniors, students, military; free for kids under 6