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Area 5
— This area, within the Reserved Zone, occupies some 246 km2 (95 mi2) in
the southeastern portion of the site and includes the Area 5 Radioactive Waste
Management Site, the Hazardous Waste Storage Unit, and the Spill Test Facility.
The first nuclear test at the NTS, an airdrop named Able, was conducted on January 27, 1951.
From 1951 through early 1962, a total of 14 atmospheric nuclear tests were conduced at Frenchman Flat and most of these early tests were weapons effects tests.
Scattered throughout Frenchman Flat are the remains of a wide variety of structures subjected to several detonations at varying distances. Among these remains are simulated motel complexes, metalframes supporting a variety of roofing materials,a window test struture, cylindrical liquid storage vessels, reinforced concrete and aluminum domes, bridge pedestals, and a bank vault.
The
37 KT Priscilla Test in 1957 destroyed this railroad bridge that was 1,800 feet
from ground zero and received overpressures exceeding 450 psi, severely distorting
the interior structural girders
Five nuclear weapons tests were conducted underground at Frenchman Flat between 1965 and 1968. However, the presence of the carbonate aquifer makes this area less suitable for underground testing than other locations on the NTS.
Twenty four experiments were carried out between 1954 and 1956 withing the GMX project site n Area 5, whereby small quantities of plutonium materials were subjected to HE detonations. These experiments were so-called "equation-of-state" studies where "instantaneous" changes in the physical properties of plutonium materials subjected to detonations from conventional explosives were measured. The purpose of these early GMX experiments was to find out whether a nuclear chain reaction could occur following the accidental triggering of the conventional HE materials in as asembled weapon.
Also, subcritical tests were conducted underground at a variety of locations on the test site in shafts, shallow boreholes, and tunnels. Commencing in the 1950's, these tests extended into the 1980s. Planning for future subcritical experiments has been announced by DOE, calling for approximately 10 such tests annually.
The
Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site
(RWMS) is located in a 732-acre Radioactive Waste Management Zone used for low-level
waste disposal. One of the DOE Nevada Operations Office's primary historical
missions has been to provide an ongoing waste management program which covers
all wastes generated on-site at the NTS as well as wastes from other defense-related
facilities.
Dating
from 1961, the Area 5 RWMS is a 296-hectare (732-acre) low-level radioactive
waste storage and disposal facility. The developed area within this RWMS consists
of 22 landfill cells (pits and trenches) and 13 greater confinement disposal
boreholes. Mixed waste, including transuranic mixed waste, has been disposed
of at the test site in the past, and transuranic wastes are currently being
stored in Area 5 pending ultimate disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The Hazardous Waste Storage Unit is an accumulation point for nonradioactive materials, such as paints, chemicals, unused or surplus fuels,and other items. Periodically, all hazardous wastes generated at the NTS are sent to permitted commercial facilities for recycling, incineration, or disposal.
The
Spill Test Facility is a complex of fuel tanks, spill pads, meteorological and
camera towers, equipment and control buildings, and a wind tunnel used for releasing
hazardous materials and measuring their behavior in outdoor conditions. The
Spill Center, the only facility of its kind in the worl, was completed in April
1986 as a place to conduct safety research associated with the handling, shipping,
and storage of liquefied gaseous fuels and other hazardous fluids. A maximum
of two or three series of tests are carried out annually usually conducted April
through September, weather permitting, to take advantage of the predicted and
favorable wind pattern. By Congressional mandate, use of the Spill Center is
available to private and public sector tests sponsors (i.e., chemical processors
and oil companies) on a user-fee basis.
A simulated test corresponding to the accidental explosion of high explosive
material in an underground bunker, commonly known as a Gravel
Gertie (
),
was conducted in Area 5 in the 1950's and again in late 1982. This structure
satisfied tests for containment of the explosion and associated radioactive
material. Similar designs have been used at the Devise Assembly Facility (DAF)
and the Pantex Plant, near Amarillo, Texas. Pantex is the site at which the
DOE has historically fulfilled its responsibilities for the assembly/disassembly
of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.
Total number of Nuclear Tests 19 and Detonations 19 having occurred Area 5, according to United States Nuclear Tests July 1945 through September 1992 DOE/NV--209-REV 15 December 2000 which may view here, but the document only lists the following tests as having occurred Area 5, other are tests are listed by hole or shaft number and am still working on updating this list.
This is the first test of a nuclear artillery shell (Grable for "gun") - the 280 mm AFAP (artillery fired atomic projectile). The shot was an artillery delivered airburst. The shell travelled 11,000 yards before detonation which occurred 86 feet west, 137 feet south, and 24 feet above the designated burst point. The 280 mm shell was also a "gun" weapon in another sense, it used a "gun-type" fission weapon assembly method like the Little Boy bomb. This was in fact the first test of a gun-type bomb (and second detonation - Hiroshima not being a test). The predicted yield was 14 kt.
The Mk-9 280 mm (11.02
inch) shell was 54.4 inches long, weighed 803 lb, and used oralloy as the fissile
material. Air burst detonation was arranged by a time fuze. The Mk-9 was fired
by an enormous 85 ton artillery piece. The gun had a muzzle velocity of 2060
ft/sec, and a range of up to 20 miles
| Test Number | Name | Date | Sponsor | Remarks | Photo |
| 7 | Able | 01/27/1951 | LANL | Operation Ranger
1kt First Test At Nevada Test Site |
 |
| 8 | Baker | 01/28/1951 | LANL | Operation Ranger | |
| 9 | Easy | 02/01/1951 | LANL | Operation Ranger | |
| 10 | Baker-2 | 02/02/1951 | LANL | Operation Ranger. The eight-kiloton device broke several store windows in Las Vegas. Despite this the operation was called a success. | |
| 11 | Fox | 02/06/1951 | LANL | Operation Ranger 11kt |
 |
| 23 | Able | 04/01/1952 | LANL/DoD | Operation Tumbler-Snapper | |
| 40 | Encore | 05/08/1953 | LANL/DoD | Operation Upshot-Knothole | |
| 42 |
Grable | 05/25/1953 | LANL | Operation Upshot-Knothole Fired from 280mm gun |  |
| 61 |
MET | 04/15/1955 | LANL/DoD |
Operation Teapot |
 |
| 91 | Priscilla | 06/24/1957 | LANL/DoD | Operation Plumbbob |
 |
| 172 | Hamilton | 10/15/1958 | LLNL/DoD | Operation Hardtack II | |
| 179 | Wrangell | 10/22/1958 | LLNL | Operation Hardtack II | |
| 185 | Sanford | 10/26/1958 | LLNL | Operation Hardtack II | |
| 271 |
Small Boy | 07/14/1962 | LANL/DoD |
Operation Storax |