Nuclear Test Held Without Incident at Nevada Desert Site

A nuclear weapons test was held Wednesday in the Nevada desert, and officials said the operation, the 11th announced test since the Soviet Union declared a unilateral test moratorium last August, went off without incident.

The test, code-named Panamint, was the fourth announced shot at the Nevada Test Site this year. The 6:59 a.m. blast carried an explosive force of less than 20,000 tons of TNT, Department of Energy spokesman Jack Campbell said.

It was conducted at the bottom of a 1,600-foot shaft drilled into Yucca Flat, an expanse of desert 83 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The blast brings to 650 the number of announced tests at the Nevada site since testing was moved there in January, 1951. For security reasons, not all tests are announced.

The test was conducted just hours after five anti-nuclear activists were arrested for trespassing on the sprawling site. The members of the Rocky Mountain Peace Center in Boulder, Colo., were about 30 miles from any testing area when they were spotted by security guards in helicopters Tuesday.