Nevada Nuclear Test Marks the Anniversary of First Atomic Bomb
Scientists detonated a British nuclear weapon Thursday beneath the Nevada Test Site, 42 years to the day after the first atomic bomb was exploded in a New Mexico test.
The latest test, conducted under a joint agreement between the United States and Great Britain, was set off 1,600 feet beneath the surface of Yucca Flat, 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, the Energy Department said.
“It was a successful test,” said department spokesman Chris West. “There was no release of radiation.”
The blast, the 10th this year at the site, was the 20th test by the two countries under a 1958 agreement and had a yield of between 20 and 150 kilotons.
The first atomic bomb was exploded in the desert near Alamogordo, N.M., on July 16, 1945.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
