The State - News from March 26, 1989

A priest and nine other anti-nuclear activists were arrested at the Nevada Test Site in the town of Mercury after conducting religious ceremonies at a former chapel on the top-secret nuclear compound. Department of Energy spokesman Jim Boyer said 10 demonstrators, including some clergy members, were cited for penetrating the testing grounds--a more serious offense than simple trespassing--and transported to the jail in nearby Beatty. The incident was part of an annual Easter demonstration called the Lenten Desert Experience, sponsored by the group Nevada Desert Experience, which is opposed to nuclear weapons testing and the proliferation of the arms race. Boyer said there was no breach of classified security. The test site, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the center of the nation’s nuclear weapons testing program.