By George Lobsenz
The National Nuclear Security Administration announced Monday it was renaming the Nevada Test Site–established during the Cold War to conduct underground nuclear bomb tests– as the Nevada National Security Site to “better reflect” the new defense, energy research and homeland security missions it has taken on since underground testing was suspended in the early 1990s.
The new name was officially unveiled at a ceremony attended by NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino, head of the semi-autonomous Energy Department weapons agency, members of the Nevada congressional delegation and senior officials from the departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security.
“For 60 years, this site has played a critical role in keeping our nation safe and secure,” D’Agostino said in remarks at the 1,360 square-mile facility located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. “As we adapt to changing national security missions and work to transform a Cold War nuclear weapons complex into a 21st century nuclear security enterprise, this site is growing ever more important. Renaming the site the Nevada National Security Site better reflects the critical and diverse role it plays in national security.”
Among those at the event were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); Warren Stern, director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office; Kenneth Myers, director of the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency; Brian Nordmann, director of the State Department’s Verification and Transparency Technologies Office; Stephen Mellington, manager of NNSA’s Nevada Site Office; and Stephen Younger, president of National Security Technologies, the contractor that operates the site for NNSA.
The U.S. government agreed in the early 1990s to suspend underground testing at the Nevada site as a signature policy move toward reducing nuclear weapons. However, the site retains responsibility for maintaining core capabilities in case there is a need to resume testing. NNSA also carries out other subcritical tests and other activities at the Nevada site in support of its science-based stockpile stewardship program, which utilizes advanced computer modeling and other cutting-edge technology to assess the reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal without underground testing.
Among other new activities, the remote Nevada site is increasingly being used by NNSA for storage of plutonium and other weapons-usable nuclear materials now stored at other sites more vulnerable to terrorist and other security threats.
In addition, the site is being used by the Homeland Security Department to train first-responders on how to react to an incident involving nuclear materials and for testing the next generation of radiation detection equipment for ports and border crossings.
The Defense Department has long used the site as a location to understand how to detect and defeat fortified facilities constructed deep underground and to conduct a wide range of chemical, biological and nuclear sensor detection work.
Later this year, NNSA will give Congress a report on potential areas in which work at the Nevada site can be expanded to improve counterterrorism, treaty monitoring, explosive sciences and radiological countermeasure testing. This report will also examine any potential site improvements that would be required to support a change in the site’s mission.