Nevada Test Site

Click on the map to see information about that area NTS Area Map - Where is: Central Nevada Test Area & Project Shoal site ? Area 13 ? Area 21 ? Area 24 ? Area 28 ? Area 51 ?

Area 19— This area, within the Nuclear Test Zone, occupies 388 km2 (150 mi2) in the northwest corner of the NTS.

Area 19 in the northwest coner of the test site was originally developed as a suitable location for higher yield underground nuclear test (over several hundred kilotons). No atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted in Area 19. However, fallout from the Schooner test (part of the Plowshare cratering tests) was deposited off-site on the surface toward the northwest and is detectable.

From the mid-1960s through 1992, a total of 36 underground nuclear tests were conducted.

Specifically, this Pahute Mesa areas was incorporated into the boundaries of the NTS in late 1963 under an agreement between the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Air Force. Area 19 was used for high yield tests which no longer would be permissible under the terms of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty. Both areas have the same rugged terrain features and harsh winter-season conditions that made year-round operations difficult.

The geology of Pahute Mesa makes it possible to test devices at much greater depths than in Yucca Flat (down to more than 13,700 meters (4500 feet)). The greater depth and isolation allowed the much higher yield tests, with minimal levels of ground motion being felt in Las Vegas, over 160 kilometers (100 miles) away. Tests in the megaton and greater range included the Boxcar, Benham, and Handley events. In addition to the DOE weapons development tests, a DOD nuclear test detection experiment and several Plowshare tests have been conducted on Pahute Mesa.

The Plowshare tests included several nuclear cratering experiments (Palanquin, Cabriolet, and Schooner).

Schooner, detonated in late 1968, was designed to specifically study the effects and phenomenology of cratering with a nuclear explosive in hard rock. The depth of burial was 110 meters (350 feet) and the yield was 41 kilotons; the result was a crater 260 meters (850 feet) in diameter and 63 meters (210 feet) deep.Fallout from the Schooner test (part of the Plowshare cratering tests) was deposited off-site on the surface toward the northwest and is detectable in Area 19.

NASA's Apollo astronauts use Test Site craters to prepare for Moon surface.

Because the "Schooner" and "Sedan" craters at the Nevada Test Site had features similar to the topography of Moon craters, astronauts used them to train for their missions.

Astronauts for Apollo 14 exercised at Schooner crater, and visited Sedan crater in November 1970. Apollo 16 astronauts visited the Schooner crater in November 1970, and exercised there in October 971.

Apollo 17 astronauts conducted exercises at Schooner and on Buckboard Mesa in August 1972.

What first attracts attention to Area 19 is a simple power line. It is visible on both the Las Vegas aircraft sectional chart and the Pahute Mesa 1:100,000 USGS map. It begins at an evem larger line near Highway 95 at Lathrop Wells, and runs almost due north through the NTS, terminating in Area 19. It would appear to be one of the main power feeds for the entire NTS, with considerable load carrying capability. According to NTS maps, the line terminates in Area 19 as a 34.5 kilovolt line at a 1,000 KVA substation.

The maps show the line ending in the center of an unusual double ring of roads, a configuration not seen in other areas of the NTS. Strangely, there is no facility listed on any NTS document at the line's termination. Officially, there just isn't anything there. Yet aerial and satellite photos do indeed show something there. Finally, the very boundaries of Area 19 seem to be drawn around where the power line terminates. The location is absolutely centered in the middle of the nothernly bulge of the Area 19 boundary.

Area 19 is as far from anywhere within the Nellis Complex, shielded by many many miles. It is much more remote than even the Groom Lake Test Facility. A quick look at a large scale map reveals the location is fairly centered within the overall Nellis Complex, with viewing opportunities from neighboring peaks out of the question.

According to documents from the NTS, most of Area 19 is set aside for nuclear weapons testing, and is shown as being assigned to the Los Alamos NAtional LAboratory (LANL). However, Paul McGinnis was informed by the folks at the NTS that Areas 19 and 20 were under control of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA). He was further told that the NTS had no knowledge of what classified programs the DNA had underway in those two areas.

Ben Rich, the manager of Lockheed's Skunkworks, was asked a question. He was asked "hypothetically speaking, if we had possession of extraterrestrial debris or even craft, who would you suppose would be handling it?" To this Rich literally growled, "Los Alamos!" and wouldn't discuss it further.

It was the recollection of a former worker at the NTS that "an awful lot of drilling" was done in Area 19, but relatively few nuclear blasts. He says there was a story released that the drillers hit an underground lake, as a result the NTS was not able to fully utilize the area.


Total number of Nuclear Tests 36 and Detonations 36 as having occured in Area 19, 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 occured in Area 19, other are tests are listed by hole or shaft number and am still working on updating this list.