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"Shundahai" is a Newe (Western Shoshone) word meaning
"Peace and Harmony with All Creation"
 

Area 30

Area 7 — This area, within the Nuclear Test Zone, occupies 52 km2 (20 mi2 ) in the northeast quadrant of the Yucca Flat weapons test basin.

Twenty-six atmospheric tests were conducted in this area.

From late 1964 through the fall of 1991, a total of 62 underground nuclear tests were carried out in Area 7, all consisting of a single nuclear device in a drilled emplacement hole.

"ABLE"....THE FIRST BOMB
ABLE was the first of 7 atomic detonations to take place at Area 7, on the north side of Yucca Flat. At six o'clock on the morning of October 22, 1951 Able misfired....Murphy's Law kicked in, the very first test and it was a dud! The high explosives detonated but did not detonate the Nuclear pit, a nuclear chain reaction did not occur. A nuclear pit is a baseball size plutonium metal sphere, it was blown apart by the explosion and threw "hot" highly radioactive plutonium particles over the test area where the 1st Battalion of the 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment was ordered to work for several weeks constructing sites for more atomic detonations.

Records from the Los Alamos National Laboratory reveal that the "Able" test shot was indeed a misfire and plutonium was scattered over the test area. The document is from the Atomic Energy Commissions' Buster-Jangle Rad Safe Diary, dated Monday, 22 October 1951 and the file Number is: 126511. An excerpt of the text reads: "Activity of fragments were extremely active, 720,000 counts per minute, handling the contaminated debris caused transference of radioactivity to gloves."

The members of the 1st Battalion, 188th Airborne Infantry Regiment military unit did not have protective suits, gloves, masks, or any other kind of protective clothing to wear. We, evidently were of low priority to the Atomic energy Commission and to the Department of Defense.

The shot was atop a 100 foot steel tower, the high explosives destroyed the tower, most of it was all there but lay as a crumpled mass of steel on the ground. Had a nuclear explosion had taken place, there would not have been a trace of the tower. The radiation monitors turned on Geiger counters and anywhere near the destroyed Able Tower, they would hit the peg. I was working on positions 1,000 yards south of the Able Tower and the radioactivity level in that area was more than 500 mr/hr.

The Atomic Energy Commission or the military never informed us that the "ABLE" shot was a misfire and continued to let us work in the contaminated area for days in the radioactivity without any protection, because they did not want to delay the tests. Government Records from Los Alamos and the Defense Nuclear Agency show that the AEC sent men into the area shortly after the blast with geiger counters, they were dressed in "protective suits." Their geiger counters registered a whopping 720,000 counts per minute! The men of the 188th Airborne were never told this radioactive hazard existed. This is an account of my atomic test participation, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar stories. -John Debusk Jr.

Total number of Nuclear Tests 92 and Detonations 92 having occurred Area 7, 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 occurred Area 7, other are tests are listed by hole or shaft number and am still working on updating this list.

Test Number Name Date Sponsor Remarks Photo
16 Able 10/22/1951 LANL Operation Buster (See Above for more detail) Radioactivity not detected offsite says DOE
17
Baker 10/28/1951 LANL Operation Buster
18 Charlie 10/30/1951 LANL Operation Buster
Charlie nuclear test of Operation Buster
19 Dog 11/01/1951 LANL Operation Buster
Dog nuclear test of Operation Buster
20 Easy 11/05/1951 LANL Operation Buster
24 Baker 04/15/1952 LANL/DoD Operation Tumbler-Snapper
25 Charlie 04/22/1952 LANL/DoD Operation Tumbler-Snapper
35 Ruth 03/31/1953 LANL Operation Upshot-Knothole
36 Dixie 04/06/1953 LANL Operation Upshot-Knothole
43 Climax 06/04/1953 LANL Operation Upshot-Knothole
Climax nuclear test
50 Wasp 02/18/1955 LANL Operation Teapot
55 Bee 03/22/1955 LANL Operation Teapot
58 Wasp Prime 03/29/1955 LANL Operation Teapot
63 Zucchini 05/15/1955 LANL Operation Teapot
87 Boltzmann 05/28/1957 LANL Operation Plumbbob
Boltzmann nucleat test
99
Stokes 08/07/1957 LANL Operation Plumbbob
Stokes nuclear test
102 Doppler 08/23/1957 LANL Operation Plumbbob
104 Franklin Prime 08/30/1957 LANL Operation Plumbbob
109 Laplace 09/08/1957 LANL Operation Plumbbob
111 Newton 09/16/1957 LANL Operation Plumbbob
Newton nuclear test
160 Eddy 09/19/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack I
165 Mora 09/29/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
167 Hidalgo 10/05/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
169 Quay 10/10/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
170 Lea 10/13/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
174 Dona Ana 10/16/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
178 Socorro 10/22/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
186 De Baca 10/26/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
191 Santa Fe 10/30/1958 LANL Operation Hardtack II
Santa Fe nuclear test