Reference no: EM13794417
William Fox, author, and Matt Coolidge, director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation, went to visit and tour through the craters and gates of the notorious Nevada Test Site, a nuclear test site in Las Vegas. Visitation to the Nevada Test Site is down to forty to eighty people per month. The guards are formal Navy SEALS and U.S. Army Special Forces personnel. They are dressed in desert camo fatigues and carry serious firearms. There are approximately 2,300 staff.
When William and Matt arrived to the visitor's center a security authorization is needed to unlock the center. Once inside, they had to watch a twenty-minute videotape of excerpts from the twelve most recent additions to the ninety declassified government films. After watching the video they were joined by Derek Scammel, who drove up in a white Jeep Cherokee that they will use for the tour. They were given a minute by minute itinerary of the locations that they are to visit. The Test Site is about the size of Rhode Island, which projects them to finish the tour by sunset.
Prior to the tour, Derek explains to William and Matt that they will not be exposed to enough radiation to measure during the day, as most radioactivity diminishes relatively quickly over time. Also radioactivity tends to infect metal and topsoil, most of which has been scooped up and buried. The isolated areas that are still hot they were not allowed into.
As they are starting their tour they pass a small dry lakebed where VIPs are brought in to see how the military is spending its money. Their First stop was the Wackenhut office. There they checked in to receive temporary passes that they must clip onto their shirt fronts and show the guard at the gate. Each area that were visited has a sign posted stating radcon and a #, which is radiation contamination and its level. Throughout the tour they visited:
• Little Feller I explosion ground zero, which has a sign that says radcon-5. Little Feller was a very low-yield device, an atomic bomb fired from a recoilless rifle mounted on an armored personnel carrier.
• Apple II shot ground zero had a radcon-10
• Sedan test (Yucca Flat), the largest manmade crater in America.
• Smoky test, a site that has never been cleaned up due to the massive contamination. To enter it, you have to escorted by a safety personnel and wear protective that immediately becomes low-level nuclear waste and must be placed in the storage facility.
• Japan Town, three wooden houses built with traditional materials so the effects of radiation on victims in Hiroshima and Negasaki could be simulated. Other structures throughout the town were collapsed due to exposure to various levels of radiation from a bare reactor.
• Visited the skirting edges, but did not visit was Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain is so hot that it slowly cooks then fractures the very rocks in which it is entombed. It only accepts high level radioactive waste, if it was to open.
• Jackass Flat had the highest radcon level that they had seen all day, which was 15.
They visited many other sites, but the weather started turning into dark skies and lightning started to follow. They were told over the radio to stay away from tall objects on the way back. They wasn't worried about the lightning, but receiving a lethal dosage of radiation. They made it safely and turned in their badges to Wackenhut guards.
Questions:
1. Would you ever consider visiting Nevada Test Site? Why or Why not?
2. Although radioactivity levels will decline over time, do you think the contaminated water will pose a health threat? Note: The Department of Energy has ranked Nevada as a low priority for cleaning up major contaminated areas.
3. If Civil War sites are designated as national monuments and used to educate students about the costly calculation of war, then why do you think they do not mention Nevada Test Site?