FACT BRIEF

Did the US government conduct nuclear bomb tests in Nevada?

Thursday, February 16, 2023

By Austin Tannenbaum

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YES

Between 1951 and 1992, the U.S. government conducted a total of 1,021 nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site 65 miles north of Las Vegas.

One hundred were detonated in the atmosphere before President John F. Kennedy signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963, which limited nuclear testing to contained underground detonations.

The U.S. had several nuclear test sites, including in Colorado, New Mexico, Mississippi and Alaska. The precise impact of this testing on human health is debated, but researchers with the National Cancer Institute, American Scientist magazine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledge a small but significant increased risk of developing certain types of cancers from exposure to the fallout.

On Sept. 23, 1992, the U.S. conducted its last nuclear test. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was adopted by the United Nations in 1996, but it has not yet entered into force, as eight countries, including the U.S. and China, have yet to ratify it.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Nuclear Museum Nevada Test Site

Atomic Archive Nuclear Test Sites

Lippincott Research Projected Cancer Risks to Residents of New Mexico from Exposure to Trinity Radioactive Fallout

Centers for Disease Control Radioactive Fallout from Global Weapons Testing

National Cancer Institute Fallout from Nuclear Weapons Tests and Cancer Risks

United Nations Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

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