 Structure used to evaluate effects of an atmospheric nuclear test. It is located at Frenchman Flat on the Nevada Test Site. |
DRI archaeologists have examined cultural resources preserved on the Nevada Test
Site ranging from the earliest records of people in Nevada to the period of Euro-American settlement to remnants of the Cold War. In addition, approximately 50
years after President Eisenhower delivered his "Atoms for Peace" speech to the United
Nations, cultural resource scientists of the Desert Research Institute are also examining
historical testing sites used during the "Plowshare Program", a program to test
peaceful uses of nuclear devices conducted by the US Atomic Energy Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers,
and other Department of Defense entities.
For more information on research of the Plowshare Program,
please refer to DRI's Summer 2006 Newsletter.
 Tippipah Springs cabin is probably best preserved example of early Euro-American settlement structures on Nevada Test Site. |
Locations for Plowshare sites ranged as far apart as Hawaii
and Pennsylvania in the United States. In many cases, Plowshare "calibration
tests" with conventional explosives were conducted, but no tests with
nuclear devices were done. However, some of the Offsite Test Areas where
DRI is conducting contaminant flow and transport modeling were locations
for Plowshare nuclear tests. These tests, including Rio Blanco and Rulison
conducted in Colorado and Gasbuggy in New Mexico, used nuclear devices
to fracture underground rock in experiments designed to enhance natural gas production.
|
In all, DRI researchers have collected historic records and photodocumented over 80 proposed Plowshare projects and sites as part of its ongoing effort to develop a comprehensive record of this program and to evaluate wheather there are any environmental or saftey risks associated with plowshare sites.
A significant research feature of the Frank H. Rogers Science and Technology Building on the Las Vegas campus of Desert Research Institute is a state- of-art archaeology curatorial facility. It is being used to store and manage archaeological collections that the Desert Research Institute manages for the U.S. DOE Nevada Site office, the the U.S. DOE Yucca Mountain repository program and smaller collections for other federal agencies. In addition, the nonprofit Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation is using the facility as well for artifacts associated with the Atomic Testing Museum on the Las Vegas campus of DRI.
 Curatorial facility located in the Frank H. Rogers Science and Technology Building on the Las Vegas Campus of the Desert Research Institute. |
More information on the cultural resources and historic preservation programs at the DOE Nevada site office is available at: Overview - Cultural Resources Program
