Much ado about a big bang

lrake@lasvegassun.com

Monday, April 3, 2006 | 7:59 a.m.

Oh, what fraidy-cats we have become.

Fifty years ago, news that a nuclear blast would send up a radioactive mushroom cloud visible from Las Vegas would have been cause for celebration.

We would have mixed atomic-themed cocktails and served them at bomb-viewing parties while we waited in sunglasses for the blinding flash from the Nevada Test Site.

Today, however, we are alarmed by plans for a non-nuclear explosion at the Test Site, 65 miles to the northwest. The planned June 2 blast would fill the sky with a mere cloud of dust which prevailing winds would probably carry away from Las Vegas.

The explosion of 700 tons of ammonium-nitrate and fuel-oil would not send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, would not be radioactive, and would not be heard, felt or seen in the urban area, Defense and Energy department officials said.

Also, officials said the size of the blast pales in comparison to above-ground nuclear blasts conducted from 1951 through 1962 at the Test Site. There have also been larger non-nuclear tests at the Test Site and other test ranges in the West.

Nonetheless, when news of the new test broke Thursday, we panicked. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for a briefing.

I am concerned that tests of this magnitude have been planned without providing Nevadans with any information about the possible impact on their health and safety, Reid said Friday.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas, and state Sen. Dina Titus, a Democratic candidate for governor, expressed concerns about radioactive dust kicked up from the test.

Indeed, visitors who watched the nuclear blasts from the Test Site years ago saw a pink snow falling from the sky after the explosion.

Energy Department spokesman Darwin Morgan said kicked-up radiation should not be a concern with the new explosion because it is going to take place in an area that has not been used for atomic testing.

So there. If the Energy Department says it, it must be true.

In which case, why dont you mix us another atomic cocktail, bartender.

Launce Rake can be reached at 259- 4127 or at lrake@lasvegassun.com.