The Priscilla nuclear bomb is detonated over Frenchman Flat on June 24, 1957. The test was one of a series of controversial nuclear tests codenamed Operation Plumbbob. The 37 kiloton bomb was detonated at 700 feet above the valley floor via hot air balloon. Operation Plumbbob sought to take advantage of the nuclear tests with training exercises, war games and lectures for military personnel on how the atom bomb would change the way wars would be fought, culminating in the actual explosions every 5 days during the late spring and summer of 1957. View photo »

Members of the media survey Sedan crater. Detonated July 6, 1962, Sedan crater is 320 ft. deep, 1,280 ft. wide and moved 6.6 million cubic yards of soil. The 104 kiloton Storax Sedan event was a key test under Operation Plowshare which sought to utilize nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes like carving out lakes and rivers. The crater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. View photo »

Sands Copa Girl, Linda Lawson, is crowned "Miss-Cue" by military personnel participating Operation Cue at the Nevada Test Site, May 1, 1955. High winds caused Operation Cue to suffer from numerous delays, causing personnel to name it "Operation Miscue." View photo »

A mushroom cloud from a nuclear test appears on the horizon of downtown Las Vegas, November 1951. Six atmospheric tests and one subterranean detonation were conducted for Operation Buster-Jangle at the Nevada Test Site in late 1951. View photo »

Copa Room showgirl Lee Merlin poses in a cotton, mushroom cloud swimsuit as she is crowned "Miss Atomic Bomb" in this 1957 photo. Above-ground nuclear testing was a major public attraction during the late 1950s and hotels capitalized on the craze by hosting nuclear bomb watch parties which usually included the dubbing of a chorus girl as "Miss Atomic Bomb." Merlin was the last and most famous of the "Miss Atomic Bomb" girls. View photo »

The "Baneberry" underground nuclear test at Area 8 of the Nevada Test Site accidentally releases radioactivity above ground on December 18, 1970. The blast packed a nuclear punch a little less than half of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima during World War II. View photo »

The "Charlie" nuclear bomb is detonated on October 30, 1951, as part of Operation Buster-Jangle. According to the National Cancer Institute, it is estimated that the seven detonations of Operation Buster-Jangle caused about 2,300 cases of thyroid cancer, leading to 120 deaths. View photo »

The explosion from operation Buster Jangle's "Dog" atmospheric test rocks the Nevada desert in this photo. The 21 kiloton bomb was detonated on November 1, 1951. Soldiers participating in training exercises watched the explosion from only 6 miles away. View photo »

The mushroom cloud of the "Easy" atomic bomb test rises above the Nevada Test Site on Nov. 5, 1951. Energy levels the equivalent of over 31 thousand tons of TNT were discharged by the bomb. View photo »

Air Force helicopters fly DOE radiation monitoring personnel over Yucca Flat during tests, in this now unclassified photograph. Yucca Flat, where most nuclear weapons tests are conducted, is dotted with more than 200 subsidence craters from underground explosions. View photo »

The Sedan Crater was formed when a 104-kiloton explosive buried under 635 feet of desert rock and soil was fired at the Nevada Test Site on July 6, 1962, displacing 12 million tons of earth. The crater is 320 feet deep and has a diameter of about 1,280 feet. The radioactive cloud rose 12,000 feet in the air and headed east then northeast toward the Mississippi River. The crater shown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. View photo »