Nevada

Covered Facilities

(SEC) = The Special Exposure Cohort. This is a defined category of employees established under EEOICPA. The SEC is comprised of classes of employees who have at least one of the 22 SEC cancers and have worked for a specific period of time at one of the SEC facilities. Claims compensated under the SEC do not have to go through the dose reconstruction process, as is required for other cancer claims covered by EEOICPA.

• 1: Nevada Site Office, Las Vegas

  The Nevada Site Office assumed responsibility for operations at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) on March 6, 1962, in response to the year-round nuclear weapons testing efforts. In 2002, the discovery of beryllium contamination in buildings B-1, B-2, B-3, and A-1 at the North Las Vegas Complex led to the immediate halt of operations and the relocation of employees due to concerns over potential exposure.

• 2: Nevada Test Site (SEC)

  The Nevada Test Site was developed in 1951 as a facility for conducting field tests of nuclear devices in connection with the research and development of nuclear weapons. Spanning an area slightly larger than Rhode Island, it has served as the primary location for testing nuclear explosive devices since Operation Ranger in 1951. In addition to testing, the site is a disposal area for low-level waste and remains on standby for future nuclear weapons testing.

• 3: Project Faultless, Hot Creek Valley

  Project Faultless was an underground nuclear test explosion at the Central Nevada Test Site near Hot Creek Valley. The Faultless test was conducted to determine the suitability of the area for additional testing. Non-nuclear experiments designed to determine the behavior of seismic waves were also conducted in the area. The shot was fired on January 19, 1968 and on December 9, 1979, the site was placed in caretaker status and demobilization and restoration work started in 1974.

• 4: Project Shoal, Fallon

  Project Shoal was an underground nuclear test explosion near Fallon to determine the characteristics of seismic signals generated by nuclear explosions in specific geological formations in comparison to seismic signals generated by earthquakes. Construction began in late 1962 and the shot was fired on October 10, 1963. Deactivation began on October 28, 1963 and was complete by January 31, 1964.

• 5: Tonopah Test Range, Tonopah

  The Tonopah Test Range was developed to provide an isolated place for the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to test ballistics and non-nuclear features of atomic weapons. In 1956, the AEC contracted Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company (REECO) for the construction of temporary facilities on the test range. The AEC contracted with Lembke Construction for permanent facilities at the site in 1960.

• 6: Yucca Mountain Site

  The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project was developed to determine if Yucca Mountain is a suitable site for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The project involves extensive studies on Yucca Mountain’s geology, hydrology, biology and climate.