From massive craters to secret cities: nuclear testing sites you can visit

An overground granite monument marks the site of the only US atomic bomb tests east of the Rocky Mountains. Part of Project Dribble, these two bombs were aimed at finding out whether a country could muffle the shock wave from a nuclear explosion by setting it off in an underground cavern. The site is accessed by appointment only.

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

The largest man-made crater in the US marks the spot where humans once tested mining with nukes.

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

The result of a massive underground nuclear test, the blast may have ended up irradiating more people than any other US nuclear test.

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

In 1962, a shaft descending over 600 feet (182 m) into the desert floor was created, and the Sedan bomb was lowered into it. When the 104-kiloton bomb was detonated, it lifted the ground above it into a dome over 300 feet (91 m) high, sending a massive shockwave of dirt.

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

Today, the giant crater is still there in the middle of the desert, and monthly tours of the site are given.

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Runit Island - Marshall Islands -

Between 1946 and 1962, the US military conducted 105 atmospheric nuclear tests over the Marshall Islands and several other nearby South Pacific atolls.

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Runit Island - Marshall Islands -

In the late '70s, in an effort to clean up the radioactive debris left by those explosions, the government dug up 111,000 cubic yards of soil from the Bikini and Rongelap atolls and deposited it on Runit Island.

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Runit Island - Marshall Islands -

Covering up that giant radioactive pit cost the government nearly a quarter of a billion dollars and took three years to complete. The result is an enormous dome, called the Cactus Dome, consisting of 358 gigantic concrete panels.

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Atomic Bank Vault - Nye County, Nevada -

On June 24, 1957, a group of scientists with the Atomic Energy Commission were preparing for an imminent blast.

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Atomic Bank Vault - Nye County, Nevada -

In the early morning, a 37-kiloton atom bomb lit off. When the shock wave reached the reinforced observation blockhouse, it tore doors from their hinges.

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Atomic Bank Vault - Nye County, Nevada -

While the door has been removed, the colossal strongbox may likely remain intact until the end of time.

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Trinity Atomic Bomb Site - New Mexico -

Normally off-limits to civilians, the scene of Trinity's detonation is open to the public the first Saturday of April and October each year.

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Trinity Atomic Bomb Site - New Mexico -

At ground zero, you can see green trinitite created by the bomb blast. It's forbidden to remove any of the trinitite from the premises.

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Project Shoal Site - Fallon, Nevada -

Project Shoal was an underground nuclear test that took place on October 26, 1963, approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Fallon, Nevada.

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Project Shoal Site - Fallon, Nevada -

The site was selected because its earthquake activity afforded a basis for seismic signal comparisons. Today, you can visit the monument, which, in contrast to many historic nuclear test sites, you can drive right up to.

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Rulison Nuclear Test Site - Parachute, Colorado -

On September 10, 1969,the United States Atomic Energy Commission detonated a 40-kiloton nuclear bomb (nearly twice as powerful as the one dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II) 8,400 feet (2.5 km) beneath the rural community of Rulison, Colorado.

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Rulison Nuclear Test Site - Parachute, Colorado -

Locals were evacuated on the day of the detonation. Those who watched from afar described it feeling like an earthquake.

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Mars Bluff Crater - Florence, South Carolina -

On March 11, 1958, a US Air Force B-47 Stratojet with a nuclear bomb accidentally released it. The resulting explosion created a crater estimated to be 75 feet (23 m) wide and 25–35 feet (7.6–10.7 m) deep. It destroyed a local playhouse and leveled nearby trees. No one was killed.

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Bikini Atoll - Marshall Islands -

Located about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, residents of Bikini Atoll were forcibly relocated when the US took possession of the island chain in 1946.

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Bikini Atoll - Marshall Islands -

Over the next 12 years, the US sent 23 nuclear bombs raining down on the Micronesian atoll.

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Bikini Atoll - Marshall Islands -

Under the lagoon, you'll find the remains of nearly a dozen ships sunk during Operation Crossroads in 1946. Bikini Atoll itself is safe to visit, but avoid eating the coconuts!

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Atomic Survival Town - Nye County, Nevada -

In 1955, 14 nuclear test explosions known as Operation Teapot were set off in the Nevada desert at Yucca Flat.

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Atomic Survival Town - Nye County, Nevada -

The project included purpose-built homes and other structures, set at varying distances from the blasts, to test the impact of the explosions. Today, public tours are available.

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Secret City - Oak Ridge, Tennessee -

The city of Oak Ridge was established by the US government in 1942 to serve as a home base for the Manhattan Project.

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Secret City - Oak Ridge, Tennessee -

Chosen for its remote location, the entire city had to be built almost from scratch to handle the influx of employees and residents, which went from 3,000 to 75,000 within three years. The Secret City Festival, complete with WWII reenactors, happens every June.

Sources: (Atlas Obscura) (Travel Nevada) (History)

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Icecap Ground Zero - Nye County, Nevada -

Located at the Nevada National Security Site, Icecap Ground Zero is an underground facility built in 1992 for a nuclear test.

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Icecap Ground Zero - Nye County, Nevada -

Getty Images

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Salmon and Sterling Site - Lumberton, Mississippi -

Public Domain

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

The largest man-made crater in the US marks the spot where humans once tested mining with nukes.

Getty Images

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

The result of a massive underground nuclear test, the blast may have ended up irradiating more people than any other US nuclear test.

Getty Images

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

Getty Images

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Sedan Crater - Nye County, Nevada -

Today, the giant crater is still there in the middle of the desert, and monthly tours of the site are given.

Getty Images

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Runit Island - Marshall Islands -

Between 1946 and 1962, the US military conducted 105 atmospheric nuclear tests over the Marshall Islands and several other nearby South Pacific atolls.

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Runit Island - Marshall Islands -

Public Domain

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Runit Island - Marshall Islands -

Getty Images

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Atomic Bank Vault - Nye County, Nevada -

On June 24, 1957, a group of scientists with the Atomic Energy Commission were preparing for an imminent blast.

Getty Images

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Atomic Bank Vault - Nye County, Nevada -

In the early morning, a 37-kiloton atom bomb lit off. When the shock wave reached the reinforced observation blockhouse, it tore doors from their hinges.

Getty Images

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Atomic Bank Vault - Nye County, Nevada -

While the door has been removed, the colossal strongbox may likely remain intact until the end of time.

Getty Images

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Trinity Atomic Bomb Site - New Mexico -

Normally off-limits to civilians, the scene of Trinity's detonation is open to the public the first Saturday of April and October each year.

Getty Images

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Trinity Atomic Bomb Site - New Mexico -

At ground zero, you can see green trinitite created by the bomb blast. It's forbidden to remove any of the trinitite from the premises.

Getty Images

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Project Shoal Site - Fallon, Nevada -

Project Shoal was an underground nuclear test that took place on October 26, 1963, approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Fallon, Nevada.

Public Domain

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Project Shoal Site - Fallon, Nevada -

Getty Images

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Rulison Nuclear Test Site - Parachute, Colorado -

Public Domain

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Rulison Nuclear Test Site - Parachute, Colorado -

Locals were evacuated on the day of the detonation. Those who watched from afar described it feeling like an earthquake.

Getty Images

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Mars Bluff Crater - Florence, South Carolina -

Getty Images

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Bikini Atoll - Marshall Islands -

Located about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, residents of Bikini Atoll were forcibly relocated when the US took possession of the island chain in 1946.

Getty Images

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Bikini Atoll - Marshall Islands -

Over the next 12 years, the US sent 23 nuclear bombs raining down on the Micronesian atoll.

Getty Images

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Bikini Atoll - Marshall Islands -

Under the lagoon, you'll find the remains of nearly a dozen ships sunk during Operation Crossroads in 1946. Bikini Atoll itself is safe to visit, but avoid eating the coconuts!

Getty Images

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Atomic Survival Town - Nye County, Nevada -

In 1955, 14 nuclear test explosions known as Operation Teapot were set off in the Nevada desert at Yucca Flat.

Getty Images

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Atomic Survival Town - Nye County, Nevada -

The project included purpose-built homes and other structures, set at varying distances from the blasts, to test the impact of the explosions. Today, public tours are available.

Public Domain

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Secret City - Oak Ridge, Tennessee -

The city of Oak Ridge was established by the US government in 1942 to serve as a home base for the Manhattan Project.

Getty Images

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Secret City - Oak Ridge, Tennessee -

Sources: (Atlas Obscura) (Travel Nevada) (History)

Getty Images

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From massive craters to secret cities: nuclear testing sites you can visit

How about exploring these nuclear testing sites on your upcoming vacation?

12/11/24 | StarsInsider

TRAVEL Dark tourism

On July 16, 1945, the first nuclear explosion occurred a few hundred miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Known as the Trinity test by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, it was the start of the age of nuclear weapons. From that day until 1992, the US alone conducted more than 1,000 nuclear tests. And, perhaps surprisingly, many of the sites where these earth-shattering explosions took place can still be visited today.

Intrigued? Click on to discover nuclear testing sites you can visit.