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Friday, February 26, 2010

The Atomic Testing Museum Honors 5 Year Anniversary with World Trade Center Artifact Dedication...

During the 1950's and well into the early part of the 1990's Las Vegas was the epicenter of America's fascination with the atomic bomb. Located 60 miles north of Las Vegas the Nevada Test Site was the locus of scientific studies that helped propel the United States into becoming a world super power. Photographers from around the world and the Las Vegas News Bureau would go to the test site to witness the awesome power of the most destructive force in nature; the harnessing of the atom. For many years above ground testing was deemed safe but out of fear for contamination testing went underground and eventually treaties were signed that ceased testing all together.

Many years later a team of former test site workers seeing the need to educate the public about this important piece of history banded together and started the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation. Eventually the foundation began the arduous task of creating an institution to honor the science behind "the bomb" and those who gave their lives to protect our great nation. In 2005 as the city of Las Vegas celebrated its centennial the Atomic Testing Museum was born.

If you have never been to the Atomic Testing Museum it is a must see historic attraction in Las Vegas. I proudly served as a trustee for the museum and can tell you personally this place is one of Las Vegas best kept secrets. If you like science at its best the Atomic Testing Museum is for you.

In honoring its 5th Anniversary the museum will be remembering those who lost their lives during 911 with a dedication of artifacts from the World Trade Center on this Saturday at 1PM. For more information about the museum and this special event please visit their website http://www.atomictestingmuseum.org/



Nevada Public Radio
For more information on the Cultural Arts in Las Vegas please visit Nevada Public Radio. NPR has detailed listings of many cultural and civic events hosted by area non-profits click on this link http://www.knpr.org/common/psa/listNEW.cfm and if you are planning an event in the next few months, be sure to get your free listing in Nevada Public Radio's Desert Companion magazine by submitting the information here at http://www.knpr.org/culture/eventaddnew.cfm

posted by Brian Paco Alvarez, Curator and Chronicler of Culture at

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You got it all backwards. It's not that atmospheric testing was 'deemed safe but out of fear for contamination' stopped and taken underground. Rather, atmospheric testing was stopped because it was deemed *contaminating our food supplies* and *elevating radioactive strontium-90 in baby teeth*.

A not-so-insignificant chunk of the strontium-90 that every single American ingested via radioactive 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s milk can be traced to Nevada above-ground testing and is not going away. It stays in the body: the bones and teeth for life.

Now *that* is something y'all should fear.

2:33 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

[ ... ] link is being shared on Twitter right now. @zenx, an influential author, said RT @1ndus: Xtreme [ ... ]

10:50 PM

 
Blogger Nevada Magazine said...

A great read on the museum:

http://www.nevadamagazine.com/index.php/issues/read/ground_zero/

1:41 PM

 

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