BOB MCCRACKEN Nye County History Harry Ford Collection Mushroom cloud from the test of a nuclear weapon at the Nevada Test Site, as seen from Pahrump, circa 1953-1954. Advertisement

"A man must make his opportunity, as oft as find it." -- Francis Bacon, father of modern science, 1561-1626

The discovery of the Comstock Lode, an enormous deposit of silver and gold 20 miles south of present-day Reno, was probably the most important event in Nevada history. It led to the creation of the state and set off the ongoing 150-year effort to develop its economic resources.

Following the Comstock discovery, the next 70 years of Nevada's history focused on mining, ranching, and transportation. The discovery of silver at Tonopah in 1900 and gold at Goldfield in 1902, and the railroads built to service the twin boom cities, are examples of this trend.

I would suggest the Tonopah/Goldfield discoveries comprise the third most important event in state history.

Although the two towns were phenomenal in their time and helped keep the state alive for several decades, like the Comstock they didn't last; or as they say in Hollywood, "They didn't have legs."

Perhaps the second most important thing to happen in Nevada history was the legalization of gambling by the state legislature in 1931. You only need drive down the Las Vegas Strip to see where that led.

Gaming and the tourism it has fostered obviously lie at the heart of Nevada's present-day economy. And who can say what the future holds for that industry?

This brings me to my choice of the fourth most important event in Nevada history. I believe that the creation of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), located in Nye County, has had an enormous impact on state history.

NTS employment played a big but sometimes underappreciated role in the development of Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s. It also had a large positive influence on the economies of the rural counties in southern Nevada.

Although the NTS currently operates at much-reduced levels compared to years past, its future need not be "all used up," as Marlene Dietrich said of Orson Welles's future in the classic film "Touch of Evil." One thing seems clear -- the NTS is a unique, even precious, resource. Such resources nearly always present big opportunities -- thus, the words of Francis Bacon above.

NTS history

The first atomic bomb was detonated at the Alamogordo Bombing Range near White Sands, N.M., at 5:29 a.m. July 16, 1945. Its yield was equivalent to 19,000 tons (19 kilotons) of TNT. Three weeks later, on Aug. 6, 1945, a nuclear weapon with a 13-kiloton yield was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, a second bomb with a yield of 23 kilotons was dropped on Nagasaki.

Following the end of World War II, the United States chose to continue the development of nuclear weapons (and energy). But officials faced the problem of where to do future testing.

Several American-controlled sites in the South Pacific Ocean were used. On July 1, 1946, the world's fourth atomic bomb was exploded over the lagoon of Bikini Atoll. Between 1946 and 1962, 106 nuclear weapons, including the hydrogen bomb, were detonated in the South Pacific.

As late as 1949, an official of the United States said it would take a national emergency to justify testing nuclear weapons within the U.S. borders.

Such an emergency was perceived to exist when the United States became involved in the Korean War. A search was undertaken for a testing site within the country's borders. Among the candidates were Alamogordo/White Sands, New Mexico; Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah; Pamlico Sound/Camp Lejeune, N.C.; and a 50-mile-wide strip between Fallon and Eureka, Nevada.

On Dec. 18, 1950, President Truman approved establishment of a facility on the Las Vegas-Tonopah Bombing and Gunnery Range in Nye County.

At first the site encompassed 350 square miles. Subsequent expansions led to its present size of 1,375 square miles.

Dina Titus suggests in her book, "Bombs in the Backyard: Atomic Testing and American Politics," that the Nye County location was selected for several reasons: It was the largest of the proposed sites; it was under the jurisdiction of the federal government, meaning less conflict with local governments; it was supported by Nevada's powerful Sen. Pat McCarran; it was a sparsely populated area, with the nearest residents 25 miles away; and it had low rainfall and predictable winds.

The first atomic weapon was detonated on the NTS at Frenchman Flat Jan. 27, 1951. Between 1951 and 1958, 100 nuclear devices were exploded in the atmosphere at the facility. After the Limited Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union was signed August 5, 1963, all testing was moved underground; in total, 828 such tests were conducted.

On Oct. 2, 1992, President George Bush signed a nine-month moratorium on nuclear weapons testing and no nuclear devices are known to have been detonated by the United States since that date.

In all there were 928 atomic tests at the NTS.

The impact of the NTS on southern Nevada can be seen in its impact on employment. In the mid-1980s, 9 percent of the workforce in southern Nevada was either directly or indirectly dependent on the NTS. According to Dina Titus, in 1985, total employment there was 18,640, including 240 federal employees, 7,100 private contractors, and 11,300 support workers. (Current employment there is 3,500.)

I have interviewed men who worked at the NTS in the 1950s and 1960s who strongly believed that the good-paying union jobs at the NTS helped launch Las Vegas into its emerging modern era. Without the NTS, the city's future could have been quite different.

In addition to providing housing and services to NTS workers, their checks helped underwrite the construction and contribute to the balance sheets of the Sahara, Sands and other Las Vegas casinos in those years. NTS jobs were a vital source of employment for towns throughout Nye County and many families owed their livelihood to work there.

The Future

The question is, what lies ahead for the NTS?

Computer simulation of nuclear explosions has eliminated the need for their real testing for the foreseeable future. The NTS is being used for homeland security research and training as well as teaching military forces to fight in desert areas. For me, this suggests under-use of a remarkable resource.

Given the fact that the public will not be allowed free access to the NTS for the indefinite future, how can the NTS best be used by the nation and by Nevada?

A shift in thinking is needed. I suggest we focus on energy production big time.

The NTS is a good place to build conventional nuclear power plants; it's an even better place to reprocess, transmute and reburn spent nuclear fuel. The idea that spent nuclear fuel -- "waste," as it is incorrectly called -- must be buried for 10,000 years, is a canard, phony -- old-fashioned thinking.

Spent nuclear fuel is a unique and valuable resource and can become the basis of a huge new industry, ushering in a renaissance in science and technology and green energy production.

What is needed is the wisdom, the will and the leadership to grasp the future.

Far from being "all used up," the Nevada Test Site's future may be just beginning. Imagine a facility such as the NTS moving from weapons of war to helping to save the earth.