Nevada Test Site to resume tours

The remains from a vault built to measure the effects from the 1957 nuclear detonation test Priscilla at Frenchman Flat. Photo taken on Wednesday, Jan., 11, 2017, at the Nevada National Security Site, in Mercury, Nevada. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Remains of the Sedan crater excavation experiment, detonated on July 6, 1962, within the Nevada National Security Test Site are pictured in June 2019. Apollo 11 astronauts trained for several days at the Test Site in Mercury, Nev., in preparation for their moon mission. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico conducted Grable, an atmospheric nuclear test involving an artillery projectile, on May 25, 1953, at Frenchman Flat on what was then called the Nevada Proving Grounds. The blast produced an equivalent TNT explosive yield of 15 kilotons. There were 100 atomic bomb tests conducted in the air at the proving grounds and the Nevada Test Site, now called the Nevada National Security Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. (Department of Energy photo)

Ready to be blown away with an up-close look at the remnants of Nevada’s atomic testing history? (Don’t worry, not literally.)

The Nevada National Security Site will be resuming free public tours after being suspended for nearly three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New tour dates will be announced on Monday, Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. Spots on the tours fill up quickly due to limited availability.

Tours will depart on a chartered bus from the National Atomic Testing Museum at 755 E. Flamingo Road at 7:30 a.m. and return around 5 p.m. Visitors will travel 65 miles northwest and see nearly 250 miles of the site.

The Sedan Crater, a 1,280 feet wide, 320 feet deep crater made by a thermonuclear device; Frenchman Flat, the site of five atmospheric nuclear weapons; and the low-level radioactive waste management site are some of the points of interest featured on the tour.

But influencers, beware: no cameras, camcorders or tape recorders are allowed on the tour.

Other prohibited items include:

— Cameras, camcorders or tape recorders

— Binoculars or telescopes

— Cell phones

— Privately-owned laptop computers

— Geiger counters or dosimeters not issued by the NNSS

— Firearms, weapons, or explosives

— Controlled substances (including marijuana)

— Alcoholic beverages

— Shorts and capris pants

— Sandals