![]() ![]() “We have the technical expertise to ensure the mission goals are achieved. “We refer to ourselves as the integrator,” Rocha says. Rocha and his staff collaborate with people from throughout the nuclear enterprise and various federal agencies on projects ranging from stewardship of the nation’s nuclear deterrent, to nuclear and radiological emergency response training, to nuclear nonproliferation and arms control initiatives, and more. “It’s a big place, and we do big jobs-big things that can’t be done anywhere else,” Rocha says. ![]() Although the United States halted full-scale nuclear testing in 1992, the site is still focused on national and global security work. Between 19, 100 atmospheric and 828 underground nuclear tests took place there. Antelope sightings are common, and “tortoise crossing” signs appear every few miles along the site’s major roads (in fact, many employees have taken desert tortoise training to ensure the safety of this threatened species).Ĭalled the Nevada Test Site until 2010, NNSS is perhaps best known as the location for the majority of America’s nuclear tests. From that southernmost portion of the site, NNSS sprawls more than 1,355 square miles (larger than the state of Rhode Island) across both the Mojave and Great Basin deserts. The main entrance to NNSS is about an hour northwest of Las Vegas. “So go to a happy place.” From top: A desert tortoise BEEF Kappa West Firing Site employees on the U1a elevator an explosion at BEEF Kappa West Collaborating on national and global security “The tunnels are huge, and you’re nearly 1,000 feet underground,” adds Roger Rocha, the vice president and chief operations officer for Mission Support and Test Services, the contractor that operates and manages NNSS. Vince Gomes, a facilities manager at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), gestures toward a steel cage that transports scientists, miners, construction workers, and equipment from the Earth’s surface to a massive subterranean laboratory. “You’ll travel 965 feet below ground at a rate of 880 feet per minute.” The nuclear enterprise comes together to conduct crucial experiments. ![]()
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