We The People: Southern Nevada makes explosive contributions to U.S. defensive capabilities

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Nevada Test Site played a major role in the early development of nuclear weaponry in the 1950’s, 60’s and beyond.

But on July 17th, 1962, the site witnessed the last test anyone from the public would ever see.

“Starting in 1951, the U.S. conducted 920 total nuclear weapons tests, including 820 underground tests and a hundred atmospheric, or above-ground tests,” says Joseph Kent, the chief community officer and curator of the Atomic Museum.

The last of those above-ground tests took place just northwest of Las Vegas. Its name was Little Feller I.

An archival photo of the Little Feller I test on July 17, 1962 at the Nevada Test Site north of Las Vegas

“This right here is the device that would have been tested at Little Feller I,” says Kent displaying a small warhead. “This was fired from a recoilless rifle weapon system called the Davey Crockett and for the Little Feller I test, it was launched about 2,700 feet away from where it was fired.”

A warhead like the one used to deliver Little Feller I on display at the Atomic Museum

There were plenty of people on hand to see the results.

“There were 400 spectators observing the shot including U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy,” says Kent. “There were about a thousand military personnel that were brought out to the site to perform some exercises to kind of simulate what it would be like if one of these devices was fired on the battlefield.”

FILE--Then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy, left, Gen. Maxwell Taylor, center, and others don high-intensity goggles to protect their retinas as they watch an Army nuclear demonstration in Ivy Flats, Nev., in July 1962. (AP Photo/Energy Department,File)

Kent gave us a better idea what those soldiers on the ground might have experienced.

“So this right here, the Davey Crockett projectile, was actually the lightest and smallest nuclear fission device that was tested by the United States. It’s about 51 pounds, so it’s very small in comparison to some of the other devices that were shot out there. This specifically was about three feet off the ground when it detonated. So very low-level in terms of the height where it was detonated. Also, very low-level in terms of the explosion and radiation.”

A Davy Crockett weapons system like the one used to launch Little Feller I.

After Little Feller, all near-ground nuclear testing moved underground to address global concerns about radiation exposure. The type of testing currently conducted at what used to be the Nevada Test site is far more discreet and vastly more high-tech, but Kent says the past has informed our nuclear present.

“This is a really key part of that history, and where we are today is because of the decisions that were made and the devices that were tested back then.”

Kent says the Test Site’s operations weren’t limited to a specific type or size of warhead or delivery device. He says the military brought a variety of munitions to the site as they were developed to put them through their paces.