We could easily spend the rest of the year—and probably a fair chunk of 2010—blogging exclusively about Cold War nuclear testing. But since doing so would certainly lead to a mass exodus of readers, we’ll spare you the endless geek out. For now, content yourself with this short-yet-fascinating report (PDF) on the Nevada Test Site‘s “Japanese Village,” built in 1956 to help researchers understand why some people managed to survive Hiroshima’s radioactive fallout. The village’s construction was part of the 37-year run of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, whose mammoth files we’d someday love to peruse. The ersatz settlement was not blasted with an actual atomic test, but rather dosed with radiation created by a BREN Tower.
Notes on the village’s current condition can be found here, though there are crude drawings in place of photographs; visitors are not allowed to bring cameras into the Nevada Test Site.
(via the truly great things magazine)
Jordan // Jun 4, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Put me down as one reader who would stick around for a year of nuclear testing material. That stuff is endlessly fascinating.
Also, I would love to know who got to name a place “Jackass Flats”. Doesn’t sound like an appealing destination.
Brendan I. Koerner // Jun 4, 2009 at 3:47 pm
@Jordan: If I ever go that all-nuke route, I believe I’ll have an audience of one. But I would have a ball doing the research.
There are a lot of places in Nevada that sound as if they were named by Yosemite Sam. I’ve always been partial to Horse Heaven:
http://www.placenames.com/us/p841097/