Tonopah Test Range Information
Location
Tonopah, Nevada
The Tonopah Test Range was established by Sandia Corporation and continues today as an outpost to Sandia National Laboratories. Tonopah was established to provide an isolated place for the Atomic Energy Commission to test ballistics and non-nuclear features of atomic weapons. The AEC began leasing this isolated 525 square mile property from the Air Force in early 1956. In August of the same year the AEC contracted Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company (REECO) for the construction of temporary facilities on the test range. The AEC contracted with Lembke Construction for permanent facilities at the site in 1960.
Rocket testing began in 1957 with the series “Doorknob.” It is believed that the only operation on site involving radiation occurred in 1963 and was known as Operation Roller Coaster. Studies were also conducted in 1964 at the Tonopah test range as part of the AEC program known as Project Plowshare. These involved the use of non-nuclear explosives to examine earth cratering patterns.
A separate Air Force installation at the test range, which consisted of housing, hangers, and other facilities standard to modern Air Force bases, was constructed on the Tonopah Test Range in the late 1970s for developmental testing of the Air Force’s F-117 Stealth Fighter plane. The Air Force moved its stealth program Holloman Air Force Base and mothballed its Tonopah base in 1994. The Air Force installation does not qualify as a DOE facility.
Type of Facility
- Department of Energy
Covered by EEOICPA
- Part B and Part E
EEOICPA Covered Years
- 1956-Present
Contractors
- REECO
- Lembke Construction of Las Vegas
- EG&G
- Advanced Security
- Raytheon
- 1993 KMI
DOE
DOL
- Tracking your DOL Claim Status
- Advisory Board on Toxic Substances and Worker Health
- Ombudsman’s Office
- Resource Center
- DOL Case and Claim Statistics
- Site Exposure Matrix
NIOSH
Other Resources
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