The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is one of two locations (the South Pacific being the other) at which the United States has conducted the majority of its nuclear weapons tests. The site was chosen for weapons testing in December 1950 by President Harry S. Truman and originally named the Nevada Proving Ground. The first test of a nuclear weapon was carried out at the site in January 1951 when a B-50 bomber dropped a bomb for the first of five tests in "Operation Ranger."

The Nevada Test Site is located 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Las Vegas. It occupies 1,350 square miles (3,497 km²), an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. Nellis Air Force Base and the Tonopath Test Range surround the site on three sides.

Over 3,500 people are employed by NTS, 1,500 of whom work on the site itself. The site's annual budget is about $450 million...