Chapter 2—The Nuclear Testing Program @ [7 Photo credit: David Graham, 1988 Test Debris on Frenchman Fiat Flat, although Pahute Mesa is now generally reserved for high-yieldtests. Tests up to 1,000 kilotons in yield have occurred beneath Pahute Mesa, a 170 square mile area in the extreme north-western part ofthetest site. The deep water table of Pahute Mesa permits underground testing in dry holes at depths as great as 2,100 feet. The distant location is useful for high-yield tests because it minimizes the chance that ground motion will cause damageoffsite. Both Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory have specific areas of the test site reserved for their use. Los Alamos uses areas 1, 3, 4(east), 5, and 7 in Yucca Flat and area 19 on Pahute Mesa; Livermoreuses areas 2, 4(west), 8, 9, and 10 in Yucca Flat, and area 20 on Pahute Mesa (figure 2-2). While Los Alamos generally uses Pahute Mesa only to relieve schedule conflicts on Yucca Flat, Livermore normally usesit for large test explosions where the depth of burial would require the test to be below the water table on Yucca Fiat. The Nevada Test Site employs over 11,000 people, with about 5,000 of them working on thesite proper. The annual budget is approximately $1 billion divided among testing nuclear weapons (81%) and the developmentof a storage facility for radioactive waste (19%). The major contractors are Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Co., Inc. (REECo),