— of the Fall 1951 series in Nevada, and have been active in each series since. While their duties have been primarily in support of test operations, their work has been considered also active duty training for any future radiation emergency. During the 1955 series a Mercury laboratory and all off-site radiation monitoring positions were staffed by USPHS personnel. In that series the monitors were assigned permanently to key communities surrounding the Test Site. Other Programs at Nevada Test Site and Nearby The Safety Experiment Program. Since November, 1955, experiments have been conducted from time to time at the Nevada Test Site to determine the safety of nuclear weapons in case of accidents during handling or storage. Two such experiments were conducted in November, 1955; another in January, 1956; and a fourth was scheduled in late April, 1957. Several other such tests are being conducted during the summer of 1957 series at times when the test site is not being used for full-scale nuclear detonations. Livermore High Explosive Tests. Since 1954, the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Livermore has conducted small scale high explosive tests periodically within the Nevada Test Site. Use of the Nevada site for such experiments is necessary because of Zack of an isolated area within the boundaries of the Laboratory proper at Livermore. New Technical Area. Preliminary steps in the development of a new technical area for AEC studies have been announced. The new area adjoins the originai Nevada Test Site, and will be used for ground testing of nuclear rocket propulsion devices after roads, water wells and structurez have been completed. Completion of construction werk now is expected late in 1958. Tonopah Ballistics Range. First operations were conducted in February, 1957, at the AEC's Tonopah Ballistics Range, located southeast of Tonopah, Nevada, and northwest of the Nevada Test Site in a 624 square mile area acquired from the U. S, Air Force ona temporary basis. At the range, air drops are conducted using inert weapon shapes. The Sandia Corporation, which operates the AEC's Sandia Laboratory for weapons development at Albuquerque, New Mexico, operates the Tonopah Range for the Commission, and drop planes are from the USAF Spesiai Weapons Center, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque. It is planned that the range will be used for about three years, after which it may be supplanted by a ballistics range the Air Force plans to build, for Department of Defense-Atomic Energy Commission joint use, in northwestern Arizona. Watertown Project. Construction began in 1955 on a small facility at Groom Dry Lake adjacent to the northeast corner of the Nevade Test Site, and within the boundaries of the Les Vegas Bombing - 22 - CoP"nin . i pare 8 C ‘\\