27 January 1951 - the first nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site: CTBTO Preparatory Commission

On January 27, 1951, the US began 126 nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site. From the article:

"27 January 1951 -
the first nuclear test
at the Nevada Test Site

‘Able’ was the first air-dropped nuclear device to be exploded on American soil. The test took place on 27 January 1951 at Frenchman Flat, a dry lakebed in the Nevada Test Site. The 1-kiloton explosion launched the fourth U.S. nuclear test series code-named ‘Ranger’, which consisted of five air-dropped nuclear tests in early 1951.

The initial post-war U.S. nuclear tests – including the similarly named Able test on 1 July 1946 at the Bikini atoll – had been conducted at remote atolls in the Pacific Ocean, far from U.S. mainland. With the first Soviet nuclear test in 1949, the United States had lost its monopoly on nuclear weapons. The United States decided to significantly expand nuclear testing programme and chose the Nevada Test Site as the main location for subsequent tests.

The Able test was followed by about 100 more atmospheric nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site. By the end of the 1950s, the grave effects of radioactivity on personnel involved in the testing and the surrounding population became evident. Public outrage helped to conclude the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), which banned all nuclear tests above ground, in the atmosphere, underwater and in outer space. Nuclear weapon testing underground, though, not only continued but increased in numbers. A total of 928 nuclear tests were conducted at the Nevada Test Site, more than anywhere else.

A 1955 U.S. government brochure on the effects of nuclear testing.
In a 1955 brochure on ‘Atomic Test Effects in the Nevada Test Site Region’, the Atomic Energy Commission assured residents close to the test site that radiation levels were “only slightly more than normal radiation which you experience day in and day out wherever you may live.” The nuclear weapon tests in Nevada were even promoted as tourist attractions.

Until today, the scale of the harm caused by radioactive fallout from the Nevada Test Site remains controversial. A 2006 study (PDF) by Steven L. Simon, André Bouville and Charles E. Land finds that exposure to fallout from atmospheric testing will continue to have adverse health effects in the form of increased rates of certain types of cancer such as leukemia. The National Cancer Institute's 1999 report finds that internal exposure to iodine-131 was the most serious health consequence for downwinders. Milk contaminated with iodine-131 was consumed by children in particular.

Whereas the downwinders paid a high price for the development of a nuclear weapons program for the benefit of the United States; and Whereas the downwinders deserve to be recognized for the sacrifice they have made for the defense of the United States.U.S. Senate Resolution of 16 November 2011

In 1990, the U.S. Congress adopted the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) which allows downwinders from Utah, Nevada and Arizona to apply for a US$ 50.000 compensation payment in cases where a disease was caused by fallout from nuclear testing. There have been, however, repeated calls for expansions of the Compensation Act to boost payments and include other U.S. states in the compensation scheme. In November 2011, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a resolution which designates 27 January as a National Day of Remembrance. The resolution recognizes that “downwinders paid a high price” for the development of the U.S. nuclear weapons programme."