man standing to left reading a document in front of a dozen large rolling file storage units in a large room

Nuclear Testing Archive

man standing to left reading a document in front of a dozen large rolling file storage units in a large room

The Nuclear Testing Archive (formerly known as the Coordination Information Center) opened on July 17, 1981, to collect and make available all historical documents, records, and data dealing with radioactive fallout from all U.S. testing of nuclear devices.

The Nuclear Testing Archive collects and consolidates historical documents, records, and data for long-term preservation. The collection includes documentation on the detection and measurement of radioactive fallout and the related factors resulting from nuclear test device activities at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), the Trinity event, the Pacific Proving Grounds, and other on-continent test locations, as well as information on the health effects of radiation and various related scientific and technical studies and reports.

This collection of over 386,000 documents is available to the public through the Nuclear Testing Archive Public Virtual Reading Room. This facility maintains more than 40,000 documents relating to Human Radiation Experiments by our predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), as well as over 346,000 documents dealing with the U.S. nuclear testing program.

Nuclear Testing Archive Documents

The bibliographic information for the collection at the Nuclear Testing Archive can be accessed through OpenNet. OpenNet is the DOE’s bibliographic database containing declassified and publicly available documents. It is an automated searchable database, which enables the interested party to identify documents of interest, determine their location within the DOE complex, and obtain ordering information.

The Nuclear Testing Archive also maintains the complete DOE Human Radiation Experiments collection. These documents are available in full-text retrieval through the DOE Human Radiation Experiments site linked above.

The Nuclear Testing Archive has approximately 100 unclassified historical nuclear weapons testing videos. The complete NTA Video Catalog and NTA Video List can be accessed via these links.

Instructions for OpenNet

  1. Go to the Department of Energy OpenNet website: https://www.osti.gov/opennet/advanced-search.
  2. In the ACCESSION NUMBER field, enter NV* to gain access to entries found in the NTA database.
    NOTE: All NTA documents contain the prefix NV0.
  3. In the TITLE field, enter the key terms you wish to search for (i.e., drill back, Operation Cue, Manhattan Project, etc.).
    NOTE: Utilize the “less is more” philosophy when choosing key terms.
  4. Go to the top of the screen and press the blue SEARCH button.
  5. Once you get your results, go to the black bar in the top banner of the page and click on ACCESSION NUMBER in order to put the documents in ascending numerical order.
  6. Scroll through the list of documents to determine which documents may be of interest to you.
  7. Compile a list of documents you wish to review.
  8. Press ADVANCED SEARCH in the top left corner to go back to the OpenNet search fields to continue research utilizing additional search fields such as AUTHOR, DOCUMENT NUMBER, PUBLICATION DATE, etc.

To request documents or other media not available on OpenNet, please submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request:

To submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Energy, you have four options:

Complete and submit your FOIA request electronically by using the electronic FOIA request form.

  1. Submit your FOIA request via e-mail to FOIA-Central@hq.doe.gov.
  2. Mail your request to:
    FOIA Request Service Center
    1000 Independence Avenue, SW
    Mail Stop MA-46
    Washington, DC 20585
  3. Send your request by facsimile to 202-586-0575.

Questions?

General Information

For general information or for further assistance, contact the Nuclear Testing Archive at NTA@nv.doe.gov.

Related Links

1951 Warning Poster
Einstein Letter
President Kennedy Sound Bite