Informant38

First Response and More:

Native Americans want U.S. authorities to cancel plans to detonate 700 tons of explosives on what they say is tribal land in Nevada.
The planned explosion, scheduled for June 2 some 90 miles from Las Vegas, is aimed at aiding U.S. efforts to develop "bunker buster" weapons capable of penetrating solid rock. Officials have suggested the test would constitute the largest non-nuclear, open-air blast in the test site's history.
[...]
"Without going through a lot of detail, the issue of ownership of the land area occupied by the Nevada Test Site, and for that matter very large sections of Nevada and Utah, is very complex (going back to the Ruby Valley Treaty) and in our eyes has been resolved," said Kevin Rohrer, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates the test site...
[...]
Scientists have said that exposure to radiation from nuclear testing caused an increased incidence of leukemia and cancer in areas adjacent to the Nevada Test Site.
All necessary permits to conduct the test have been obtained from Nevada state agencies, test authorities have said, but there has been no indication that they sought Shoshone approval.
The test has been named "Divine Strake," adding to the outrage felt by many Native Americans, who say the test site sits on sacred land.
"It's a mystery why they call it 'divine'," said Carrie Dann, a grandmother and executive director of the Western Shoshone Defense Project. "Isn't 'divine' used for your deity, God, your sacredness? Why don't they call it 'Hell Strake?'"

Haider Rizvi/OneWorld/commondreams 11.Apr.06
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Terrorism is taught around the world, but for learning counterterrorism the place to go is the Nevada Test Site. In the desert 100 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas, Bechtel Nevada oversees a varied and growing program that teaches local, state, and federal officials how to thwart terrorists, and how to respond to nuclear and chemical attacks.
Larger than the state of Rhode Island, the Nevada Test Site (NTS) was created in 1952 as an area for testing nuclear weapons. Since the nuclear weapons testing moratorium in 1992, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has diversified the site into programs such as hazardous chemical spill testing, conventional weapons testing, stewardship of the nuclear weapons stockpile, and waste management and environmental technology studies.
Even before September 11, 2001, the NTS was known nationally for its counterterrorism training program. The attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., as well as increasing terrorist activity worldwide, have turned the fight against terrorism into a top priority for DOE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As a result, the budget for the counterterrorism program at the NTS has more than doubled over the past two years.
The program, managed by Bechtel Nevada, comprises a staff of 600 working on four core components: emergency response, training and exercises, test and evaluation, and applied technology.

Bechtel Briefs Online