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Nevada nuclear bomb site given new name

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The historic Nevada Test Site outside Las Vegas has been rechristened the Nevada National Security Site, federal officials announced Monday.

The National Nuclear Security Administration said the new name of the historic desert expanse better reflects its current mission, which is aimed more at training than testing nuclear weapons.

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"Renaming the site the Nevada National Security Site better reflects the critical and diverse role it plays in national security," NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino said at a ceremony at the site Monday.

The NNSA said the 1,360 square-mile installation is used by various government agencies, including the military and Department of Homeland Security, for training personnel and testing technology for the detection of weapons of mass destruction.

The Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, was used in the early days of the nuclear age to test nuclear weapons. More than 900 detonations were announced between 1951 and 1992, most of which were underground blasts.

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