Film footage and photographs of mushroom clouds; testimonials; and artifacts, including a deactivated bomb, twisted chunks of steel, and bomb-testing machinery, tell the story of the Nevada Test Site. Atmospheric, or above-ground, atomic testing took place in the southern Nevada desert, about 65 mi northwest of Las Vegas, from 1951 to 1962. During that time the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce promoted the testing as an attraction, mostly to avoid losing wary visitors and their dollars. Publicity campaigns encouraged people to consider the mushroom clouds as entertainment to be watched and photographed. Atomic bomb postcards and souvenirs, and even the atomic cocktail (invented by a Vegas bartender), became extremely popular. After an explosion, Las Vegans would wait the seven minutes for the ensuing shock wave, which was known to break windows. Testing continued underground from 1962 until 1992, when the United States signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with 71 other countries including France, Russia, China, and the United Kingdom. Narratives and exhibits at the Atomic Testing Museum describe the experiences of people who witnessed explosions and those who worked at the site. Of course, the aftereffects of radiation are not explored here. After your visit, you can browse the gift shop to see its Albert Einstein action figures and View-Master reels with 3-D images of atomic testing.

Group tours of the 1,375-square-mi Nevada Test Site -- that's larger than the state of Rhode Island -- take you onto the terrain for visits to test-site craters and observation points. To register for a tour, contact the Nevada office of the National Nuclear Security Administration (Box 98518, Las Vegas, 89193. 702/295-0944. www.nv.doe.gov).