Opponents of Divine Strake Gather at Nevada Test Site

Opponents of Divine Strake Gather at Nevada Test Site

May 28, 2006 06:07 PM

A huge test explosion was set to take place next month, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. But the project was pushed back and finally indefinitely postponed. Today, opponents celebrated.

Opponents said the 700-ton blast would send a mushroom cloud into the sky and possibly spread radioactive dust from previous nuclear experiments. Today was supposed to be a protest against the test. But instead it was a low key celebration.

Nearly 100 people camped in the desert at the gates of the Nevada Test Site. They came from Wyoming, Colorado, California and Utah. Pete Litster was one of the plaintiffs in a suit against the National Nuclear Security Administration to stop the blast.

"Living in Utah and coming from a culture of folks that distrusts the U.S. Government about weapons testing and coming from a culture of people that have been affected by radioactive fallout we wanted to make sure that the U.S. Government was following all the proper procedures," said Litster.

Today's group is a tiny slice of the opposition to the proposed test explosion. It included 42 national and international organizations, university professors and attorneys.

Last week the National Nuclear Safety Administration decided to indefinitely postpone the blast because of questions about possible fallout from the experiment. According to the Nye County Sheriffs Office its been years since this many protesters showed up at the test site. This afternoon, about 75 of those protesters crossed over the fence onto the Nevada Test Site and were arrested.