BREN Tower was a
guyed steel framework
mast, high, on the
Nevada Test Site
The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2 or NNSS), known as the Nevada Test Site (NTS) until 2010, is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of th ...
in
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, USA. "BREN" stands for "Bare Reactor Experiment, Nevada."
The structure was owned by the
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...
and maintained by
National Security Technologies. Access to the tower area had been closed since July 2006. No reason for the closure has been given. As part of the Nevada Test Site, it was also located in
restricted airspace
Restricted airspace is an area of airspace typically used by the military in which the local controlling authorities have determined that air traffic must be restricted or prohibited for safety or security concerns. It is one of many types of sp ...
(R-4808N).
History
Built by the
Dresser-Ideco Company for the
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President ...
, it was first erected in 1962 in the atomic bomb test area at
Yucca Flat
Yucca Flat is a closed desert drainage basin, one of four major nuclear test regions within the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and is divided into nine test sections: Areas 1 through 4 and 6 through 10. Yucca Flat is located at the eastern edge of NTS, ...
, where it was used for an experiment intended to improve understanding the effects of radiation in the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...
. A bare (unshielded)
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
on a hoist car could be moved to different heights on the tower; Japanese-type houses were built near the base of the tower and were bombarded with various intensities of radiation.
After the
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) is the abbreviated name of the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, which prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted u ...
banned open-air nuclear testing, the tower was dismantled and despite its immense size moved from its original location to
Jackass Flats
Jackass Flats is a shallow alluvial basin located in the southwest portion of the Nevada National Security Site in Nye County, Nevada. The area lies east of Yucca Mountain, south of the Calico Hills and Shoshone Mountain and northwest of Skull ...
in
Area 25 of the Nevada Test Site, where it was used for Operation HENRE (High Energy Neutron Reactions Experiment), a series of radiation measurement experiments using a small
linear accelerator
A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear beam ...
to provide neutrons.
Specifications
Constructed of fifty-one sections of high tensile steel, the structure was higher than the
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
. It was supported by of guy wires designed to withstand winds exceeding . The tower was equipped with an outside hoist to lift scientific equipment, and a two-person elevator inside the tower moved at per minute. The tower weighed 345 tons (313 tonnes).
Demolition
The structure was demolished on May 23, 2012.
The
National Nuclear Security Administration
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a United States federal agency responsible for safeguarding national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and e ...
listed reasons for the removal as safety concerns for nearby workers, unreasonable costs to restore the structure to working condition and hazards to air traffic.
See also
*
United States tallest structures
The height of structures in the United States has been poorly documented. However, the data is a matter of public record, appearing in documents maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
T ...
*
List of masts
The tallest structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa skyscraper at . Listed are guyed masts (such as telecommunication masts), self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the Willis Tower), oil platforms, electricity t ...
References
External links
*
* http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b576
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bren Tower
Towers completed in 1962
Towers in Nevada
Nuclear research reactors
Relocated buildings and structures in Nevada
Nevada Test Site
Buildings and structures demolished in 2012
Former towers
1962 establishments in Nevada
2012 disestablishments in Nevada