As part of the Nevada Test Site, Frenchman Flat played a vital role in the development and maintenance of the Cold War nuclear arsenal.

Located in the desert sixty-five miles northwest of Las Vegas, the Flat was a test site for open-air nuclear detonations during the 1950s and '60s. These tests served many national security purposes, such as design testing for the verification of new weapons concepts, proof testing of existing weapons, and effects testing to determine the impact of nuclear weapons.

In 1951, an Air Force bomber detonated the first nuclear device above Frenchman Flat. Codenamed Able, the bomb was the first in a series of five tests called Operation Ranger; civilians as far away as Utah witnessed the flash generated by Able's blast.

The detonations created large surface cracks and sink holes, and the Atomic Energy Commission reported that the blasts of Operation Ranger sent light radioactive debris into the sky.

In 1966, an underground explosion at Frenchman Flat leaked radioactivity to five nearby states, but the contemporary news reports claimed that the radioactivity was well below dangerous levels.

Nuclear testing continued at the site until 1996, when Congress agreed to suspend testing after the negotiation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.