Nevada: Cheering An A-Test

Cheering An A-Test

Within 30 seconds of the nuclear blast last Wednesday, a phone rang in the control room 30 miles away. Soviet Scientist Viktor Mikhailov picked it up. He punched the air to register glee at receiving precise information on the bomb yield; the control room burst into applause. The underground test the group was celebrating, however, was American, held at remote Pahute Mesa, Nev. Seven Soviets were in the control room to gauge whether measuring devices accurately calculated how powerful the explosion had been.

Next month a U.S. team will similarly monitor a Soviet nuclear test at Semipalatinsk, U.S.S.R. The idea: to...

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