{{Short description|Site of nuclear weapons test}} {{Primary sources|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}} thumb|Cross section of the site thumb|Salmon device before lowering into shot hole The '''Salmon Site''' is a {{convert|1470|acre|km2|sing=on}} tract of land in Lamar County, Mississippi, near Baxterville. The tract is located over a geological formation known as the '''Tatum Salt Dome''' and is the location of the only nuclear weapons test detonations known to have been performed in the eastern United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=Salmon Site Details|url=http://www.lm.doe.gov/land/sites/ms/salmon/salmon2.htm|website=USDOE Office of Legacy Management|publisher=United States Department of Energy|accessdate=February 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215163015/http://www.lm.doe.gov/land/sites/ms/salmon/salmon2.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-02-15}}</ref><ref name="atlasobscura">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Matt |title=In the 1960s, the U.S. Government Set Off a Pair of Nukes Under Mississippi |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mississippi-nuclear-testing-salmon-sterling |website=Atlas Obscura |accessdate=August 19, 2018 |date=August 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819182159/https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mississippi-nuclear-testing-salmon-sterling |url-status=live |archive-date=2018-08-19}}</ref>

Two underground detonations, a joint effort of the United States Atomic Energy Commission and the United States Department of Defense, took place under the designation of Project Dribble, part of a larger program known as Vela Uniform (aimed at assessing remote detonation detection capabilities). The first test, known as the Salmon Event, took place on October 22, 1964.<ref name="atlasobscura"/> It involved detonation of a 5.3 kiloton device at a depth of {{convert|2700|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rectin|title=Projects Dribble and Miracle Play|url=http://www.mensetmanus.net/salmon-sterling-site/|publisher=United States Department of Defense|accessdate=February 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172008/https://www.mensetmanus.net/salmon-sterling-site/ | url-status=live |archive-date=2016-03-03}}</ref> The second test, known as the Sterling Event, took place on December 3, 1966 and involved detonation of a 380-ton device suspended in the cavity left by the previous test.<ref name="atlasobscura"/> Further non-nuclear explosive tests were later conducted in the remaining cavity as part of the related Project Miracle Play.

In October 2006, responsibility for the site was transferred to the US Department of Energy's Office of Legacy Management. A plaque mounted on a short stone pillar marks the site.

On Wednesday, December 15, 2010, the United States Department of Energy transferred the Salmon Site back to the state of Mississippi.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Herrington |first1=Charles |title=DOE transfers Salmon Site to State |url=https://www.wdam.com/story/13680687/doe-transfers-salmon-site-to-state/ |website=WDAM |publisher=Gray Television, Inc. |access-date=5 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805153940/https://www.wdam.com/story/13680687/doe-transfers-salmon-site-to-state/ |archive-date=2023-08-05 |location=Jackson, MS |language=en |date=16 December 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="msdh">{{cite web |last1=Windfield |first1=Tewari |title=Salmon Test Site Radiological Monitoring, Annual Report 2018 |url=https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/13935.pdf |website=Mississippi State Department of Health |access-date=5 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530164449/https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/13935.pdf |archive-date=2022-05-30 |page=6 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref> Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said in a press release that the majority of the {{convert|1,470|acres|abbr=out}} will be used for timber but an undetermined portion will be open for public access.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} Access to the Salmon Site had previously been restricted and monitored by the federal government since the tests were first conducted in 1964 and 1966.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-04 |title=Big plans for future of Salmon Nuclear Test Site |url=https://www.wdam.com/story/18123552/big-plans-for-future-of-salmon-nuclear-test-site/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=WDAM |language=en}}</ref>

A granite monument surrounded by test wells marks the site of the nuclear bomb tests, in a clearing surrounded by a Mississippi state timber preserve.<ref name="atlasobscura"/>

The US government gave out more than $5 million as compensation for medical problems related to the Salmon Site.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hampton |first=Paul |date=12 December 2015 |title=Nuclear tests in South Mississippi cost government millions in claims |url=https://www.sunherald.com/news/article49448010.html |access-date=22 December 2024 |work=SunHerald}}</ref>

==See also== * Operation Whetstone

== References == {{reflist}}

{{US Nuclear Tests}} {{coord|31|8|32|N|89|34|12|W|type:landmark_region:US-MS|display=title}}

Category:American nuclear weapons testing Category:Nuclear test sites Category:American nuclear test sites Category:Salt domes