BREN Tower is a guyed steel framework mast

Radio masts and towers

Radio masts and towers are, typically, tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. They are among the tallest man-made structures...

, 1527 ft (465.4 m) high, on the Nevada Test Site

Nevada Test Site

The Nevada National Security Site , previously the Nevada Test Site , is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas...

 in Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, USA. "BREN" stands for "Bare Reactor Experiment, Nevada."

Despite its immense size, the tower has been moved from its original location. Built by the Dresser-Ideco Company for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

United States Atomic Energy Commission

The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...

, it was first erected in 1962 in the atomic bomb test area at Yucca Flat

Yucca Flat

Yucca Flat is a closed desert drainage basin, one of four major nuclear test regions within the Nevada Test Site , 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, about ten miles north of Frenchman Flat, and from Las...

, where it was used for an experiment intended to improve understanding the effects of radiation in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. A bare (unshielded) nuclear reactor

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

 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 banned open-air nuclear testing, the tower was dismantled and moved to Jackass Flats in Area 25

Area 25

Area 25 is the largest named area in the Nevada Test Site at , and has its own direct access from Route 95. The majority of Area 25 is composed of a shallow alluvial basin called Jackass Flats....

 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

Linear particle accelerator

A linear particle accelerator is a type of particle accelerator that greatly increases the velocity of charged subatomic particles or ions by subjecting the charged particles to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear beamline; this method of particle acceleration was invented...

 to provide neutrons. It still stands at Jackass Flats.

Constructed of fifty-one 30 ft (9.1 m) sections of high tensile steel, the structure is higher than the 1472 ft (448.7 m) Empire State Building

Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...

. It is supported by 5.5 mi (8.9 km) of guy wires designed to withstand winds exceeding 120 mph (53.6 m/s). The tower is equipped with an outside hoist to lift scientific equipment, and a two-person elevator inside the tower moves at 100 ft (30.5 m) per minute. The tower weighs 345 tons (313 tonnes).

The structure is now owned by the Department of Energy

United States Department of Energy

The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...

 and maintained by National Security Technologies. Access to the tower area has been closed since July 2006. No reason for the closure has been given. As part of the Nevada Test Site, it is also located in restricted airspace

Restricted airspace

Restricted airspace is an area of airspace in which the local controlling authorities have determined that air traffic must be restricted for safety or security concerns...

(R-4808N).

External links

• http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b576