Former nuclear testing tower demolished in Nevada desert

[Marlin]

It took less than 10 seconds to bring a steel, 345-ton relic of the Cold War era crashing to the ground in the Nevada desert Wednesday. The 1,527-foot-tall BREN tower was the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi River. It was also the tallest structure of its kind ever demolished, according to the National Nuclear Safety Administration.

The tower stood taller than the Empire State Building (1,454 feet) and the Eiffel Tower (1,063 feet). It was also taller than the iconic Stratosphere (1,148 feet) on the Las Vegas strip.

Originally constructed in 1962, the BREN Tower took its name from the nuclear radiation experiment for which it was built: Bare Reactor Experiment - Nevada. BREN Tower was designed to provide a way for scientists to accurately estimate radiation doses received by survivors of the atomic bombs detonated over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

The tower stood 1,527 feet tall because that was the height at which "Little Boy," the first atomic bomb used in warfare, was detonated over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.



http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/us/bren-tower-demolition/index.html