Vegas PBS to show atomic documentary ‘The Test’
Revisit those carefree days, long before the Fountains of Bellagio, when the city’s most famous free entertainment was the occasional mushroom cloud, as Vegas PBS presents “The Test” (8 p.m. Thursday, KLVX-TV, Channel 10).
The local documentary focuses on Nevada’s “Doom Towns,” which looked like movie sets before the blasts, as well as the rise of atomic culture as locals and tourists alike would gather to watch the detonations at the Nevada Test Site.
The special also includes a tour of the Nevada National Security Site, as it’s now known, along with interviews with Rep. Dina Titus and former Sen. Richard Bryan, who once worked at the site.
It’s part of a week of programming commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb detonation. “The Bomb” can be seen at 8 p.m. July 28. The two-part series “Uranium: Twisting the Dragon’s Tail” is scheduled for 10 p.m. July 28 and 29. And “NOVA: Nuclear Meltdown Disaster,” which looks at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis, is set for 9 p.m. July 29.
“The Test” will be rebroadcast at 10 p.m. July 27 and 30.