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Atmospheric Testing: Prior to the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty, a total of one hundred atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted at the Nevada Test Site. The tests were detonated at ground level, from towers, balloons, and by airdrops. According to U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE), the greatest disturbance typically occurred when an air- dropped weapon penetrated the ground surface to a shallow depth before detonation. Such a test -- with an estimated yield of 100 kilotons and up -- would result in a crater about 120 feet deep and 720 feet in diameter.