Story highlights National Laboratory is scanning and re-analyzing thousands of old nuclear test explosion films

A sample of the mesmerizing explosions have been made public and are on YouTube

(CNN) After decades in their film cans, thousands of nuclear testing explosion films are finally seeing the light of day, thanks to a project by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

Over a period of about 20 years after the end of World War II, the US conducted 210 atmospheric nuclear tests. Each was captured by multiple cameras, rolling at around 2,400 frames per second.

A handful of the estimated 10,000 mesmerizing test films have been declassified and the National Laboratory, custodians of the material, has uploaded more than 60 videos to a YouTube playlist

The project to digitize the aging film came just in time. Greg Spriggs, a nuclear weapons physicist at the laboratory who's in charge of the project, says the films were decomposing "to the point where they'll become useless."

The film is made of organic material and each film canister he cracked open gave off a strong odor of vinegar, he says, indicating the decomposition had already begun.