Abstract—Herpes simplexvirus — type 1 (HSV‐I) plaque‐forming ability and plaque size were measured on C3H/1OT1/2 cell monolayers as functions of pretreatment dose with UV light at different times before inoculation with virus, in order to determine if UV‐enhanced reactivation (ER) of UV‐irradiated virus. as well as associated phenomena, could be obtained in this cell system. The number of virus plaques observed (i.e. the capacity of the cells to support virus growth) and the size of the plaques were found to increase substantially with pretreatment of the cells with UV light. However, no significant ER was observed. Therefore, the mechanisms responsible for the increases in plaque size and cell capacity seem to be independent of those responsible for ER. In work by others. C3H/l0T1/2 cells have hcen transformed by UV light at doses similar to those used in this study; the absence of ER of UV‐irradiated virus in this study indicates that the mechanism underlying ER is not required for t