Contents:
Radiation at Trinity Site.
How to Get to Trinity Site.
Trinity Site National Historic Landmark.
The Manhattan Project.
The Theory.
Building a test site.
Jumbo.
Bomb Assembly.
The test.
After the explosion.
It's the Schmidt house.
Afterwards.
White Sands Missile Range.
Reading List.
"The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent,beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of suchtremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effectsbeggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searinglight with the intensity many times that of the midday sun."
Brig. Gen. Thomas Farrell
In deciding whether to visit ground zero at Trinity Site, thefollowing information may prove helpful to you.
Radiation levels in the fenced, ground zero area are low. On anaverage the levels are only 10 times greater than the region's naturalbackground radiation. A one-hour visit to the inner fenced area willresult in a whole body exposure of one-half to one milliroentgen.
To put this in perspective, a U.S. adult receives an average exposureof 90 milliroentgens every year from natural and medical sources. Forinstance, the Department of Energy says we receive between 35 and 50milliroentgens every year from the sun and from 20 to 35milliroentgens every year from our food. Living in a brick house adds50 milliroentgens of exposure every year compared to living in a framehouse. Finally, flying coast to coast in a jet airliner gives anexposure of between three and five milliroentgens on each trip.
Although radiation levels are low, some feel any extra exposure shouldbe avoided. The decision is yours. It should be noted that smallchildren and pregnant women are potentially more at risk than the restof the population and are generally considered groups who should onlyreceive exposure in conjunction with medical diagnosis and treatment.Again, the choice is yours.
At ground zero, Trinitite, the green, glassy substance found in thearea, is still radioactive and must not be picked up.
Typical radiation exposures for Americans
Per The National Council on Radiation Protection
On hour at ground zero = 1/2 mrem
Cosmic rays from space = 40 mrem at sea level per year
Radioactive minerals in rocks and soil = 55 mrems per year
Radioactivity from air, water, and food = anywhere from 20 to 400 mremper year
About 22 mrem per chest X-ray and 900 mrem for whole-mouth dental X-rays
Smoking one pack of cigarettes a day for one year = 40 mrem
Miscellaneous such as watch dials and smoke detectors = 2 mrem peryear
Trinity Site, where the world's first atomic bomb was exploded in1945, is normally open to the p