The 7Oth anniversary of the Trinity event

70 years ago today the World's first nuclear explosion occurred at the Trinity site near the Jornada del Muerto in southern New Mexico, only about 70 miles from our current home in Alamogordo.

There are of course widely diverging opinions on this event and on the two events closely after that it presaged, the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan (The bomb used at Nagasaki was essentially identical to the one tested in the Trinity event, with one subtle mechanical difference in the core.)

One aspect of the test that is of great concern here is the presumed exposure of many southern New Mexico citizens to the radioactive "fallout" of the test. The citizens that were, by virtue of their geographic locations, subject to this are spoken of as "downwinders". There is considerable evidence of an abnormal incidence of cancer among the downwinders and their descendents.

(I myself was in Cincinnati at the time.)

There is a movement that believes that the federal government should provide specialized medical treatment for people affected and perhaps pay them some compensation.

All that notwithstanding, the Manhattan Project led to an early end to the war with Japan, averting the prospect that the USSR (our "other enemy" in World War II) would invade Japan and end up occupying it.

Of course as an engineer I greatly respect the extraordinary work of the Manhattan Project. As a human being, I am greatly saddened by the need to kill Japanese citizens (not only done with nuclear weapons, of course). War is awful, in all its aspects.

From time to time we work on "outlawing" various specific kinds of weapons, and we try certain people for "war crimes", two really silly notions. Of course, war is a crime. All of it. The notion that some types of weapons are "OK" is absurd.

I will augment this note with some relevant photos shortly (just now I have to take my morning medication so I will be ready for breakfast).

Bet regards,

Doug

I wholeheartedly agree with all of your thoughtful points regarding war, Doug.

My father was stationed in the South Pacific (Philippines and New Guinea) during the war, and fully expected to be part of a Japan invasion force. The invasion turned out to be unnecessary due, to one extent or another, to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. Many members of the boomer generation, myself and a brother and sister, might owe our existence to those two awful bombs. This is not a pleasant thing to ponder.

Here are some of our favorite photos of the Trinity test.

Here we see the components of the core of the Trinity "Gadget" being carried into a room that a few months earlier had been the bedroom of the parents of our friend Clif McDonald. (Their ranch home was "commandeered" in preparation for the Trinity test, and in fact became the final assembly facility for the core.)


Here the completed core leaves the McDonald House for the final assembly point for the gadget beneath the shot tower.


(This photo is often incorrectly described as showing the arrival of the core components at the McDonald House.)

Here we see the Gadget complete, atop the shot tower:


Here we see J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific head of the Manhattan Project, and Gen. Leslie R. Groves, overall head of the project, inspecting the remains of the northwest foundation pier of the shot tower. (The date of the shot is unknown, but this was likely just a few days after the shot.)


We note how Oppenheimer's fabled mastery of physics allows him to overcome the normal laws of gravity.

Here we see, in 2012, Carla inspecting that same foundation pier.


You will note that, despite her Cherokee heritage, she is subject in the normal way to the laws of gravity.

Best regards,

Doug

Ed Westcott's photography as part of the Manhatten Project.