Maag C., Rohrer S. Project Trinity 1945-1946

Report DNA 6028F. 1982. -- 76 p.This report describes the activities of an estimated 1,000 personnel, both military and civilian, in Project TRINITY, which culminated in detonation of the first nuclear device, in New Mexico in 1945. Scientific and diagnostic experiments to evaluate the effects of the nuclear device were the primary
ac-tivities engaging military personnel.Fact sheet
Project TRINITY, conducted by the Manhattan Engineer District (MED), was designed to test atia assess the effects of a nuclear weapon. The TRINITY nuclear -device was detonated on a 100-foot tower on the Alamogordo Bombing Range in south-central New Mexico at 0530 hours on 16 July 1945. The-nuclear yield of the detonation was equivalent to the energy released by detonating 19 kilotons of TNT. At shot-time, the temperature was 21.8 degrees Celsius, and surface air pressure was 850 millibars. The winds were nearly calm at the surf&w; at 10,300 feet above mean sea level, they were from the southwest at 10 knots. The winds blew the cloud resulting from the detonation to the northeast. From 16 July 1945 through 1946, about 1,000 military and civilian personnel took part in Projeсе TRINITY or visited the test site. The location of the test site and its major installations are shown in the accompanying figures.