Once the bombs were made, a
test site was chosen. The test site was named Trinity
for some unknown reason by Oppenheimer. Scientists were
sure about the uranium bomb, Little Boy, but they weren't so
sure about the implosion type bomb, Fat Man. The Trinity
test site was set up in the fall of 1944. Many camps
were setup with soldiers and a security system made sure that
none authorized personnel weren't allowed to enter. The
plutonium bomb, Jumbo, was originally designed for the testing
at Trinity but because of major advancements in plutonium
fission, the bomb was put away.
On May 7, 1945, scientists wanted to get a
feel for how the radiation might spread when the real bomb
exploded. They stacked 100 tons of TNT on a platform and
inserted a tiny bit of radioactive material into tubes running
through the stack of TNT. The explosion destroyed the
platform and left a small crater with traces of radiation in
it.
The plutonium bomb, Fat Man, was brought
from Los Alamos to Trinity in pieces and assembled at the test
site. The bomb was put on top of a 100 foot steel tower
and the detonation devices were setup. After the bomb
successfully exploded, many people were shocked at the
power. One scientist, Hans Bethe quoted, "It looked like
a giant magnesium flare which kept on for what seemed a whole minute
but was actually one or two seconds. The white ball grew and after a
few seconds became clouded with dust whipped up by the explosion from
the ground and rose and left behind a black trail of dust particles."
The shock of the explosion broke windows
120 miles away from ground zero and many people from 160 miles
away felt it. They were told that a munitions storage
area had accidentally exploded. The explosion created a
large depressed area and the heat melted the sand, creating a
green glassy substance. This substance was called
Trinitite. Now that the testing has become successful, a
decision had to be made of whether or not to use this
powerful weapon. (see
picture
of Little Boy and Fat Man).
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