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Brig. Gen. Thomas Lf Arreh "The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effects beggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times that of the midday sun." -Brig. Gen. Thomas lfarreH Follow us: wsmrpublicaffairs @wsmrpao ~ WhiteSandsMissileRangePAO ~ WSMR flickr whltesandsmissilerange www.wsmr.army.mil RADIATION BASICS Radiation comes from the nucleus of heavy clothing. individual atoms. Simple atoms like oxygen The third form of nuclear radiation is are very stable. Its nucleus has eight pro­ the gamma ray. This is a type of electro­ tons and eight neutrons and holds together magnetic radiation like visible light, radio well. waves and X-rays. They travel at the speed The nucleus of a complex atom like of light. It takes at least an inch of lead or uranium is not as stable. Uranium has eight inches of concrete to stop them. 92 protons and 146 neutrons in its core. _ Finally, neutrons are also emitted by These unstable atoms tend to break down some radioactive substances. Neutrons are into more stable, simpler forms. When this very penetrating but are not as common happens the atom emits subatomic particles in nature. Neutrons have the capability of and gamma rays. This is where the word striking the nucleus of another atom and "radiation" comes from -- the atom radiates changing a stable atom into an unstable, particles and rays. and therefore, radioactive one. Neutrons emitted in nuclear reactors are contained in A tom Emissions the reactor vessel or shielding and cause the vessel walls to become radioactive. --- Health physicists are concerned Radioactive elements emit these radia­ with four emissions from the nucleus of tions until they have reached a stable state. these atoms. One of these radiations is the For some man-made radioactive materials alpha particle which is relatively large and this occurs in a few seconds. For other travels fairly slowly compared to other atom­ elements a small amount can emit radiation ic particles. Alpha particles are composed of for thousands of years. As they break down two protons and two neutrons. They travel they turn into other elements. about one to three inches in the air and are At ground zero, the elements emitting easily stopped by a sheet of paper. gamma rays and alpha and beta particles Another radiation is the beta particle, are Europium, Cesium, Cobalt, Strontium basically a very light electron that moves at and Plutonium. less than the speed of light. These particles Sources for information about radiation are more energetic than alpha particles, but are the American Nuclear Society, www. can be stopped by a thin sheet of metal or ans.erg, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, www.nrc.gov. pagel RADIATION AT TRINITY SITE Radiation levels in the fenced, lirems of exposure every year compared ground zero area are very low. The maxi­ to living in a frame house. Finally, flying mum levels are only 1O times greater than coast to coast by jet gives an exposure of the region's natural background radiation. about two millirems. Many places on Earth are naturally more One source of radiation exposure radioactive than Trinity Site. not considered in old calculations is from A one-hour visit to the inner fenced radon gas. Scientists now estimate that area will result in a whole body exposure Americans average 200 millirems of expo­ of one-half to one millirem. The levels sure per year from radon. vary from place to place, depending on Trinitite, the green glassy substance the concentration of Trinitite buried at any found in the ground zero area, contains one spot. several radioactive elements and is an To put this in perspective, Americans alpha and beta particle emitter. receive an average of 620 millirems every Although radiation levels at ground year from natural and medical sourc- zero are low, some feel any extra expo­ es. For instance, the American Nuclear sure should be avoided. The decision is Society estimates we receive between yours. 20 and 70 millirems every year from the Typical radiation exposures per year sun, depending on what elevation we live. for U.S. citizens according to the Ameri­ We receive about 40 millirems every year can Nuclear Society are listed in the chart from our food. Living in a brick, stone, below. adobe or concrete house adds seven mil- Facts albout iradnatfton * One hour at Trinity Site ground zero = one half mrem * Cosmic rays from space = 47 mrem at Denver, 28 mrem at St Louis * Radioactive minerals in rocks and soil = 63 mrems on Colorado Plateau * Radioactivity from air, water and food = about 240 mrem *A chest X-ray= 10 mrem and a CAT Scan= 700 mrem * Watching television = less than one mrem per year * Wearing a plutonium-powered pacemaker =100 mrem * Coast to coast commercial flight= two mrem page2 Trinity Site N ationail Historic Landbrnairk Trinity Site is where the first atomic electromagnetic process plants were built to bomb was tested at 5:29:45 a.m. Mountain separate uranium 235 from its more com­ War Time on July 16, 1945. The 19-kilo­ mon form, uranium 238. Hanford, Washing­ ton explosion not only led to a quick end to ton, became the home for nuclear reactors the war in the Pacific but also ushered the which produced a new element called pluto­ world into the atomic age. All life on Earth nium. Both uranium 235 and plutonium are has been touched by the event, which took fissionable and can be used to produce an place here. atomic explosion. The 51,500-acre area was declared Los Alamos National Lab was es­ a national historic landmark in 1975. The tablished in northern New Mexico with a pri­ landmark includes base camp, where the mary purpose of designing and building the scientists and support group lived; ground bomb. At Los Alamos many of the greatest zero, where the bomb was placed for the scientific minds of the day labored over the explosion; and the Schmidt/McDonald ranch theory and actual construction of the de­ house, where the plutonium core to the vice. The group was led by Dr. J. Robert bomb was assembled. Visitors to a Trinity Oppenheimer who is credited with being Site Open House are given the opportunity the driving force behind building a workable to visit ground zero and the ranch house. bomb by the end of the war. In addition, one of the old instrumentation bunkers is visible beside the road just west he theory of ground zero. T Los Alamos scientists devised two designs for an atomic bomb--one The Manhattan Project using uranium 235 and another using plutonium. The uranium bomb was a --The story of Trinity Site begins with simple design and scientists were confi­ the formation of the Manhattan Project in dent it would work without testing. The June of 1942. The project was given overall plutonium bomb was more complex and responsibility for designing and building an worked by compressing the plutonium into atomic bomb. At the time it was a race to a critical mass to sustain a chain reaction. beat the Germans who, according to in­ The compression of the plutonium ball telligence reports, were building their own was to be accomplished by surrounding atomic bomb. it with lense-shaped charges of conven­ Under the Manhattan Project three tional explosives. They were designed to large facilities were constructed. At Oak all explode at the same instant. The force Ridge, Tennessee huge gas diffusion and would be directed inward, thus smashing page3 the plutonium from all sides. could be used as a weapon of war. From a In an atomic explosion, a chain reac­ list of eight sites in California, Texas, New tion picks up speed as atoms split, releas­ Mexico and Colorado, Trinity Site was cho­ ing neutrons plus great amounts of energy. sen as the test site. The area was already The escaping neutrons strike and split more controlled by the government because it atoms, thus releasing still more neutrons was part of the Alamogordo Bombing and and energy. In a nuclear explosion this all Gunnery Range which was established in occurs in a millionth of a second with bil­ 1942. lions of atoms being split. The secluded Jornada del Muerto was perfect as it provided isolation for se­ Building the test site crecy and safety, but was still close to Los Alamos for easy commuting back and forth. _ Project leaders decided a test of In the fall of 1944 soldiers started arriving at the plutonium bomb was essential before it Trinity Site to prepare for the test. Through- • ·· Eal The Fat Man bomb case was built In the late 1940s, during World War II. It was used for training air and ground crews that handled nuclear weapons. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan August 9,1945. This type of bomb was tested at Trinity Site In southern New Mexico July 16, 1945. •Weight -10,800 pounds • Length-128 Inches Subcritlcal mass • Diameter - 60 Inches • !}e+1•T" equivalent to 21,000 tons · · ~ • Flsalle material - Plutonlum-239 Fat Man was a complicated Chemical plutonium weapon. One of the two explosive original bomb designs, Fat Man was named for Prime Minister Winston Fat Man1 which was designed and Churchill, the wartime British bullt at LOS Alamos, was an leader. Implosion-type bomb. It consisted of a core of plutonlum-239 surrounded by explosive chemicals. When t he explosives were detonated proper!~ the shock compressed the flsslonable m aterial at the core, Increasing Its density and m aking It supercrltlcal, or able to sustain an explosive nuclear reaction.
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