Manhattan Engineer District
Manhattan Project
Personnel Dosimetry
Radiation Exposure
Nuclear Weapons Testing
20. ABSTRACT: 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 activities engaging military
personnel.



FACT SHEET


Defense Nuclear Agency
Public Affairs Office
Washington, D C. 20305

Subject: Project TRINITY

Project TRINITY, conducted by the Manhattan Engineer District (MED),
was designed to test and 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