Seventy years ago, on July 16 1945, the first nuclear weapon was tested in the desert near Alamogordo New Mexico. Known as “Trinity,” this test was the culmination of the Manhattan Project, which ultimately led to the end of WWII. The Plutonium implosion device called “The Gadget” was placed at the top of a 100-foot tower.
At 5:30 in the morning on July 16, the device exploded producing a blast which sent a mushroom cloud over 38,000 feet into the sky and released energy that was equivalent to twenty thousand pounds of TNT. This near instantaneous release of the binding energy that holds matter together generated heat as much as 10,000 times hotter than the surface of the sun. The heat could be felt by observers who were stationed over 10 miles away from the tower.
William Kolb, author of the 2015 book entitled “Trinitite - The Atomic Age Mineral” points out that the distribution of Eu-152 around Ground Zero indicates most Trinitite resulted from vaporized sand that condensed into drops and rained down to the blast area as small puddles. He further writes that the crater itself was barren of Trinitite and that Trinitite actually fell beyond the rim of the 200 meter crater.
In 1952, the test site was bulldozed over by the Atomic Energy Commission. The only Trinitite on the market today was collected prior to 1952. The Trinitite below was collected by the former Los Compadres rock shop in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico in the 1940’s. Trinitite contains traces of the fission products Cesium 137 and Americium 241 and remains mildly radioactive to this day (approximately 10X background radiation).
Trinitite in 1/2 pound quantities for sale
Large amounts of Trinitite, such as the half-pound shown below, show both Cs-137 and Americium 241 (a decay product of Plutonium, which fueled the implosion device tested at the Trinity Site).
One-half pound of Trinitite
Description: For a limited time, we are offering Trinitite in half-pound quantities, such as the representative sample shown above. This is a truly unique and rarely seen opportunity to own the by-product of the first nuclear weapon ever tested in the desert near Alamogordo New Mexico on July 16 1945.
Price: $500 US shipping: $25
Massive slab of Trinitite from Alamogordo, New Mexico
Massive slab of Trinitite from Alamogordo, New Mexico
As reported by the gentleman who recovered it in 1952:
"When the Army bulldozer scraped the surface in 52 they only got the big pieces of Trinitite... In 1956, 50 people were there. I do not remember any other children other my two brothers. We collected maybe up to 80 to 90 pieces of Trinitite that were from 1” to 2” in size. Stuffed them into our pants pockets…. I was the one who had to see what else was around. I found the ditch and felt, at the time, I should have a really big piece. My brothers didn’t care... No photos were allowed... My Dad was an optical engineer at White Sands Missile Range. Mom was a home maker….The ground, at the site, was covered hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of Trinitite. No attempt to rid the area of small (.25 to 3”) pieces. I do not know how my Dad got to be one of the guests... I was 10. My brothers were 9 and 11. It was a a very narrow, dusty road at the time, used very little. No vegetation around the site for a long way from the site. Remember this a long time ago, but many of the details I will never forget….”
Not for sale.