B Reactor History Room: Trinity Test

The Trinity Test exhibit panel in the History Room.

See exhibit panel for specific image credits.

Main Text
At the bottom right, text reads: “In Los Alamos, New Mexico, world-renowned scientists and engineers led by J. Robert Oppenheimer gathered in laboratories to design, develop, assemble, and test the world’s first atomic weapons. The Los Alamos team conducted the world’s first successful nuclear test at the Trinity Site in southern New Mexico on July 16, 1945, paving the way for the use of atomic weapons in World War II.”

Exhibit Panel Description
The poster, entitled “Trinity Test,” shows a black-and-white photograph from July 1945 of the mushroom cloud, seconds after the detonation of the Trinity test device. An enormous, white cloud of dirt and debris rises like a Morel mushroom across an otherwise totally flat, barren landscape.

Visit This Exhibit Panel
In-person visitation of the B Reactor is only authorized on guided tours offered by the Department of Energy.