Rays from Oppenheimer’s Trinity Point

The world's first nuclear explosion occurred on July 16, 1945, when a plutonium implosion device was tested at a site located 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico, on the plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, known as the Jornada del Muerto. The code name for the test was "Trinity." Open houses only occur twice per year, on the first Saturday of April and October. Prof. Kurinec visited the Trinity Point arranged by Dr. Michal Kucer, RIT Alumni now at Los Alamos Research Laboratory who was also a cast member on the set of the iconic movie Oppenheimer. We obtained a sample of soil containing Trinitite rocks from the Trinity site. We are exploring the gamma ray spectroscopy analysis of trinitite soil to understand how the residual radiation can offer insights into the nuclear reactions and their long-term environmental impacts. Initial findings reveal diverse gamma ray emissions, indicative of various isotopes still present. These preliminary data suggest that significant radioactivity persists. The ongoing study of trinitite soil provides crucial information into the aftermath of nuclear tests and helps inform safety and environmental policies regarding radiation.

RIT presence in Oppenheimer movie set

Gamma ray spectroscopy set up