What is Trinitite?
Trinitite, shown in the photograph on the left, is the grayish-green substance that formed from the Trinity Test, the first nuclear explosion that took place July 16, 1945, near Alamagordo, New Mexico. The heat from the blast melted the soil, fusing it into a glass-like consistency. Trinitite is measurably radioactive, though not enough to be dangerous. The radioactivity of any given specimen depends on a variety of factors, including the size of the piece and its distance from ground zero. As time passes, the radionuclides created by the explosion decay and the Trinitite becomes less radioactive.
Trinitite, also known as Atomite or Alamogordo Glass, is an unusual mineral created in the aftermath of the first nuclear bomb test, Trinity, on 16 July 1945 near Alamogordo, New Mexico. It is a green, glassy residue created when sand was fused together by the tremendous heat of the nuclear fireball. Trinitite is slightly radioactive and is highly prized among collectors, to which it was distributed in the late 1940s, after the test. In 1952, the Atomic Energy Commission bulldozed the site, burying much of the remaining trinitite, and it is illegal to remove materials from the site. Occasionally, the term trinitite is also extended to fused glass created in other atomic explosions. The temperature at the center of a nuclear fireball is millions of degrees F, descending to thousands of degrees F as the fireball dissipates. The melting point of pure silica is about 4200 degrees F, so any sand exposed to such a temperature is likely to be transformed into trinitite. By testing the fission
