The story of Trinity Site begins with the formation of the Manhattan
Project in June 1942. The project was given overall responsibility of
designing and building an atomic bomb. At the time it was a race to
beat the Germans who, according to intelligence reports, were building
their own atomic bomb.
Under the Manhattan Project three large facilities were constructed.
At Oak Ridge, Tenn., huge gas diffusion and electromagnetic process
plants were built to separate uranium 235 from its more common form,
uranium 238. Hanford, Wash. became the home for nuclear reactors
which produced a new element called plutonium. Both uranium 235 and
plutonium are fissionable and can be used to produce an atomic
explosion.
Los Alamos was established in northern New Mexico to design and build
the bomb. At Los Alamos many of the greatest scientific minds of the
day labored over the theory and actual construction of the device.
The group was led by Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer who is credited with
being the driving force behind building a workable bomb by the end of
the war.