Trinity - 80 Years ago

On the 16th of July 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated at 05:29:45 at the Alamogordo air base in New Mexico. On that day, the world changed forever.

In the USA, it is also National Atomic Veterans Day when we remember those present at the atomic tests. President Trump will issue a proclamation acknowledging the day.

In the UK, we remember the nuclear test veterans on the 3rd of October at NAVAD, which is not acknowledged by the UK Government.

It is also the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings this year, and as the years pass, the number of people who have witnessed the destructive power dwindle. We must ensure that future generations never forget the effects that detonating these weapons had on the planet and its inhabitants.

Our partners at the Nuclear Truth Project and ICAN, with local community groups in New Mexico, have organised a solidarity tour across the week. Dimity Hawkins and the team have assisted the ICAN Executive Director Melissa Parke and UN Liaison Seth Sheldon to organise a tour alongside our representatives, our Co-Chair Benetick Kabua Maddison and Dr April Brown, which is taking in community events from Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Tularosa and elsewhere in the region. The aim is to get a better understanding of the lived experience of those on the frontlines of nuclear violence, from first uses of nuclear weapons to ongoing legacies, uranium and waste issues, all linked to the bomb.

"There were families living as close as 12 miles to the

Trinity test site in 1945 and there were thousands of

families living in a 50-mile radius"

"While I know of no one that lost their life on that

fateful day, it was the beginning of the end for tens

of thousands of people including our babies."

"These people were our precious, loved family

members, and we will never stop telling their history

and will always honour their memory."

Powerful words from Tina Cordova of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. She states the truth, nuclear testing across the world had deadly consequences for all the participants, including the unwilling who were exposed to fallout.

Why should the UK Government acknowledge a US Test? The UK played a very important part in the development of the atomic bomb:

• Before the US involvement, the British had been researching the feasibility of an atomic bomb, notably through the Tube Alloys project. 

• The Maud Report, a British document summarising the potential for an atomic bomb, was instrumental in convincing the US to join the effort and ultimately led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project. 

• This early work in the UK provided a crucial foundation for the larger American project. 

Two German refugees at the University of Birmingham in 1940, Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls, contributed the most important discovery in these early days. They discovered that it was easier to produce a large enough nuclear weapon than had been thought. Needing less nuclear material would make it easier and quicker to produce. 

Operation Tube Alloys was Britain’s first major attempt to create a nuclear weapon. This project began in 1941, predating the American Manhattan Project. The work was expensive.

For instance, the whole of the Manhattan Project cost $2.2 billion, around $34 billion in today's money. These factors, and others, led Britain to agree to absorb Tube Alloys into the Manhattan Project with the Quebec Agreement of 1943.

• A significant number of British scientists were transferred to the US to work on the Manhattan Project, particularly at the Los Alamos Laboratory. 

• Key figures included James Chadwick, Rudolf Peierls, and Klaus Fuchs. 

• These scientists contributed expertise in areas like explosives, hydrodynamics, and theoretical physics. 

• British scientists also worked on technologies like gaseous diffusion (for isotope separation) and electromagnetic separation. 

• The British Mission at Los Alamos, though smaller than the American contingent, played a vital role. 

• The British contributions were considered vital to the success of the Manhattan Project, with some even suggesting that without them, the atomic bomb might not have been developed in time to influence the end of World War II. 

• While the British scientists were initially limited in their access to information by General Leslie Groves, their contributions were significant. 

• Klaus Fuchs, a member of the British Mission, was later revealed to be a Soviet spy, highlighting the complexities and potential risks associated with the project. 

• Despite the ending of formal collaboration after the war, the UK continued its own nuclear weapons program, drawing on the knowledge and experience gained during the Manhattan Project. 

• The Manhattan Project fundamentally shaped the post-war landscape, influencing nuclear programs in the US, UK, and the Soviet Union. 

Our world is an incredibly dangerous place in 2025. There are enough weapons to destroy our planet in minutes, wipe us all out. The people who have seen these weapons detonate are dwindling, and many died young, including my father. Families are suffering today from the effects of these weapons. The Hibakasha tell the world of the horrific consequences of using the weapons, yet the world powers choose to keep these weapons as a deterrent, and the country that first brought atomic weapons into the world is continuing to lead the way toward thermonuclear destruction.

We will see tomorrow if the UK Government even acknowledges the anniversary or the contribution of the UK scientists. The Nuclear community is still fighting in the UK for an apology and compensation for the servicemen who took part in the British testing program, but we must not forget the scientists and men who worked on the first atomic bomb, the bomb that changed the world forever and affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and will continue to effect generations to come.

The UK Government has denied any responsibility for their role in nuclear testing and the effects on the servicemen; it remains the only testing country to do so. Tomorrow, we remember those who are no longer with us and those who are suffering the consequences. I doubt if the Ministry of Defence will remember.