On July 16, 1945, the research and development efforts of the nation’s once-secret Manhattan Project were realized with the detonation of the world’s first nuclear device at the code-named “Trinity” test site over 200 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico.
This first-ever detonation of a nuclear device thrust mankind into a new era marked by the development of weapons with previously unimaginable power, and a complicated legacy that includes the fields of nuclear medicine and nuclear energy, the growth of a vital national laboratory system, and the vast environmental cleanup responsibilities entrusted to the Office of Environmental Management (EM).
Today, EM continues cleanup activities from the impacts of national security efforts in World War II across the remaining Manhattan Project sites and those involved in the Cold War. EM’s charge also includes support for the preservation and recognition of some of the historic facilities of the Manhattan Project.