A New Yield Assessment for the Trinity Nuclear Test, 75 Years Later
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73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Engineering topics
Selby, Hugh D.
Publications and source records attributed to Selby, Hugh D..
Radiochemistry and Trinity
Forty seconds after Trinity detonated, Noble Laureate Enrico Fermi calculated the bomb’s energy release. By measuring the lateral dispersion of small pieces of paper dropped before, during, and after the blast wave passed him, he calculated an explosive yield of ten kilotons. Although Fermi’s estimate was only half of the official yield, it provided immediate confirmation that nuclear fission could be fashioned into a weapon of war.
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗