Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, focuses its plot interest on the possibility and process of building an atomic bomb. Although the film covers several scenarios at once, the script, also written by the director, focuses on the weapon that changed everything and balanced the military forces of the world. First of all, the point of view of a titled scientist about the creation of an artifact with an absolutely destructive destructive power. This is the story of the Trinity test and how it changed everything.
The question is obvious. Part of the recording reflects Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) surprise and then regret after unleashing an unimaginable power. In addition, the very reality of the existence of the atomic bomb caused concern to all participants in the Manhattan Project. Its detonation changed the world, the political balance and turned the arms race on a dangerous path towards the possibility of total devastation.
But what of what is shown in the film is true and what is not? In fact, Christopher Nolan’s feature film traverses the difficult area between biography and historical drama. based on the book American Prometheus Kai Byrd and Martin J. Sherwin, talks about the difficult times that Robert Oppenheimer endured. Also details of his participation in the initiative, the main goal of which was to win the arms race in World War II. Thus the Trinity test, the final exercise of all atomic energy experiments, occupies an important place.
An explosion that will change history
The tape describes the confusion that surrounded the possibility of the existence of a type of power that until then existed only at a theoretical level. In fact, in 1945 there was still no verifiable evidence of a nuclear explosion. Release parameters varied widely. Even at Los Alamos, where research related to nuclear energy was being conducted, there were doubts that the bomb would work.
Which led to the decision on controlled detonation. The only drawback was the fear of failure, which could lead to the failure of the project. Just like the movie tells it, the race wasn’t just against time and resource exhaustion in World War II. It is also possible that German scientists were working on a similar device. Which, no doubt, would become a global danger and a risk for a favorable outcome of the Allied war.
Nevertheless, Robert Oppenheimer he insisted that the design of the bomb was sound and that there was a good chance of success. Therefore, it was planned to test one of the several plutonium bombs that were in the laboratory. The idea was to collect data on what might happen in a nuclear explosion. Something that had previously been purely hypothetical.
Trinity Test: the beginning of nuclear terror
The first bombing attempt was called Try Trinity, thanks to one of the poems of the British John Donne. To avoid any accident, radioactive contamination or uncontrolled incident, in Alamagordo bombing range. Even the choice of location was a decision to which Oppenheimer attached metaphorical significance. informal call the day of the Dead, was located 337 south of Los Alamos. A rocky and arid region that was supposed to withstand a blow of incalculable force without risk.
Despite this, before the experiment, the place was proven to be perfect with a giant explosion using conventional flammable materials. The event took place on May 7, 1945. Trinity’s test results were satisfactory, so preparations continued.
Trinity test: the arrival of atomic energy
Three observation bunkers were built, which it was hoped would allow scientists to make more or less accurate calculations about the test. Including the symmetry of the explosion and the amount of energy that can be released with a single impact.
On July 12, the plutonium core was brought to the area under heavy security. The non-nuclear components were added the next day. In the days leading up to the event, all precautions were taken, including the evacuation of the local population.
The chronicles of the time mention that Leslie Groves, Vannevar Bush, James Conant, Ernest Lawrence, Thomas Farrell, James Chadwick were convinced that the bomb would not explode. That even Oppenheimer himself believed it too.
But, the nuclear age began after its detonation. The device exploded over the New Mexico desert in a wide wave of fire that destroyed the tower that supported it and the asphalt around it. A few seconds later, the second column rose, forming an atomic mushroom, the image of which went down in history. A circumstance that the film shows in a terrifying technical sequence that causes surprise and admiration at the same time.
Source: Hiper Textual
