--- title: "Oppenheimer’s Atom Bomb Apparently Spread Fallout on 46 US States" description: "With the release of \"Oppenheimer,\" a new study looks back at the devastating destruction wrought by the atom bomb." date: "2023-07-24" modified: "2023-07-24" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/oppenheimer-atom-bomb-fallout" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "atomic bomb" - "manhattan project" - "oppenheimer" - "the digest" --- # Oppenheimer’s Atom Bomb Apparently Spread Fallout on 46 US States ![With the release of "Oppenheimer," a new study looks back at the devastating destruction wrought by the atom bomb.]() *The mushroom cloud of the Trinity test in New Mexico. | Location: Alamagordo, New Mexico, USA. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) \Image: Getty Images\* ## No Shelter With the release of Christopher Nolan's [much-anticipated "Oppenheimer" film](), a look back at the history of the [titular character]() and the destruction wrought by the Manhattan Project's atom bomb is worthwhile — and apparently, its fallout went far beyond what anyone knew. In a [not-yet-peer-reviewed study](), Princeton researchers found via sophisticated modeling software and newly-uncovered weather data that radioactive fallout from the A-bomb test, code-named "Trinity," spread across 46 American states, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. While most of the emphasis on Oppenheimer's atomic weapon justifiably falls with the [victims of the atomic blast]() in the Japanese cities of [Hiroshima and Nagasaki](), where the United States detonated the weapon in 1945, this new research sheds a light on the dramatic scale at which the A-bomb harmed the world. As the [*New York Times* reports](), Oppenheimer and the scientists he worked with on the Manhattan Project had no clue how powerful the blast from Trinity would be. "They were aware that there were radioactive hazards, but they were thinking about acute risk in the areas around the immediate detonation site," Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear historian who did not work on the study, told the *NYT*. "They were not really thinking about effects of low doses on large populations, which is exactly what the fallout problem is." ## Winding Road This updated look at the widespread fallout from the atomic tests could, as the *NYT* notes, help Trinity "[downwinders]()," or those live "downwind" of nuclear sites. In the case of these tests, downwinders have for generations [experienced severe health problems]() ranging from heart disease to leukemia in the aftermath of Trinity and the government's subsequent nuclear testing that lasted until 1962 — most of whom never got any government compensation or even recognition. "Despite the Trinity test taking place in New Mexico, many New Mexicans were left out of the original \[nuclear fallout\] legislation and nobody has ever been able to explain why," Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico told the *Times*. While those who lived within the 150-mile radius of the Trinity site were at greatest risk for health problems, this study shows just how far the fallout from the world-changing test spread — and could, as the paper's authors suggest, possibly even demarcate July 16, 1945, the date of the test, as the beginning of [Anthropocene epoch]() in which humans began having significant detrimental effects on the planet. **More on destroyers of worlds:** [*Warren Buffett Compares AI to the Atom Bomb*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()