WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (August 30, 2024) – Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) hosted leadership from the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence (MoD), along with National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Department of Defense (DoD) leadership, at Trinity Site on White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). This visit is part of an ongoing partnership to maintain long-standing working relationships between the two countries.
WSMR Executive Director Vincent M. Liddiard greeted the guests and provided opening remarks for the visit. WSMR Museum Specialist Jenn Jett opened the tour with a presentation covering the history of Trinity Site, and how the installation started testing with Jumbo, a device designed by the X2-A section of LANL to act as a failsafe device for the Trinity Test explosion. At ground zero, WSMR Deputy Director of the Survivability, Vulnerability and Assessment Directorate Frank Andrews, discussed WSMR’s posture in support of the DoD, specifically within the nuclear field.
The MoD, responsible for implementing the United Kingdom’s defense policy and serving as the headquarters of the British Armed Forces, has been involved with LANL and WSMR since the 1940’s as the need for research and development of a nuclear bomb quickly accelerated. As part of the British Mission, some of the United Kingdom’s best experimental and theoretical physicists worked alongside American scientists and engineers on the Manhattan Project during World War II.
“It’s been a privilege to be here at Trinity Site. It’s where it all began and it’s just incredible to see how you respect the history you have here,” said Rebecca Weston, MoD Warhead Director General. “We have been working closely with the U.S. for decades and it all started here.”
In 1943, the British Delegations started at Los Alamos with English physicist, Sir James Chadwick, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in physics for the discovery of the neutron in 1932. In 1941, he wrote the final draft of the MAUD Report, which inspired the U.S. government to begin serious atom bomb research efforts.
“In 1958 we renewed our partnership with the MoD and have been going strong ever since,” said Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Thom Mason. “I’m extremely pleased we could convene at this awe-inspiring location to reflect on our incredible history of friendship and collaboration.”
“Having spent my entire career focused on getting rid of weapons of mass destruction, this is a very significant moment for me to be here visiting where the first nuclear weapon was tested for the first time. It brings my work full circle,” said Kasia Mendelsohn, Acting Associate Administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation.