how were Oppenheimer and Groves able to stand at ground zero right after the first atom bomb exploded without getting radiation poisoning?

Question

Speaking specifically to this picture

https://www.atomicarchive.com/history/trinity/afterwards.html

In: 685

Answer 1

I liked this explanation:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eRcmjW9BUY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eRcmjW9BUY)

Basically, the placement of the bomb matters. If it is high enough, it explodes and certainly things are bad for anything caught in the blast radius, but if far enough away, i.e. the bomb explodes high enough, then the air disperses the radiation quickly. Closer to the ground and it’s the more devastating images we’ve all seen.