FILE - This July 16, 1945, file photo, shows the mushroom cloud of the first atomic explosion at Trinity Test Site near Alamagordo, N.M. A visit by The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Trinity Test in southern New Mexico, which marked the world's first atomic blast on July 16, 1945. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - This July 16, 1945, file photo, shows the mushroom cloud of the first atomic explosion at Trinity Test Site near Alamagordo, N.M. A visit by The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Trinity Test in southern New Mexico, which marked the world's first atomic blast on July 16, 1945. (AP Photo/File)
(Alamagordo, N.M.) — The nation’s top nuclear security official was in New Mexico this past week to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the world’s first atomic explosion.
The test is both revered for the scientific advancements it helped to usher in and vilified for the moral and diplomatic implications that still linger in its wake.
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, says the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945 helped to avert wars and saved untold millions of lives over the years through advancements in nuclear medicine and science.
The plutonium bomb test capped a $2 billion effort, unprecedented in those times.
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