Background:
The Manhattan Project also known as the making of the Atomic Bomb started when President Roosevelt received the Einstein–Szilárd letter on August 2, 1939. The letter encouraged United States to make use of Nuclear Weapons in the war before Nazi Germany was hit by this idea. After receiving this letter, Roosevelt authorized the National Defense Research Committee to explore and research further about Nuclear Weapons and how they are built and all other things including the costs etc. Then the NDRC formed the S-1 Uranium Committee under the guidance of Lyman Briggs. Since Britain was busy in the war, the Americans increased their speed of the nuclear research.The Making:
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the S-1 committee held its first meeting on December 18, 1941. In this meeting they discussed the several techniques and designs for the project. The funding was authorized by Roosevelt in June 1942. The project was re-designated the "Manhattan District" on August 13. During the summer of 1942, the project was led by Colonel James Marshall. He explored sites for facilities, but was unable to secure the needed priority by the US Army. Bush then replaced Marshall in September with Brigadier General Leslie Groves.
Weapon Design:
As production ensued elsewhere, Oppenheimer and the team at Los Alamos worked on designing the atomic bomb. Early work focused "gun-type" designs which fired one piece of uranium into another to create a nuclear chain reaction. While this approach proved promising for uranium-based bombs, it was less so for those utilizing plutonium. As a result, the scientists at Los Alamos began developing an implosion design for a plutonium-based bomb as this material was relatively more plentiful. By July 1944, the bulk of the research was focused on the plutonium designs and the uranium gun-type bomb was less of a priority.
The Trinity Test:
Oppenheimer felt that a test of the weapon was needed before it could be moved into production. Though plutonium was relatively scarce at the time, Groves authorized the test and assigned planning for it to Kenneth Bainbridge in March 1944. Bainbridge pushed forward and selected the Alamogordo Bombing Range as the detonation site. Though he originally planned to use a containment vessel to recover the fissile material, Oppenheimer later elected abandon it as plutonium had become more available. A pre-test explosion was conducted on May 7, 1945. This was followed by the construction of a 100-ft. tower at the site. The implosion test device, nicknamed "The Gadget," was hoisted to the top to simulate a bomb falling from an aircraft. At 5:30 AM on July 16, with all the key Manhattan Project members present, the device was successfully detonated with energy equivalent of around 20 kilotons of TNT. Alerting President Harry S. Truman, then at the Potsdam Conference, the team began moving to build atomic bombs using the test's results.
Little Boy and Fat Man:
Little Boy fell for fifty-seven seconds, before detonating at the predetermined height of 1,900 feet with a blast equivalent to about 13-15 kilotons of TNT. Creating an area of complete devastation approximately two miles in diameter, the bomb, with its resulting shock wave and fire storm, effectively destroyed around 4.7 square miles of the city, killing 70,000-80,000 and injuring another 70,000. Its use was quickly followed three days later when "Fat Man," an implosion plutonium bomb, fell on Nagasaki. Generating a blast equivalent of 21 kilotons of TNT, it killed 35,000 and wounded 60,000. With the use of the two bombs, Japan quickly sued for peace.Aftermath:
Costing nearly $2 billion and employing approximately 130,000 people, the Manhattan Project was one of the US' largest endeavors during World War II. Its success ushered in the nuclear age which saw nuclear power harnessed for both military and peaceful purposes. Work on nuclear weapons continued under the Manhattan Project's jurisdiction and saw further testing in 1946 at Bikini Atoll. Control of nuclear research passed to the United States Atomic Energy Commission on January 1, 1947 following the passage of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. Though a highly secret program, the Manhattan Project was penetrated by Soviet spies, including Fuchs, during the war. As a result of his work, and that of others such as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the US' atomic hegemony ended in 1949 when the Soviets detonated their first nuclear weapon.Sources:
- Class notes/powerpoints
- Homework Readings
- Documentaries on WWII focusing on nuclear weapons
- http://www.ushistory.org/us/51f.asp
- http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/mp/
- http://www.britannica.com/event/Manhattan-Project
This is a good comprehensive at the program that led to the development of the first nuclear weapons of World War II. How did the introduction of nuclear weapons change the political perspective on war? Did the possibility of complete destruction on both sides change the way that leaders of countries dealt with one another in terms of international politics? I think the change in political outlook due to the invention of weapons of mass destruction is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well researched blog response, that uses the research in a way that is more informative rather than positional. I wonder, if one was to discuss the reasons for the reporting of the test at the Potsdam conference, what one would suggest was the reason both for the testing and for the publication?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very informative blogger post that makes understanding both the development an using of nuclear weapons of WWII. The images also help visualize how such a not so big nuclear weapon can cause so any deaths and tragedies for miles. Overall this is a very well written blog post and very informative non-biased as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how one nuclear weapon can bring about so much power to a country. Perhaps it is less about the weapon itself but the idea and the threat behind it that lent it its power. The idea of MAD forced leaders of foreign policy to act meticulously and to negotiate carefully as they were always threatened with complete destruction. How do these nuclear tests still have an effect on our environment today?
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