Nuclear Weapons : A Necessity Or Nonsense?

This committee decided that the United States should retain nuclear superiority, in the event that international relations deteriorated following World War II (US Department of Energy). This decision is a foreshadowing of the Cold War, and nuclear arms race which followed the dropping of nuclear weapons on Japan. The interim committee also decreed that a regulatory system should be created to control the development of nuclear weapons, since other nations would inevitably obtain the technology needed to develop weapons. Possibly, the most influential decision made by the interim committee was to keep the details of the atomic bomb a secret, to maintain the shock effect, until after it had been dropped on Japan. Two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first bomb dropped was a uranium bomb, nick-named Little Boy, was untested before its detonation (US Department of Energy). The second, dropped after the Japanese did not surrender, was a plutonium bomb, nick-named Fat Man. The dropping of these bombs propelled the United States to a seat of world power, as they were the only country to obtain a weapon of mass destruction. The Manhattan Project became scientific and engineering feat, employing over 100,000 individuals. The exceptional organizational model the Manhattan Project provided, allowed for great scientific achievements in the later part of

The beginnings of the Nuclear Age started when Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt warning him of a dangerous weapon the Nazis had begun researching, known as the atomic bomb. (1) Though, when President Roosevelt first read this letter, he was too preoccupied with events in Europe to be bothered with such ideas. He at the time did not take the creation of such weapon to seriously, nor did he believe America had the resources for such a task. (2) Finally, on October 19, 1939 President Roosevelt wrote back to Einstein stating that the United States had begun to research the power of uranium. (2) With the help of the British, whom reluctantly gave the United States leadership on this project, in June of 1942 the Manhattan Project had begun, though most of the world had no idea that this was even happening, not even Vice President Truman. (2)

Even before the outbreak of War, the United States was concerned with a fascist regime in Europe researching in nuclear weapons. In retaliation, the United States began to fund an atomic weapon development program which became known as “The Manhattan Project” led by J. Robert Oppenheimer. Over the next several years, the Manhattan project started obtaining key materials such as Uranium-235 and Plutonium and testing prototypes until they reached a working model (Coroner).

Third, the historical significance of the Manhattan Project involved securing the future of the U.S. from foreign countries such as Russia and Germany. First off, Germany and Britain were the first to start experimenting with fission and with the help of evading scientists, the U.S. began its fission experiments. The introduction into this new area of fission was important to the U.S. because it allowed us to use the atomic bomb for protection against the countries who were also trying to create a weapon of mass

During World War II, the U.S., Germany, and Japan we’re all at war. Germany expanding, Hitler rising in power, Japan fighting, and the U.S. At the start of the war, the bomb was not yet invented. People realized that one of the only ways to defeat the others in war was by large explosions, but nobody had that kind of technology yet. There was a task set for scientists. With the approval of president Franklin D. Roosevelt, they began the Manhattan project. This was the creation of the Atomic Bomb.

In 1939, the United States started funding the Manhattan Project. A project which goal was to make a bomb using the power of nuclear energy. There were a few problems with making the bomb. One the resources needed to make the bomb were expensive and hard to find. And, by 1945, the budget for the Manhattan Project be around Two billion dollars.

The Manhattan project was the first large scale nuclear weapon development the world had seen. The project itself brought together many of the worlds greatest minds and most distinguished military commanders of the day. Several years of work and research went in to developing these nuclear weapons after the United States feared Germany would surpassed them in nuclear weapon development. While the US may of won the race to build the nuclear weapon, they lost in the catastrophic moral dilemma that faced everyone involved after the drop. Japan had a strong hold during WWII and made distinct enemies with the US. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the death of tens of thousands of people and animals and complete destruction of the cities, many asked if the bombings were necessary. Those

Without the investment of money and research of atomic weapons in the 1940’s we would be looking at a completely different world. I believe that nuclear weapons have played an important part in both history and research that it was an intelligent idea to invest into them in the 1940’s

Nuclear research all started when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the United States entered into World War II. When the United States realized that Germany attempted to build an atomic bomb, Americans began to concentrate on their research about creating an atomic bomb more heavily. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Manhattan Project, which included a group of top scientists, under General Leslie R. Groves, who worked around the clock to try to develop an atomic bomb within three years (Beyer, Page 15). The Americans and the British combined their efforts to research the development of the bomb and created plants and factories to work in the atomic bomb. They created plants for three separate processes: electromagnetic, gaseous diffusion, and thermal diffusion. These plants helped create the plutonium and uranium 235 needed to manufacture the atomic bomb ("Key Issues: Nuclear Weapons: History: Pre Cold War: Manhattan Project.", Web). The secrecy of the Manhattan Project was essential in order to develop the atomic bombs to end World War II.

Although the first nuclear weapons were relatively small, with yields equivalent to approximately 20,000 tons of dynamite, they nonetheless shocked the world, setting off an arms and energy race that would last for decades. Today, the United States sits on top of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal. Nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers dominate the oceans, and over 100 nuclear power plants supply nearly 20% of the nation’s power supply (Bayh & Gregg, 2014). All of this nuclear production produced tremendous amounts of nuclear waste.

Within America, the forces between the navy and airforce began to compete, and the stockpile of nuclear weapons began to grow. By late 1960s, there were over 31,000 nuclear weapons and 36 different types. The United States wanted to make the point of “we have more than you.”

In 1945, the United States with help from Canada, released a new force into unsuspecting Japan which shocked the world. It was the weapon the Manhattan project spent months working on while spending approximately $20 billion. It used up to 12% of America’s electricity during the war even though many people did not know what they were working on. It was a weapon so powerful that many heads of this project feared it would go terribly wrong. It would save many lives and end many others. It was the atomic bomb. This weapon of mass destruction was used on two Japanese cities during World War 2 though it was very controversial. However, with further review, it was completely necessary to drop

It was the year that the Second World War began that scientists discovered the possibility of creating an atomic bomb. One of the most famous scientists in the world, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to the president explaining "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" (Grant, 1997) that might be built. A group of the top nuclear scientists worked together with Robert Oppenheimer as their scientific director, as what was knowing as the Manhattan Project. Just under $2 billion US dollars was spend on funding the Manhattan Project, today that equals to $37863713073.60 Australian dollars.

The first use of nuclear weaponry in warfare occurred on the morning of August 6, 1945 when the United States dropped the atomic bomb known as “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. The result was devastating, demonstrating the true power of nuclear warfare. Since the incident, the world has been left fearing the possible calamity of another nuclear war. Joseph Siracusa’s Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction explains aspects of nuclear weaponry from simply what a nuclear weapon is, to the growing fear from nuclear warfare advancements in an age of terrorism. The book furthered my education on nuclear weapons and the effect they place on society, physically and mentally.

There is a huge expense in maintaining and building the nuclear arms that we use for deterrence. Nuclear information is secret, taking great amounts of money and time, to research and keep it confidential. Power is gained from the research and development, which is definitely worth the expense. The great amounts of money spent on nuclear technology help ensure the security of the people of the United States. It takes huge amounts of money to have the edge in nuclear technology. However, nuclear deterrence is even cheaper than war. The cost of building, operating, and maintaining nuclear weapons is only $26.7 billion per year (Hellman). "This is significantly less than the cost of the 1991 [Persian Gulf] war, which came to nearly $80 billion" (Dobbs). Deterrence is economically and politically intelligent.