Pros And Cons Of Atomic Vitality

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).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Michael Blow wrote in his book, The History of the Atomic Bomb, that the United States was building an atomic weapon for the main purpose of beating the Germans to the creation of the bomb (95-96). After uranium was used to create atomic fission in Berlin in 1939, Albert Einstein and other scientists wrote a letter to Roosevelt, talking him into government funding for atomic research in America (Foner and Garraty, “Manhattan” n. pag.). In a bit of irony, American leaders believed that the Germans, in the race to create the ultimate weapon, were beating them. In actuality, however, they never got far in their research, and America defeated them by a sizeable amount (Blow 96). In the United States, research for the “Manhattan Project,” the code name for the secret project to use atomic energy to create a bomb, expanded all around the country. This included universities such as Columbia, Princeton, California, and Chicago. While the research had been independent and government funded up until the middle of 1942, the army took over guidance of the project at that point. The possibility of an atomic bomb had become too realistic to keep the research in the private sector (Foner and Garraty, “Manhattan”).

In the nuclear world, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion are two of the most basic concepts that should be known in the nuclear family. Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission are very distinct from each other.

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.

In the early 20th century, there were numerous groundbreaking advances in science. One of the most important ones was the splitting of the atom or nuclear fission. Physicists realized that fission could release tremendous amounts of energy in a form of a bomb. With WWII in the horizon, the U.S. government decided to launch the Manhattan Project, the race to develop the world’s first atomic bomb. The project took about 7 years, approximately $2 billion, and around 130,000 personnel to complete, (Hall,“By the Numbers: World War II’s atomic bombs”). The eventually success of the project would change countries around the globe forever. The results of the Manhattan Project opened up a new field of possibilities, leaving behind numerous consequences.

The first origins of the Manhattan Project began as early as 1930, with physicists such as Albert Einstein, who knew of the power of the single atom. Though it wasn’t until later in the decade that German physicists were able to take those thoughts produce the first artificial nuclear reaction, and even document the theory. Due to the publication of the theory, many people began to realize the immense power that could come from such a tremendous reaction of atoms.

In a war of mass destruction and huge weaponry, development of the next big offensive device was on the minds of all the leaders involved. Many of these weapons were designed in secret laboratories under the top scientists and physicists in the world. High emphasis and funding put into these designs, the developments flourished. Some of these weapons were unbelievable successes, making their way to the battlefield meeting all the expectations set by their imaginative creators. Others, however, did not make it any further than the testing unit. Numerous previously unheard of ideas were presented, several being far ahead of their time. This was cause for some of the weapons failures. Although, these were

This semester in ENGL 112, I chose to researcher the effects of uranium. I chose this topic because I learned about the element earlier in the year while sitting in Physics class. Uranium is a very interesting element that has been applied to many applications in today’s world. While in Physics, the class even had a debate on whether uranium has affected society for the better or for the worse. My side in the debate was that uranium has affected society for the worse. Uranium has created many bad problems for the world, and it could potentially create more problems. Uranium is a radioactive element that is the only metal on Earth that breaks down and creates new elements. Before the element was discovered, it affected humans while they were mining for stone. Some of the stone was even used to build schools and homes. The radiation then affected the families and children throughout their lives without them even knowing it.

By splitting an atom, a large amount of energy is released, which could be weaponized. In 1942 the Manhattan Project was formed with the intention of weaponizing it and used the energy in a chain reaction for a fission (and eventually a fusion) to create a nuclear bomb that ended WW ll.

This is why uranium is so popular within the higher ups of countries, especially the military.

It is estimated that at today’s rate of consumption, the earth has about fifty years left of fossil fuels. In contrast, due to the very small amount of uranium needed to create a huge amount of energy, the supply of nuclear energy is almost infinite [Jiskha].

In a war of mass destruction and huge weaponry, development of the next big offensive device was on the minds of all the leaders involved. Many of these weapons were designed in secret laboratories under the top scientists and physicists in the world. High emphasis and funding put into these designs, the developments flourished. Some of these weapons were unbelievable successes, making their way to the battlefield and meeting all the expectations set by their imaginative creators. Others, however, did not make it any further than the testing unit. Numerous previously unheard of ideas were presented, several being far ahead of their time. This was the cause for some of the weapons failures. Although, these were launching pads for some

The United States' atomic weapons complex is basic and befuddled. The working environments joined into moving parts of atomic weapons issues blend the Departments of Energy, Defense, State, Commerce, and Homeland Security. The Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration is the key U.S. Government partnership responsible for the design, change and upkeep of U.S. atomic weapons. The Department of Energy got commitment concerning all atomic giant related matters beginning now allotted to the Atomic Energy Commission set up after World War II.

Every good idea needs a kick to it, something that stands out for people to notice and look deeper. That kick was Albert Einstein, who was important to the science of atoms before the Manhattan project began (¨Mainwood¨ par.1). His knowledge of atoms were key to how the atomic bomb works only up to a certain point before he couldn't do anything else. Despite his area of study, Einstein was not an atomic scientist (¨Mainwood¨ par. 2). He was not involved with the Manhattan project at all, he never worked a day with Szilard or Oppenheimer, their area of science was different than his. The thing that he did most important for the Manhattan project was signing a piece of paper prompting the need for atomic weapons to be used in

The capacity for nuclear technology was first discovered in the year 1939 by scientists Hahn and Strassmann. They found that when a radioactive element decayed in the form of fission it released tremendous amounts of energy (“Outline History of…” 1). Fission is the term used to refer to the splitting of an atom into two smaller atoms. To be exact, Hahn and Strassman deduced that twelve kilograms of Uranium --which is a radioactive element-- had the same capacity as eighteen hundred tons of TNT (“Brief History of Nuclear…” 1). This magnitude of power was used predominantly in weapons manufacturing during WWII and the