Radioactive Fission Research Paper

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).

The research for the first Atomic bomb took place in the United States, by a group of nuclear engineers; the name of this research was called, “The Manhattan Project”. On July 16, 1945, the detonation of the first atomic bomb was tested near Los Alamos, New Mexico. As the atomic bomb was detonated, it sent shock-waves across the globe, which demonstrated that nuclear power would forever change the meaning of war.

New Mexico and the Manhattan Project The United States’ efforts to develop the atomic bomb was called the Manhattan project. The Manhattan project was centered in Los Alamos, New Mexico. This is where the majority of the research, development, and testing for the first atomic bomb took place. This project began in 1941 shortly after the United States received information on Germanys’ new bomb developments, and their knowledge on splitting the uranium atom. At around the same time, President Franklin Roosevelt issued his Executive Order 9066.

Los Alamos would become the site to the main assembly plant for the Manhattan Project and later to the building of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The Manhattan Project was a secret military project created to produce the first US nuclear weapon. However, the United States soon learned that the Germans were nowhere near the full formation of a nuclear weapon. Now, their attentions focused to the Pacific front where they were in a costly war with the Japanese. American casualties were mounting into huge numbers, and Japanese soldiers refused to surrender. The United States knew they risked over a million casualties if they chose to invade Japan. Instead, they chose to launch two nuclear bombs on the Japanese towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This would lead to a new nuclear age in which the world would be in fear of being bombarded by a nuclear weapon. Till this day the grave effects of these first two weapons keep the world’s aim to curb the use of these weapons.

The seed was planted for the bomb in 1939 when Albert Einstein wrote President Roosevelt a letter regarding the danger of Germany obtaining such a weapon. "In 1942, President Theodore Roosevelt approved a plan to develop an atomic bomb. The plan's code name was the Manhattan Project." (Taylor, Page 25) The Atomic bomb was developed based on Frisch's theory of nuclear fission. (McKain, Page 39) The atomic bomb was developed as a defensive weapon for the United States to protect itself from the Germans attempting to obtain the bomb. The Manhattan Project was conducted by the best American and German refugee scientists, notable scientists include Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and J. Robert Oppenheimer. The first objective of the Manhattan Project was to test the theory of nuclear fission. In 1942 Enrico Fermi led a group of scientists to create the first nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. The success of this Fermi's experiment allowed the Manhattan Project to "Move from the theoretical stage to the practical construction of a device based around Fermi's chain reaction." (McKain, Page 78) The second large challenge to the project was producing enough fuel for a bomb, in this case Uranium-235 and Plutonium. To produce a bomb the scientists would need a large quantity of fissionable materials, these were Uranium-235 and Plutonium. "Uranium-235 and Plutonium are the fissionable materials used to make nuclear bombs. To obtain these rare elements, however, they must be extracted from Uranium." (McKain, Page 85) The scientists involved in the Manhattan Project were assisted in obtaining these materials by the DuPont company who used two facilities to produce these materials. As the materials were being gathered, scientists were convened in Los Alamos, New Mexico where they lived and worked to design and build the atomic bomb. By

During the events of WWII, the world’s scientific community learned that German physicists had unlocked the secrets of splitting a uranium atom. The world quickly came to fear the idea of Nazi scientists finding a way to harness that energy and create a weapon of mass destruction the likes of which had never been seen before.

The Manhattan Project was the code name of the America’s attempt to construct an atomic bomb during World War II. It was named after the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, because a lot of it’s earlier research was done in New York City. An atomic bomb is a weapon that uses the energy from a nuclear reaction called Fission for its destruction.

The morning of August 15, 1945, Americans rejoiced as World War II came to an end after Japan had been bombed twice by atomic bombs which completely decimated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Most people know this would be the only nuclear attack ever made in history, but what people do not know would be who created these nuclear weapons, and how they created them. The Manhattan Project, created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, included the most brilliant scientists of all time. The President created this project because he obtained information that Germany could possibly create a nuclear weapon. Essentially, this project began working on the idea because the

However, the name of the project seemed to divulge too much information about the project, so it soon became the “Manhattan Engineering District” and eventually the “Manhattan Project.” As the project officially began, General Leslie Groves and Robert Oppenheimer, the military and scientific directors of the project, started to search the entire country looking for a secret yet accessible area to conduct their research. Furthermore, Oppenheimer wanted to find an area with serene beauty to inspire his fellow scientists. Percival C. Keith suggested to the men a location in the remote mountains of northern New Mexico. In addition, Oppenheimer knew of the location as well because he owned a ranch in the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Officially established as Site Y of the Manhattan Project in 1943, Los Alamos soon became an entire city completely hidden from the rest of the world. Originally thought to only house around 30 scientists, Los Alamos soon swelled to a city of over 6,000 residents made up of scientists and their families. As scientists arrived in Lamy, New Mexico via the train, everything from their own family members to their luggage

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 atomic bomb was detonated in Los Alamos, New Mexico, July 16, 1945. The American government poured billions of dollars into the development of the atomic bomb. It had been 3 years since the Manhattan Project began. What fueled such an excited push to create such a weapon? In 1939, Leo Szilard wrote a letter and had Albert Einstein sign the letter, to give the contents accreditation, to send to the President of the United States of America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The letter explained that Nazi Germany was stockpiling uranium in hopes of being able to create an atomic bomb. This letter would eventually lead to the creation of the Manhattan project in 1942. America developed nuclear weapons and started a nuclear arms race with the

Albert Einstein had the idea to change the element, Uranium, into bombs and event a whole new energy source.Einstein wanted to experiment with uranium by wanting to make bombs, so when he conducted his idea he knew that if just one bomb was to explode in on a boat in a port, the whole port could explode. In the passage Einstein stated “A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory.”

The laboratory would be constructed in Los Alamos, New Mexico and was given the name Los Alamos Laboratory, or LAL. Oppenheimer was entrusted to design not one, but two different bombs. The successful result of these efforts was observed after the building and design of the fission bomb, also known as atomic bomb or atom bomb, when a field test was required to assess the new plutonium bomb implosion design.