Nuclear weapons can be very destructive. They possess massive, deadly power originating from nuclear fission or joint fission and fusion reactions. The atomic bombs with their destructive capabilities were used to help in terminating World War 11.Since the first American Atomic bomb exploded, the other four nations United Kingdom, former the Soviet Union, France and China had also exploded their atomic bombs between 1949 and 1964.The fear that the Nazi Germany possessed such deadly weapons prompted scientist in the other nations to develop an atomic bomb.
The idea of creating atomic can be traced back to discovering by Earnest Rutherford about the nature of atoms that emit radiations such as uranium, Rutherford along with several of his colleagues participated in the Manhattan project (Gosling, 1999).In 1941, Eugene Booth and John Dunning successfully separated uranium 235 from Uranium -238prompting extensive research into nuclear fission. Another discovery by Enrico Fermi revealed the destructive nature of Uranium-235, and this contributed to the making of an atomic weapon. Another research by Glean Seaborg showed a new element plutonium having the same characteristics as uranium. On the 16thof July 1945, the initial nuclear weapon test was carried out by the United States at the White Sands Proving Ground near Sorroco, New Mexico, the test was named Trinity' and resulted in an explosion that measured approximately 20 kilotons.
By the time of Nazis invasion of Poland in 1939, beginning World War 11, many of top European scientist had fled the next conflict aware of the effects of utilizing nuclear fission as a weapon. Fearing that Germany would develop an atomic bomb Albert Einstein signed a letter to the then US President Franklin Roosevelt warning him of the greatest threat opposed by the Germans (Gosling 1999). Roosevelt reacted by setting up a committee (advisory committee on Uranium).The committee produced a report on 1939 declaring that nuclear reactions could be used in the production of very destructive bombs which later led to what was known as the Manhattan Project.
The most difficult part in the execution of the Manhattan project was the engineering needed to innovate the constant volume of unstable isotopes and the internal machinery to build nuclear explosions. To overcome these difficulties (American Heritage Foundation, 2014), General Leslie Groves enlisted the brightest minds from America academia and industry led by J. Robert Oppenheimer And in turn gave them an enormous amount of government funds to work with. On the approval of the funding by President Franklin Roosevelt in December 1942, the largest construction project in the world history commenced.
Another problem encountered during the development of the Manhattan project was that there was a good number of Russian spies, the most famous of them being Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs who gave up the atomic bomb secrets. The government and scientists who knew about the secret project seemed to overlook the likelihood of spies being involved in the project which is what happened, unfortunately.
Manhattan project had its three main sites LosAlamos, NM; Oak, Ridge, TN; and Hanford, WA. The laboratory at Los Alamos was the epicenter of the project. It was home to the design work on the bomb mechanisms while Oak Ridge and Hanford were specifically for industrial activities and engineering. Since there was no sure way of making an atomic bomb, Groves recommended that all potential methods should be pursued simultaneously to develop the atomic with speed(American Heritage Foundation, 2014).
As the Manhattan project continued, scientists were more determined on their findings than on the consequences of their actions, as some of them came to realize how the bomb would be used they quit due to morality refusing to participate in the destruction of humankind. Many people weighed in on the debate and showed their concerns on the use of atomic bombs reasoning that other nations would soon have the capabilities of producing atomic bombs which would eventually threaten the peace and security of the world. Despite the opposition, the USA government continued with their plan alleged that was the only way to bring the war to an end (Gilmer & Dubois 2002).
Scientists were faced with an ethical predicament of whether or not to make the atomic bomb. They argued that if they dont come up with the atomic bomb, the Germans and Japanese would eventually come up with one and that could have changed the outcome of World War 11. However, they were still interested in their clear goals which finally led to the creation of an instrument of mass action.
The use of the atomic bomb during World War 11 came with a lot of criticism and support. With those against the idea blaming both scientists and the military, but with the supporters arguing that at least a hundred thousand more soldiers would have been killed if they had invaded Japanese mainland and it was fundamental in stopping the war. However, I think with the development of the atomic bomb Science has released a lethal means to destroy humanity. With the two atomic bombs being dropped in Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) in 1945 killing and hurting hundreds of thousands of people and their devastating effects being felt today believe the American government could have found another alternative way to stop the war instead of using the deadly atomic bombs.
References
American Heritage Foundation (2014).Building the bomb-1943.http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/buildingbomb
GoslingF.G. (1999).Manhattan Project (Making the Atomic Bomb). The United States Department Of Energy
Gilmer, P.J& Dubois, M (2002).Science And Engineering Ethics
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