Manhattan Nuclear Weapons Program (1942-1946)

A Manhattan Nuclear Weapons Program (1942-1946) is a U.S.-led large-scale R&D program to produce the first nuclear weapons.

• Context:
  • It can involve extensive collaboration between scientists, engineers, and military personnel.
  • It can be characterized by high levels of secrecy and security to prevent information leaks.
  • It can result in significant scientific and technological advancements, particularly in nuclear physics and engineering.
  • It can have far-reaching impacts on global politics and warfare.
  • It can include multiple sub-projects focused on different aspects of nuclear weapon development, such as uranium enrichment and plutonium production.
  • It can engage in intelligence operations to gather information on enemy nuclear projects, as seen in Operation Alsos.
  • It can have led to the establishment of post-war institutions and policies for nuclear research and development, such as the United States Atomic Energy Commission.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • Manhattan Nuclear Weapons Program (1942), focusing on initial planning and research.
  • Manhattan Nuclear Weapons Program (1943), involving the construction of major facilities like the Oak Ridge and Hanford sites.
  • Manhattan Nuclear Weapons Program (1944), with the development of uranium enrichment and plutonium production techniques.
  • Manhattan Nuclear Weapons Program (1945), culminating in Trinity (Nuclear Test) and Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  • Manhattan Nuclear Weapons Program (1946), transitioning to post-war nuclear policies and the establishment of the UNAEC.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Project Apollo, which focused on human space exploration.
  • ASI Development Program, which focuses on creating artificial superintelligence.
  • Manhattan District, referring to the initial geographical location of the project's headquarters.
• See: United States Atomic Energy Commission, Trinity (Nuclear Test), Nuclear Weapon, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project Retrieved:2024-7-21.
  • The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project was directed by Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that designed the bombs. The Army program was designated the Manhattan District, as its first headquarters were in Manhattan; the name gradually superseded the official codename, Development of Substitute Materials, for the entire project. The project absorbed its earlier British counterpart, Tube Alloys. The Manhattan Project employed nearly 130,000 people at its peak and cost nearly US$2 billion (equivalent to about $ billion in ),over 80 percent of which was for building and operating the plants that produced the fissile material. Research and production took place at more than 30 sites across the US, the UK, and Canada.

    The project resulted in two types of atomic bombs, developed concurrently during the war: a relatively simple gun-type fission weapon and a more complex implosion-type nuclear weapon. The Thin Man gun-type design proved impractical to use with plutonium, so a simpler gun-type design called Little Boy was developed that used uranium-235. Three methods were employed for uranium enrichment: electromagnetic, gaseous, and thermal. In parallel with the work on uranium was an effort to produce plutonium. After the feasibility of the world's first artificial nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, was demonstrated in 1942 at the Metallurgical Laboratory in the University of Chicago, the project designed the X-10 Graphite Reactor and the production reactors at the Hanford Site, in which uranium was irradiated and transmuted into plutonium. The Fat Man plutonium implosion-type weapon was developed in a concerted design and development effort by the Los Alamos Laboratory.

    The project was also charged with gathering intelligence on the German nuclear weapon project. Through Operation Alsos, Manhattan Project personnel served in Europe, sometimes behind enemy lines, where they gathered nuclear materials and documents, and rounded up German scientists. Despite the Manhattan Project's emphasis on security, Soviet atomic spies penetrated the program.

    The first nuclear device ever detonated was an implosion-type bomb during the Trinity test, conducted at White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico on 16 July 1945. Little Boy and Fat Man bombs were used a month later in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the immediate postwar years, the Manhattan Project conducted weapons testing at Bikini Atoll as part of Operation Crossroads, developed new weapons, promoted the development of the network of national laboratories, supported medical research into radiology and laid the foundations for the nuclear navy. It maintained control over American atomic weapons research and production until the formation of the United States Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC) in January 1947.

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