The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project "The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war..." ---Harry S. Truman What Is The Manhattan Project? In 1938 many people feared that Hitler would build an atomic bomb after word spread that German scientist had split the uranium atom (fission). However, one of Hitlers mistakes was his persecution of Jewish scientists. This persecution resulted in numerous scientists seeking asylum in the United States. One such scientist was Albert Einstein. Einstein, abandoning his belief in pacifism, urged then president Franklin Roosevelt to develop an atomic bomb before Hitler did. Eventually Roosevelt agreed and the United States attempt at building the atomic bomb was codenamed The Manhattan Project. Who Was Involved With The Manhattan Project? The Manhattan Project was carried out in extreme secrecy. By 1945, the project had nearly 40 labratories and factories which empolyed approximately 200,000 people. Among these employees were some of the greatest scientist that have ever lived. Included in this lot were Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, J. Robert Openheimer, and Harold Urey (and this is but a hand full of the many).

What Was The Outcome Of The Manhattan Project? In 1945 the United States covert operation known as The Manhattan Project achieved its goal - to create the first atomic bomb. Since its inception in 1939, scientist had struggled to find a way to harness the power of fission . Through the combined efforts of many, a test bomb known as "Fat Boy" was finally created. On July 16, 1945 in a desert in New Mexico the worlds first nuclear test, codenamed Trinity, was conducted and ushered in the Atomic Age. The Trinity test success led to the creation of two more atomic bombs that would be used in WWII. On August 6, 1945 the American B-29 bomber known as the Enola Gay released the first atomic bomb to be used in warfare. The 9,000 pound bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" detonated in Hiroshima, Japan. "Little Boy's" explosion was catastrophic and resulted in 66 thousand instantanous deaths. Total vaporization from the blast measured one half a mile in diameter. Total destruction ranged one mile in diameter and serious blazes extended as far as three miles in diameter.

Three days after the release of "Little Boy" a second bomb named "Fat Man" was released on the town of Nagasaki. "Fat Man" weighed 10,000 pounds and annihilated nearly half of the city. In one split-second, the population of Nagasaki dropped from 422,000 to 383,000. As astonishing as this seems, scientist estimate that both "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" only utilized 1/10th of 1 percent of their explosive capabilities. Source: 1998 Grolier Multimedia Encylopedia Click on the picture to see a video of both bombs being dropped on Japan Long Term Implications Of The Manhattan Project The initial explosion of an atomic bomb is devastating but its destructive capabilities do not end there. Rain that follows an atomic bomb is heavily contaminated with radioactive particles. Many survivors of the initial blast eventually died due to radiation poison. Those survivors that did not die suffured severe burns, nausea, vomitting, fatigue, diarrhea, and hair loss. Other effects are still being discovered to date. One such discovery is the passing on of Leukemia to offspring. Not all by-products of the atomic bomb have been negative.

Through the atom bomb, scientist have discovered how to harness the power of nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants are far more efficient than traditional power plants. The medical field has also taken advantage of the atomic bomb. Technology used in the atomic bomb is also used for CAT scans and chemotherapy. How the Manhattan Project Worked | HowStuffWorks How the Manhattan Project Worked Joe Raedle/ Getty Images On Aug. 6, 1945, Paul Tibbets, pilot of the B-29 airplane named the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima . Nicknamed "Little Boy," the bomb created an explosion equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, destroying nearly every building within a mile of ground zero and creating a massive firestorm that eventually engulfed the city. It's believed that 70,000 citizens died immediately after the blast, but the eventual death total may have reached as many as 100,000 by the end of the 1945 and 200,000 after 5 years due to the effects of radiation [source: U.S Department of Energy ]. Three days later on Aug.

9 a second bomb was dropped on the industrial city of Nagasaki. Nicknamed "Fat Man," the second bomb killed about 40,000 people initially, and the death toll eventually reached 70,000 after the end of the year and 140,000 after 5 years [source: U.S. Department of Energy ]. Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on Aug. 14, 1945, officially ending World War II. How Nuclear Bombs Work The development and use of the atomic bomb, the most powerful weapon created by the human race, is viewed as one of the most important and controversial events in the 20th century. Its terrifying ability to devastate an entire city and its symbol as a source of power sparked a tense nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union after the end of the war. Modern warfare had changed dramatically at the beginning of the century -- airplanes, machine guns and biological and chemical warfare were just a few of the technological advancements that caused widespread devastation and altered military tactics. But the atomic bomb was a different story. Some people thought its existence would put an end to all war, while others feared the potential annihilation of the human race.

The Manhattan Project, the code name for the United States' secret plan to develop atomic weapons for use in warfare, was a broad designation for the people, geographic locations and resources involved in atomic research during World War II. Many were, and still are, split on the decision to use the bomb in Japan, including the very people who helped build it. Some feel it saved lives and ended World War II, while others argue the Japanese would have surrendered anyway. How did they do it? Who was involved? Why did they call it the Manhattan Project anyway? In this article we'll take a closer look at the Manhattan Project and how a large network of scientists and military personnel managed to create the most powerful display of energy the Earth has ever witnessed. ­ What's in a Name? ­­Many people might think authorities gave the Manhattan Project its name to confuse foreign intelligence -- after all, the most infamous location was not in New York but hidden away in Los Alamos, N.M. ­So was the Manhattan Project just a random name to distract Communist spies? It turns out there were at least 10 sites dedicated to the nuclear bomb efforts located in Manhattan, one of the five boroughs of New York City .

The Army Corps of Engineers, situated at 270 Broadway, received the order to build the nuclear bomb and initially placed the project's headquarters in its own building. When authorities decided to stretch out the borders of the project in order to ensure security, the Corps still organized the construction of facilities in New Mexico, Tennessee and Washington State from its offices in Manhattan. Several other sites around New York City, including Columbia University, acted as secret research centers or uranium storehouses [source: the New York Times ]. 1 The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project References Abstract The pivotal engineering and scientific success of the Twentieth century was the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project assimilated concepts and leaders from all scientific fields and engineering disciplines to construct the first two atomic bombs. From the study of nuclear physics and chemistry to the practical engineering and processing of uranium 235 and plutonium 239 and the final construction of the weapons, scientific knowledge grew at an exponential rate to critical levels. The presence of communication amid scientific minds was equally important to the success of the Manhattan Project as scientific intellect was. The only cloud hanging over the impressive achievement of the atomic researchers and engineers is what their success truly meant; hundreds of thousands of innocent lives obliterated.

Yet this grave definition of success cannot diminish the impressive collaboration and efficiency of the Manhattan Project. Index Terms � Atomic Bomb, Fat Man, Little Boy, Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer, J. Robert. Introduction The Manhattan Project was the American program for researching and developing the first atomic bombs. The weapons produced were based solely upon the principles of nuclear fission of uranium 235 and plutonium 239, chain reactions liberating immense amounts of destructive heat energy. Although originally established in Manhattan, New York by the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the majority of the research took place under director General Leslie Groves at the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico. The goal of the Manhattan Project was effectively summed up by scientist Robert Serber when he deduced, �Since the one factor that determines the damage is the energy release, our aim is simply to get as much energy from the explosion as we can.�[1] Thus, due to the nature of the program�s objective, the Manhattan Project is one of scientific engineering�s foremost successes. In the quest for an atomic-powered weapon, the secrets of nuclear physics and chemistry were exposed.

Following the theoretical assessment of producing a controllable nuclear chain reactor, physical engineering was employed to construct the specific mechanics required. Communication contributed as much to the success of the Manhattan Project as did scientific discovery. Although the creation of the first atomic weapon was clearly a technological triumph, the question of morality and responsibility to ethics will forever plague the topic. Regardless of whether America was morally justified in deploying atomic weaponry on Japan, though, the Manhattan Project will always be an excellent example of collaboration and communication in scientific and engineering fields. Importance of Core Engineering Disciplines to the Manhattan Project �A little bomb like that,� declared physicist Enrico Fermi, enthralled by his first taste of nuclear fission, �and it would all disappear.�[2]. The Atomic Age, a period of incessant discovery and revelation of atomic and subatomic wonders - an age that revolutionized the physical world - began on a vacant playing field beneath the University of Chicago stadium on December 2, 1942.

In the late afternoon of this momentous day, Fermi and Leo Szilard created the first controlled nuclear reactor, a model later reconstructed into five different reactor prototypes.[3] From the first controllable chain reaction to the dropping of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, the fields of physics, chemistry, and mathematics - the core disciplines of modern engineering � raced mercilessly ahead to godly enlightenment: the power of life and annihilation. The first atomic bomb, a weapon harnessing the devastating power of nuclear fission, was developed as an end to World War II and all war thereafter. Comprehension of the bomb and its historical development is attained by breaking the subject into three related components: chemistry, nuclear physics, and the practical engineering that realized the theoretical dream. The Chemistry Aspect Fission is an elementary chemical interaction between subatomic particles. Nuclear fission is defined as the splitting of an atom by nucleus bombardment. Atoms consist of three subatomic particles: negatively charged electrons, positively charged protons, and neutrons, which have no electrical charge. Atomic nuclei are dense cores of atoms composed of neutrons and protons, and are thus positively charged.

Chemical reactions, from basic acid-base titrations to nuclear fission, involve the collision of atomic particles. Fission begins with the high-energy collision of neutrons with the nucleus of another atom. Protons cannot partake in nuclear bombardment because of the electrostatic repulsion between positively-charged protons and nuclei. For fission to proceed, a neutron fired at the atom must fuse with the nucleus, producing a less-stable isotope. The �heavy� atom, chemically volatile, will split into two stable atoms, discharge neutrons, and generate energy (in the form of Gamma radiation). The neutrons released are free to collide and fuse with nuclei of other nearby atoms � a chain reaction ensues, progressing exponentially throughout the sample of atoms, releasing more and more heat radiation. It is this constant amplification of energy that constitutes the devastating power of an atomic weapon. If every atom were fissionable, there would be no stability to matter and the world would be an uninhabitable chaos of energy transformations. Thus, only certain isotopes of few atoms will undergo a fissile chain reaction.

Nobel physicist Neils Bohr discovered that Uranium, the ninety-second element, is an example of a fissionable atom.[4] the predominant form of uranium has a mass number of 238 and is relatively stable; U-235, a rare isotope, easily undergoes nuclear fission and can sustain a chain reaction. If a neutron traveling at adequate velocity and the appropriate angle collides with a uranium-235 nucleus, the unstable nucleus absorbs the neutron, consequently increasing to an exceedingly unstable state. Instantly the U-236 splits into two atoms of different elements, emitting 2 neutrons that carry on the chain reaction, and liberating large quantities of gamma radiation. Subsequent to John Dunning and Eugene Booth�s successful separation of uranium 235 from uranium 238 in 1941 [5], uranium became the leading example for fission research. As scientists probed further into the capabilities of fission, they began to visualize, as Fermi did, the awesome destructive potential of only a minute mass of uranium 235. Thus, the dream of a weapon with unmitigated atomic power was spawned.

With this basic knowledge of atomic chemistry and the motivation of a world crisis, the Manhattan project began in 1942. Two prominent challenges delayed the successful unleashing of nuclear energy: processing of sufficient fissionable material, and the actual design of a nuclear bomb that would maintain and maximize a fissile chain reaction. Dunning and Booth managed to separate the two isotopes of uranium before the institution of the Manhattan project, proving that it was indeed possible. But the level at which their research was performed was purely scientific; a project tasked with ending a world war required much more intensive and efficient processing. Additionally, no one had any experience constructing a dimensionally-feasible nuclear reactor in deployable size. As the Manhattan team quickly learned, the relative abundance of uranium 235 was not only extremely small, but when found, uranium ore was nearly impossible to purify into U-235. Natural uranium ore is comprised of a mixture of isotopes 235 and 238. Typically, one percent of the mass of uranium ore being considered is composed of the unstable isotope, while the rest is relatively useless U-238.[6] Therefore, to develop the prophesized weapon, engineering innovations were essential.

Ernest O. Lawrence of the University of California, Berkeley developed the first technique to isolate a practical amount of uranium 235, using a modified mass spectrometer.[7] Lawrence�s method dealt with the electromagnetic properties of atoms, an integration of chemistry and physics. Uranium 235 is a lighter isotope than Uranium 238. Thus, when equal physical forces act on atoms of U-235 and U-238, the isotopes will behave simply as two different masses. Therefore, as Newton�s laws describe, the force acting on the lighter mass will show greater affect on the motion of the mass than the force acting on the heavier mass. In Lawrence�s apparatus, the magnetic force exerted by an electromagnetic arch attracted the electrically charged portions of atoms, and thus, uranium atoms traveled along the raised arc. Uranium 235 atoms, naturally lighter than the stable isotope, would pass closer to the magnetic tract than the heavier U-238 atoms, and could thus be collected. To mobilize the uranium atoms into gaseous particles, fluorine gas was circulated over solid uranium ore, creating uranium tetrachloride gas.

The gaseous particles were then passed across the arc multiple times, each trial gaining a more purified sample of uranium 235 tetrachloride. To Lawrence�s chagrin, his method of uranium purification proved largely inefficient. Due to high maintenance costs and the time-consuming nature of the process, only one gram of uranium 235 was harvested after millions of dollars spent in production and repairs.[8] Lawrence�s design was quickly abandoned. General Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, purchased land in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to pursue another proposed method of uranium separation. Centered on the theory of gaseous diffusion of uranium hexafluoride, principles of chemistry and physics were again assimilated in an attempt to accomplish a feat of engineering. Similarly, the technique Groves pursued dealt with the motions of particles of different masses. When contained in a porous vessel, gaseous particles will randomly collide and bounce until passing through a pore in the container � a process known as effusion. At constant temperature, all gaseous particles have equal kinetic energies, and therefore, through the properties of thermodynamics, less-massive particles move with higher velocity than heavier particles.

When applied to effusion, lighter gases travel across a porous membrane faster than heavier gases. Uranium 235 hexafluoride, the lighter of the two isotopic gases, diffuses faster than U-238 hexafluoride. Over intervals of time, Groves concluded, this process could be used to separate uranium isotopes. The foremost problem with this technique was the quality of materials used in construction. The masses of the two isotopes of uranium are so similar that the diffusion must be run in completely airtight conditions. Grease could not be used to seal the miles of tubing, however, because uranium hexafluoride reacts so quickly with organic compounds. Thus, materials engineering was incorporated to fabricate new plastics to assemble the contraption. The engineering efforts resulted in an effective material known as Teflon.[9] Higher quality porous membranes were essential to the process as well.

The final product was a $100,000,000 facility consisting of thousands of consecutive membranes and diffusion tanks across miles of Teflon tubing � an engineering masterpiece.[10] Due to restrictions of the budget, however, construction on the Oak Ridge plant was only carried far enough to produce a mixture of the two isotopes, half stable, half unstable.[11] This end product was subsequently fed into other series of separation techniques, becoming the main source of U-235. Following Bohr�s discovery of fissionable uranium in 1941, Glen Seaborg capitalized on years of research by the discovery of the ninety-fourth element, plutonium.[12] Later, in 1942, another team of researches concluded that, although not as fissile as uranium 235, an isotope of plutonium, Pu-239 could sustain a chain reaction.[13] Furthermore, it was found that uranium 238, if exposed to alpha particles (Helium nuclei) in a reactor for extended periods of time, could actually increase in atomic number to become plutonium 239.

The discovery of this correlation between stable uranium and fissionable plutonium led to rapid advances in the production of atomic weaponry: not only was another fissile material available, but a method for its accumulation was already conceived. Engineering the Gadget Although the problem of understanding, processing, and purifying fissionable materials was solved, the actual design of a working bomb had yet to be determined. To date, all nuclear reactors were much too large and uncontrollable to be released as an aerial bomb. If the gadget did not meet certain dimensional specifications, then it would not function correctly. If released, it was essential that the bomb detonated � Germany was simultaneously conducting research on atomic power, and it would prove disastrous for stores of fissionable material to fall into the enemies� hands. Conversely, if not constructed properly, fission could occur at such a rapid rate that the bomb would be uselessly nondestructive. Thus, the Manhattan team now faced a challenge of mechanical construction and calculations. A specific mass of fissionable material, termed the �critical mass,� is necessary to begin and maintain a nuclear chain reaction.

Critical mass is calculated as the ratio between volume, density, and surface area, such that during the reaction, released neutrons collide with fissionable nuclei more often than they escape from the mass, ensuring that a chain reaction occurs.[14] If an amount greater than the critical mass, a �supercritical mass,� reacts, then the chain reaction will begin and end so quickly (in millionths of a second), that the net energy released from the reaction will be far less than the theoretical potential.[15] Additionally, critical mass of a fissionable material can only exist for a fraction of a moment due to the material�s instability. Thus, enough neutrons must collide with nuclei at exactly the instant critical mass is attained to create a nuclear chain reaction. The first design for a feasible atomic bomb was based upon using uranium 235 in a gun-type detonator. The basis for the bomb was the collision and fusion of two sub-critical masses of U-235 by conventional, external explosions into one, critical mass. A sphere of uranium 235 was the heart of the bomb. A section of the inner core of the sphere was removed and placed far away from its complementary mass.

This inner section, the �bullet�, was then surrounded with explosives so that when detonated, the blast would propel the bullet into its target, the larger sphere of uranium. At this point, neutrons would collide with nuclei from the explosion and critical mass obtained. Plutonium 239, a less fissionable substance than uranium 235, required a different design to function as the fissile material of an atomic bomb. Scientist Seth Neddermeyer conceived the basics behind a workable plutonium bomb built upon implosion.[16] Neddermeyer showed that upon beginning of the fission reaction, a core of plutonium would expand and the reaction would quickly diminish. Consequently, the volume of the plutonium mass must remain constant for fission to continue to its optimal capacity. Thus, an original sphere composed of beryllium and polonium (both radioactive elements), surrounded by equally spaced sections of Pu-239 was placed at the center of the bomb. This core was then surrounded by traditional explosives. Upon detonation, the force of the outer explosion would propel the sub-critical plutonium fragments together, resulting in a critical mass with fixed volume do to external pressure of the surrounding explosions.

Certain components were common in both implosion and gun-type bombs. A uranium 238 tamper, or shell, surrounded the fissionable critical mass in both bombs, functioning to deflect any stray neutrons back into the chain reaction. Both weapons also contained machinery to measure the air pressure during their descent (thus making them altimeter bombs), ensuring that the bomb would take no damage upon impact with the ground and maximizing range of destruction. Specific materials were used to construct the intricacies of each weapon as well, such as lead to absorb radioactive emission from the fissionable material to protect all of the bomb�s components. Finally, as the summer of 1945 approached, years of engineering efforts and studies were finalized into Little Boy, a uranium gun assembly bomb, and Fat Man, a plutonium implosion bomb. Mechanical, chemical, civil, materials, and electrical engineering collaborated with the fields of physics, chemistry, and mathematics to further previous knowledge, discover the unknown, and make history, a tremendous scientific engineering success. Significance of Communication Communication played both a scientifically positive and morally negative role throughout the production of the first atomic weapons.

Scientifically, it was only through the interaction among dozens of professionals from all scientific, physical, and mathematical fields that gave birth to the atomic bombs. Lack of communication, however, and an outright isolation of the project scientists from the military�s exact intentions bred bitterness and regret amid many. Regardless of this and whether guilt loomed in the minds of scientists towards the final weeks, the original goal of the Manhattan project was ultimately realized and surpassed because of scientific and mathematical brilliance as well as coordinated research and development. Departmental rivalry and personal pride fueled much of the findings leading up to the creation of atomic weapons. A prime example of this is the work of Ernest Lawrence, creator of the first attempted large-scale separation of uranium ore. Lawrence had his dreams set upon being appointed as the project director and Berkeley laboratories becoming the center of atomic and nuclear research. Thus, upon completion of his modified mass spectrometer, Lawrence instantly promoted his innovation and himself, spreading his findings. Although not directly cooperative, this breed of scientific greed led to much interaction between scientists. An even more prominent source of collaboration and communication was the overall work of the Los Alamos lab.

When General Groves repositioned the heart of the atomic research in the isolated New Mexico lab, brilliant minds from all reaches of the nation and refuges from diverse countries of Europe were brought together to bounce ideas off of one another and pick at the inner-thoughts of everyone present. Such a gathering of enlightened thinkers naturally led to heightened communication and productivity, unquestionably accelerating the research performed. While communication led to the overall scientific triumph of the Manhattan project, an intentional lack of communication between military and government superiors and the Los Alamos laboratory led to one of the most devastating moral disasters of the twentieth century. Aside from scientific curiosity, the main motivation of the Manhattan project scientists throughout the duration of the development of the atomic bomb was a fear of a nuclear-empowered Hitler. The scientists reasoned that if the United States was the first major power to wield atomic weapons, then peace could be brought to the world and Hitler�s reign stopped short of attacking Americans. On May 5, 1943, however, five members of the Military Police Committee, including director General Leslie Groves, met to discuss possible targets of the developing weapon. Germany was instantly ruled out for fear of the bomb malfunctioning and Hitler gaining control of the precious fissionable material.

Consequently, from May fifth until the end of World War II, Japan was the sole target of nuclear strike, a fact everyone was ignorant to.[17] Morality of the Manhattan Project The Manhattan project was undeniably a scientific success. Whether the United States was justified in its actions pertaining to the use of atomic warfare in World War II is still inconclusively debated to this day. The school of thought that scolds both the scientists and their superiors for irresponsible action cite all of the other possibilities that existed the summer of 1945 other than atomic weaponry. Those who morally support the decisions of President Truman justify the creation and use of the bomb as the least devastating of options available. In the end, it is impossible to determine who was right and what would have been best for humanity, let alone whether delaying the harnessing of nuclear fission would have accomplished anything. One can only study each presented case and speculate based on personal morals and conviction. Against the Use of Atomic Weaponry In early 1945, during the final stages of bomb development, political clouds covering the eyes of the project scientists began to clear as they realized that Japan was the prime target for nuclear bombardment.

Germany had already agreed to terms of unconditional surrender, and Japan was retreating from its Pacific empire. The question of who would win the war was no longer at stake, only how long the Japanese would hold out. On June 11, 1945, a document entitled �Report of the Committee on Political and Social Problems,� better known as the Franck Report, found its way to government hands.[18] In the report, various scientists of the Manhattan Project vehemently argued against the use of what they had worked so diligently to create. The scientists reasoned that although America was the atomic leader of the world at the time, their dominance was only assured for a few years, whereupon every major national power would house weapons of mass devastation. The committee argued that America�s large stock of poisonous gas could have been utilized at the beginning of America�s involvement to shorten the length of the war, yet it was not for ethical reasons, and that atomic weaponry should not be used for those same reasons. The report went on to offer alternatives to deploying atomic weapons, such as demonstrating the capability of an atomic bomb to world powers before using one, as well as waiting for the USSR to enter the war to aid in the invasion of Japan.

For the Use of Atomic Weaponry Several factors led to the final decision of employing the atomic bomb on Japan. It was feared that the USSR under Stalin would attempt to expand its communist power if the war was allowed to continue. The Japanese also denied demands for unconditional surrender on numerous occasions. Scientist James Byrnes logically deduced that, ��if the Japanese were told that the bomb would be used on a given locality, they might bring our boys who were prisoners of war to that area� If we were to warn the Japanese of the new highly destructive weapon in the hope of impressing them and if the bomb then failed to explode, certainly we would have given aid and comfort to the Japanese militarists.�[19] Whether it was morally right or not to drop two atomic bombs on Japan in the month of August, 1945, nuclear weaponry would still be in existence today. An arms race would always have ensued, no matter when the first bomb was developed. Such is the nature of humanity: continual curiosity and lack of responsibility. Thus, the Manhattan Project can be viewed as a success, with or without regard to ethics; a group set out with a mission, and in the end, everyone�s expectations were exceeded.

Fields of science and engineering, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials, civil, and mechanics were all advanced. The Manhattan Project was a positive incident in the history of humanity. Conclusion The Manhattan Project integrated all scientific and engineering fields and was responsible for truly beginning the �Atomic Age.� Throughout the three-year endeavor, invaluable discoveries were made concerning bomb dynamics and mechanics, materials and plastics, atomic particles, nuclear fission and the beginnings of fusion, uranium, plutonium, and the efficiency of collaboration among multiple scientists and field leaders. Although the goal of the program was not morally humane, the project certainly achieved and surpassed everyone�s ambitions. Whether the bombs� employment and the execution of hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives were necessary will never be known. But the research completed in the 1940�s on atomic energy continues to show significance and promise in today�s world and will persist to play an increasingly important role in America�s history � yet another reason why the Manhattan Project is the epitome of scientific engineering success. Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 461 Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp.

275 �60 Years Ago�, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 58, No. 6, May/June 2003, pp. 54 Bracchini, M. A., �The History and Ethics Behind the Manhattan Project�, April 30, 1997, ~uer/manhattan/project.html Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 942 Bracchini, M. A., �The History and Ethics Behind the Manhattan Project�, April 30, 1997, ~uer/manhattan/project.html Bracchini, M. A., �The History and Ethics Behind the Manhattan Project�, April 30, 1997, ~uer/manhattan/project. html Bracchini, M. A., �The History and Ethics Behind the Manhattan Project�, April 30, 1997, ~uer/manhattan/project.html Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 494 Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp.

492-494 Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 495 Bracchini, M. A., �The History and Ethics Behind the Manhattan Project�, April 30, 1997, ~uer/manhattan/project.html Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 355 Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 321 Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 462 Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 466-467 Makhijani, A, �Nuclear Targeting the First 60 Years�, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 59, No. 3, Nov/Dec 2002, pp. 60-66 Franck, J, �Report of the Committee on Political and Social Problems�, June 11, 1945, pp.

1 Rhodes, R, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986, pp. 461 The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project Sponsor The Manhattan Project In 1938, three chemists working in a laboratory in Berlin made a discovery that would alter the course of history: they split the uranium atom. The energy released when this splitting, or fission, occurs is tremendous--enough to power a bomb. But before such a weapon could be built, numerous technical problems had to be overcome. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Photo: FDR Library Archives When Einstein learned that the Germans might succeed in solving these problems, he wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt with his concerns. Einstein's 1939 letter helped initiate the U.S. effort to build an atomic bomb, but work proceeded slowly at first. Two other findings in 1940 and 1941 demonstrated conclusively that the bomb was feasible and made building the bomb a top priority for the United States: the determination of the "critical mass" of uranium needed and the confirmation that plutonium could undergo fission and be used in a bomb.

In December 1941, the government launched the Manhattan Project, the scientific and military undertaking to develop the bomb. A Letter to the President In August 1939, Einstein wrote to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to warn him that the Nazis were working on a new and powerful weapon: an atomic bomb. Fellow physicist Leo Szilard urged Einstein to send the letter and helped him draft it. Einstein: A Security Risk In July 1940, the U.S. Army Intelligence office denied Einstein the security clearance needed to work on the Manhattan Project. The hundreds of scientists on the project were forbidden from consulting with Einstein, because the left-leaning political activist was deemed a potential security risk. Photo: U.S. National Archives The Manhattan Project [ushistory.org] 51f. The Manhattan Project This once classified photograph features the first atomic bomb — a weapon that atomic scientists had nicknamed "Gadget." The nuclear age began on July 16, 1945, when it was detonated in the New Mexico desert. Early in 1939, the world's scientific community discovered that German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom.

Fears soon spread over the possibility of Nazi scientists utilizing that energy to produce a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction. Scientists Albert Einstein, who fled Nazi persecution, and Enrico Fermi, who escaped Fascist Italy, were now living in the United States. They agreed that the President must be informed of the dangers of atomic technology in the hands of the Axis powers. Fermi traveled to Washington in March to express his concerns on government officials. But few shared his uneasiness. Leaving nothing to chance, Los Alamos atomic scientists conducted a pre-test test in May 1945 to check the monitoring instruments. A 100-ton bomb was exploded some 800 yards from the Trinity site where Gadget would be detonated a few weeks later. Einstein penned a letter to President Roosevelt urging the development of an atomic research program later that year. Roosevelt saw neither the necessity nor the utility for such a project, but agreed to proceed slowly. In late 1941, the American effort to design and build an atomic bomb received its code name — the Manhattan Project. At first the research was based at only a few universities — Columbia University, the University of Chicago and the University of California at Berkeley.

A breakthrough occurred in December 1942 when Fermi led a group of physicists to produce the first controlled nuclear chain reaction under the grandstands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. Enrico Fermi, a physicist who left fascist Italy for America, encouraged the U.S. to begin atomic research. The result was the top-secret "Manhattan Project." After this milestone, funds were allocated more freely, and the project advanced at breakneck speed. Nuclear facilities were built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. The main assembly plant was built at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Robert Oppenheimer was put in charge of putting the pieces together at Los Alamos. After the final bill was tallied, nearly $2 billion had been spent on research and development of the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project employed over 120,000 Americans. Secrecy was paramount. Neither the Germans nor the Japanese could learn of the project. Roosevelt and Churchill also agreed that the Stalin would be kept in the dark. Consequently, there was no public awareness or debate.

Keeping 120,000 people quiet would be impossible; therefore only a small privileged cadre of inner scientists and officials knew about the atomic bomb's development. In fact, Vice-President Truman had never heard of the Manhattan Project until he became President Truman. Although the Axis powers remained unaware of the efforts at Los Alamos, American leaders later learned that a Soviet spy named Klaus Fuchs had penetrated the inner circle of scientists. This crater in the Nevada desert was created a 104 kiloton nuclear bomb buried 635 feet beneath the surface. It is the result of a 1962 test investigating whether nuclear weapons could be used to excavate canals and harbors. By the summer of 1945, Oppenheimer was ready to test the first bomb. On July 16, 1945, at Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, scientists of the Manhattan Project readied themselves to watch the detonation of the world's first atomic bomb. The device was affixed to a 100-foot tower and discharged just before dawn. No one was properly prepared for the result. A blinding flash visible for 200 miles lit up the morning sky.

A mushroom cloud reached 40,000 feet, blowing out windows of civilian homes up to 100 miles away. When the cloud returned to earth it created a half-mile wide crater metamorphosing sand into glass. A bogus cover-up story was quickly released, explaining that a huge ammunition dump had just exploded in the desert. Soon word reached President Truman in Potsdam, Germany that the project was successful. The world had entered the nuclear age. The Manhattan Project Blog The Manhattan Project World War II started on September 1 1939, when Germany attacked Poland. By 1941, the Germans were ahead in the race for the atomic bomb. They had a heavy-water plant, high-grade uranium compounds, capable scientists and engineers, and the greatest chemical engineering industry in the world. Even before its entry into the war, the United States had become very concerned with the nuclear threat of the Axis powers. On October 11, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein , which Einstein had actually written on August 2, 1939.

The letter told of a new field of physics that was showing that the element uranium could undergo nuclear fission, with the resultant release of a great deal of energy. Einstein described the probability that a sustained nuclear reaction could be produced and the possibility of the construction of extremely powerful bombs. He described the possibility that such bombs could be delivered by ship, although he was skeptical that such weapons could be delivered by air. He noted the likelihood that Germany would pursue the same line of research and that the Germans had already suspended the export of uranium from the Czech mines in their newly acquired territory. Roosevelt took the warning seriously, and within a month had organized a research committee. The United States introduced its own nuclear program under the Army Corps of Engineers in June 1942. The U.S. needed to build an atomic weapon before Germany or Japan did. On May 12, 1942, President Roosevelt signed an order creating a secret project to develop the nuclear weapon. The program that developed the atomic bomb for the United States during World War II was the largest secret project ever undertaken by the U.S. government. The project was originally named "Development of Substitute Materials," but there was concern that the name was too suggestive of its real purpose.

Since it was frequently the case the US Army Corps of Engineers offices were named for the city in which they were based, it was renamed Manhattan Engineering District, which became known as the Manhattan Project. The corresponding British project known as Tube Alloys was incorporated. Though it eventually included over 30 different research and production sites, the Manhattan Project was chiefly carried out in three secret scientific cities: Hanford , Washington, Oak Ridge , Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The first atomic bombs were designed and built at a site in Los Alamos, NM, which was in a remote location and had existing buildings from its days as a school. Known as "the hill," Los Alamos produced two bombs, one was a gun-type weapon and the second used implosion to detonate plutonium. The search for a suitable test site began in May 1944. The site needed to be relatively flat, isolated from populated areas, and close to Los Alamos. A section of land near Alamogordo, in south-central New Mexico was chosen and code-named Trinity. On July 16, 1945, the world entered the nuclear age with the detonation of the first atomic bomb.

The explosion created a crater which measured nearly 2,400 feet across and was equivalent to about 20,000 tons of TNT. The Manhattan Project produced three bombs: the first bomb was known as "Gadget" and was used as a test model. Due to the enormous expense and slow production rates for explosive material, no further tests were conducted. The second bomb, known as "Little Boy" was detonated over the city of Hiroshima, and the final bomb, "Fat Man" was detonated over the city of Nagasaki. Nuclear development continued throughout the war. The threat of a German atomic bomb never translated into reality and when the Nazis surrendered in May, 1945, neither side had produced a working atomic weapon. However, pressure to complete the weapon remained very great. An atomic bomb was considered a primary alternative to the dreaded land invasion of the Japanese mainland. Many scientists who had produced the atomic bombs were against its use and argued to the end that the bomb should not be used for ethical reasons. They also warned of an arms race that would develop at the end of the war. Many other scientists, however, felt that the U.S.

was not attacking Japan, but rather defending itself from a country who attacked the U.S. first. The two bombs were transported to the Pacific theater for use against Japan. Little Boy was carried by a B-29 bomber called Enola Gay and dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, resulting in the immediate or delayed deaths of 100,000 people. The government of Japan still refused to surrender and on August 9, Fat Man was released from another B-29 over Nagasaki. Faced with the prospect of continued annihilation of its cities, as well as not knowing that the U.S. had no other atomic bombs ready to deploy, Japan surrendered unconditionally on August 15, 1945. The history of the Manhattan Project remained classified for many years. In fact, it was so secret that Harry S. Truman , although vice president of the United States, was not made aware of its existence until after the death of Roosevelt in 1945. The Manhattan Project allowed the United States to unlock the mysteries of the atom, but it also introduced the most destructive creation of warfare known to mankind.

The project became a forerunner in nuclear development and control and signified the beginning of an era of nuclear weapons and scientific discovery. ---- Selected Quotes ---- How many people worked on the Manhattan Project? | Restricted Data How many people worked on the Manhattan Project? by Alex Wellerstein, published November 1st, 2013 Everyone knows the Manhattan Project was big. But how big was it? There are lots of ways to try and convey the bigness. The size of the buildings and sites , for example. Or the cost — $2 billion 1945 USD , which doesn’t sound that big, even when converted to modern numbers (e.g. around $30 billion 2012 USD, depending on the inflator you use), since we’re used to billions being tossed around like they are nothing these days. But consider that the USA spent about $300 billion on World War II as a whole — so that means that the atomic bombs made up for a little under 1% of the cost of the entire war.

Kind of impressive, but even then, it’s hard to wrap one’s head around something like “the cost of World War II.” General Groves speaks to a group of Oak Ridge service personnel in August 1945. From the DOE . There are lots of great Oak Ridge photos from the 1940s in this Flickr set . Another approach is to talk about how many people were involved. There are a number of various estimates floating around. Instead of focusing on those, I want to jump directly to the source: a once-secret postwar report on Manhattan Project personnel practices that includes some raw numbers on hiring. 1 This report has two very interesting graphs in it. The first is this one, showing total employment by month, broken into the various important Manhattan Project categories: Let’s just take a moment to marvel at this. They went from pretty much just talking about a bomb, in theory, on paper, in late 1942, and had a project with 125,310 active employees at its peak, 22 months later. That’s a huge ramp-up. I like this graph because it helps you see, very plainly, the progress of the project.

You can see that Oak Ridge (CEW) and Hanford (HEW) construction both got rolling pretty quickly but took about a year to hit their maximums, and that all construction peaked in early 1944. At which point, operations became the main issue — running the plants. It’s interesting to compare how many more people were required for Oak Ridge operations than Hanford operations, and that the “Santa Fe Operations” — Los Alamos, et al. — barely registers on the graph. A couple thousand people at most. You can also see how rapidly that curve starts to drop off in September 1945 — over 10,000 people left at the end of the war, a significant chunk of them being Oak Ridge operations personnel. There is then a long slumping decline until late 1946, when you start to get an up-tick. This maps on pretty well with what we know about the history of the Manhattan Project in the period before the Atomic Energy Commission took over: Groves’ hard-built empire decayed under the uncertainty of the postwar and the dithering of Congress.

This is where we get the number one usually sees cited for the Manhattan Project: 125,000 or so employees at its peak. Which is impressive… but also kind of misleading. Why? Because peak employment is not cumulative employment. That is, the number of people who work at any given company today are not the number of people who have worked there over the course of its lifetime. Obvious enough, but if one is wondering how many people did it take to make the atomic bomb, one wants to know the cumulative employment, not the number on hand at any one time, right? Digging around a bit more in the aforementioned personnel statistics of the Manhattan Project (a thrilling read, I assure you), I found this rather amazing graph of the total number of hires and terminations by the project: Now that number on the left, the total hires, is a pretty big one — over 600,000 total. Unlike the other graph, I don’t have the exact figure for this, but it looks to be around 610,000. That’s a huge number. Why would the numbers be at such odds?

Because at the big sites — Oak Ridge and Hanford — there was a pretty high rate of turnover, as the “terminations” bar indicates: over 560,000 people left their jobs on the Manhattan Project by December 1946. Some of this, of course, is because the job was done and they went home — once the construction was done, you didn’t need as many people working on construction anymore. But it’s also because even during the war, there was a considerable amount of people either quitting or getting fired. People left their jobs all the time, at all times during the war. As the report indicates, the reasons and rates varied by site. For construction at Hanford, they had an average monthly turnover rate of 20%, with a ratio of resignations to discharges set at 3 to 1.

Of those who resigned, 26% did so because of illness, 19% were to move to another location (which could be a lot of things), 13% cited poor working conditions, 13% said there was an illness in the family, 14% had got another job somewhere else, 7% cited the poor living conditions, 6% got drafted or otherwise joined the military, and 2% complained about wages. Of those who were discharged, about a quarter of the time it was because they were an “unsatisfactory worker,” and the rest of the time it was because of chronic absenteeism. For construction at Oak Ridge, the average turnover rate was 17%, with mostly the same reasons given, though the resignations to discharge ratio was 2 to 1. (More people, by percentage, complained about the living conditions at Oak Ridge than at Hanford.) For the operations at Oak Ridge, the turnover rate was 6.6%, with a resignations to discharge ration of 1.3 to 1 — of those who left, a little over 40% did so because they were fired.

A 1944 “Stay on the job” rally at J.A. Jones Construction Co. in Oak Ridge. The workers seem a little unimpressed. Source . Of course, these numbers run through the entire tenure of the Manhattan Engineer District. When most people want to know how many people it took to make the bomb, they want to know up until August 1945 or so. I don’t have exact numbers on this. However, if we take the data from the report and the graphs, and assume an average monthly turnover rate of about 17% for the entire project, we end up with about the right number total. 2 Subtracting all of the people added after August 1945, we get around 485,000 total people required to make the bombs during World War II. Given how much of that employment was front-loaded (again, with a peak in June 1944), I don’t think it’s too far off to assume that probably half a million people were employed to make the bomb.

Which, to put that in perspective, means that during World War II, approximately 0.4% of all Americans worked on the bomb project — about one out of every 250 people in the country at the time. Which is pretty impressive. By contrast, I’ve seen estimates that said that the Soviets used about 600,000 people total to make their atomic bomb. Which is not too different a number, actually — a bit less impressive than one might think if one is only comparing it to the peak of the Manhattan Project. The Soviets had around 170 million people at the time, so it works out to be a pretty similar percentage of the total population as the American project. Of course, one suspects that fewer of the Soviet workers were able to quit because they didn’t like the wage and working conditions. Though I’m sure they had their own form of grim “turnover.” Notes Manhattan District History, Book I – General, Volume 8 – Personnel (dated 19 February 1946 but with numbers that suggest later additions were made. [ ↩ ] If you want to play with the data yourself, I’ve uploaded it here as a CSV file.

Some of it is extrapolated from the top graph. [ ↩ ] The Manhattan Project | The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb | History of the Atomic Age | atomicarchive.com The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb Part IV: The Manhattan Engineer District in Operation The Manhattan Project In many ways the Manhattan Engineer District operated like any other large construction company. It purchased and prepared sites, let contracts, hired personnel and subcontractors, built and maintained housing and service facilities, placed orders for materials, developed administrative and accounting procedures, and established communications networks. By the end of the war Groves and his staff had spent approximately $2.2 billion on production facilities and towns built in the states of Tennessee, Washington, and New Mexico, as well as on research in university laboratories from Columbia to Berkeley. What made the Manhattan Project unlike other companies performing similar functions was that, because of the necessity of moving quickly, it invested hundreds of millions of dollars in unproven and hitherto unknown processes and did so entirely in secret. Speed and secrecy were the watchwords of the Manhattan Project. Secrecy proved to be a blessing in disguise.

Although it dictated remote site locations, required subterfuge in obtaining labor and supplies, and served as a constant irritant to the academic scientists on the project, it had one overwhelming advantage: Secrecy made it possible to make decisions with little regard for normal peacetime political considerations. Groves knew that as long as he had the backing of the White House money would be available and he could devote his considerable energies entirely to running the bomb project. Secrecy in the Manhattan Project was so complete that many people working for the organization did not know what they were, working on until they heard about the bombing of Hiroshima on the radio. The need for haste clarified priorities and shaped decision making. Unfinished research on three separate, unproven processes had to be used to freeze design plans for production facilities, even though it was recognized that later findings inevitably would dictate changes. The pilot plant stage was eliminated entirely, violating all manufacturing practices and leading to intermittent shutdowns and endless troubleshooting during trial runs in production facilities. The inherent problems of collapsing the stages between the laboratory and full production created an emotionally charged atmosphere with optimism and despair alternating with confusing frequency.

Despite Bush's assertion that a bomb could probably be produced by 1945, he and the other principals associated with the project recognized the magnitude of the task before them. For any large organization to take laboratory research into design, construction, operation, and product delivery in two-and-a-half years (from early 1943 to Hiroshima) would be a major industrial achievement. Whether the Manhattan Project would be able to produce bombs in time to affect the current conflict was an open question as 1943 began. (Obvious though it seems in retrospect, it must be remembered that no one at the time knew that the war would end in 1945 or who the remaining contestants would be if and when the atomic bomb was ready for use). Page 35 of 99 Truman is briefed on Manhattan Project - Apr 24, 1945 - HISTORY.com Truman is briefed on Manhattan Project Share this: Truman is briefed on Manhattan Project Author Truman is briefed on Manhattan Project URL Publisher A+E Networks President Harry Truman learns the full details of the Manhattan Project, in which scientists are attempting to create the first atomic bomb, on this day in 1945.

The information thrust upon Truman a momentous decision: whether or not to use the world’s first weapon of mass destruction. America’s secret development of the atomic bomb began in 1939 with then-President Franklin Roosevelt’s support. The project was so secret that FDR did not even inform his fourth-term vice president, Truman, that it existed. (In fact, when Truman’s 1943 senatorial investigations into war-production expenditures led him to ask questions about a suspicious plant in Minneapolis, which was secretly connected with the Manhattan Project, Truman received a stern phone call from FDR’s secretary of war, Harry Stimson, warning him not to inquire further.) When President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Truman was immediately sworn in and, soon after, was informed by Stimson of a new and terrible weapon being developed by physicists in New Mexico. In his diary that night, Truman noted that he had been informed that the U.S. was perfecting an explosive great enough to destroy the whole world. On April 24, Stimson and the army general in charge of the project, Leslie Groves, brought Truman a file full of reports and details on the Manhattan Project. They told Truman that although the U.S.

was the only country with the resources to develop the bomb–eliminating fears that Germany was close to developing the weapon–the Russians could possibly have atomic weapons within four years. They discussed if, and with which allies, they should share the information and how the new weapon would affect U.S. foreign-policy decisions. Truman authorized the continuation of the project and agreed to form an interim committee that would advise the president on using the weapon. Although the war in Europe ended in May 1945, Stimson advised Truman that the bomb might be useful in intimidating Soviet leader Joseph Stalin into curtailing post-war communist expansion into Eastern Europe. Truman agreed and said that if the weapon proved feasible I’ll certainly have a hammer on those [Russians]. Meanwhile the war with Japan dragged on and it looked to many as if the Japanese would never surrender. On July 16, the team of scientists at the Alamogordo, New Mexico, research station successfully exploded the first atomic bomb. Truman gave Stimson the handwritten order to release when ready but not sooner than August 2 on July 31, 1945.

The first bomb was exploded over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and a second was dropped on Nagasaki on August 8. The Japanese quickly surrendered. Although other nations have developed atomic weapons and nuclear technology since 1945, Truman remains the only world leader to have ever used an atomic bomb against an enemy. Related Videos Manhattan Project | Department of Energy New! K-25 Virtual Museum The Department of Energy traces its origins to World War II and the Manhattan Project effort to build the first atomic bomb. As the direct descendent of the Manhattan Engineer District, the organization set up by the Army Corps of Engineers to develop and build the bomb, the Department continues to own and manage the Federal properties at most of the major Manhattan Project sites, including Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. In a national survey at the turn of the millennium, both journalists and the public ranked the dropping of the atomic bomb and the end of the Second World War as the top news stories of the twentieth-century.

The Manhattan Project is the story of some of the most renowned scientists of the century combining with industry, the military, and tens of thousands of ordinary Americans working at sites across the country to translate original scientific discoveries into an entirely new kind of weapon. When the existence of this nationwide, secret project was revealed to the American people following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most were astounded to learn that such a far-flung, government-run, top-secret operation existed, with physical properties, payroll, and a labor force comparable to the automotive industry. At its peak, the project employed 130,000 workers and, by the end of the war, had spent $2.2 billion. The legacy of the Manhattan Project is immense. The advent of nuclear weapons not only helped bring an end to the Second World War but ushered in the atomic age and determined how the next war, the Cold War, would be fought. In addition, the Manhattan Project became the organizational model behind the remarkable achievements of American "big science" during the the second half of the twentieth century.

Without the Manhattan Project, the Department of Energy, with its national laboratories--the jewels in the crown of the nation's science establishment, would not exist as it does in its present form. The Department of Energy is proud of and feels a strong sense of responsibility for its Manhattan Project heritage. Following the end of the Cold War, the Department began a process to thoroughly document the project and preserve and interpret--in place, if possible, in a museum or other setting if necessary--the historically significant physical properties and artifacts from the Manhattan Project era. In the 1990s, the Department developed a list of eight Manhattan Project properties, designated as " Signature Facilities , that provided the essential core for successfully interpreting the Manhattan Project mission of developing an atomic bomb. In 2011, the Department joined with the Department of the Interior in recommending to Congress the establishment of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park , with three sites at Oak Ridge, Hanford, and Los Alamos. In December 2014, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015, which included provisions authorizing the Park to be located at the three sites.

President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law on December 19, 2014. On November 10, 2015, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz signed the Memorandum of Agreement between the two agencies defining the respective roles in creating and managing the park. The agreement included provisions for enhanced public access, management, interpretation, and historic preservation. With the signing, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park officially was established. The Department has developed and made available to the public, in print. online, and on display, a variety of Manhattan Project historical resources , including histories, websites, reports, and document collections. On July 16, 2013, the 68th anniversary of the Trinity test of the world's first nuclear weapon, the Department launched The Manhattan Project: Resources , a web-based, joint collaboration between the Department’s Office of Classification and Office of History and Heritage Resources. The site is designed to disseminate information and documentation on the Manhattan Project to a broad audience including scholars, students, and the general public.

The Manhattan Project: Resources consists of two parts: 1) a multi-page, easy to read and navigate "history" providing a comprehensive overview of the Manhattan Project, and 2) the full-text, declassified, 35-volume Manhattan District History commissioned by General Leslie Groves in late 1944. The new site brings together an enormous amount of material, much of it never before released. In conjunction with the opening of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, the Department on November 10, 2015, launched the K-25 Virtual Museum website. The site features a timeline chronicling the road to the atomic bomb via East Tennessee, a K-25 site tour where the visitor can "walk" through decades of skyline changes, a glimpse of daily life in the construction camp known as Happy Valley, and a preview at preservation efforts planned to commemorate the K-25 Manhattan Project site. Manhattan Project Learn about the history of the Manhattan Project on this interactive website featuring images, essays, and other resources.

Question: What did the Manhattan Project create?
Answer: Atomic Bomb