Historical Development of Nuclear Weapons
Historical Development of Nuclear Weapons
Through the centuries, man has tried many attempts in inventing a mass killing mechanism. Alas, in 1945, such a mechanism was created. The atomic bomb was created after many years of the study of atoms. Finally, a way to split the atoms was born. Germany was the first to try, using uranium-235 to make a bomb. They discovered nuclear fission in late 1938. Efforts failed, but were picked up by the United States. Albert Einstein, although credited as the father of the atomic bomb, only lent support to begin American development(www.atomicarchive.com…). As it was to be, Robert Oppenheimer was the father of the atomic bomb. He directed the laboratory at Los Alamos, where the atomic bomb was designed and built. The whole development in the making of an atomic bomb was called the Manhattan Project.. The first bomb was tested on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. The end result was the dropping of two atomic bombs by the United States. on Hiroshima. People had different opinions on the bomb, but they may have come to one conclusion had they known about the history of the atomic bomb, how it was created, and the effects the bomb had in the economy.
Nuclear fission is the driving force behind the atomic bomb. Fission is a nuclear reaction where an atomic nucleus splits into fragments. Energy is expelled explosively and violently. One problem of splitting atoms is finding an element whose atoms are easily split. Uranium, a heavy metal, was found to be splitable because of its’ unusually large atoms, which made it hard for them to hold together firmly. There are two isotopes of Uranium, being U-235 and U-238. U238 has atoms that can be split, therefore it was deemed "fissionable"(micahlee.fsn.net…). The process of disintegrating is accelerated by a chain reaction. One split atoms explodes, causing a chain reaction as the force splits the other neutrons. When split, U235 gives off heat and Gamma radiation, which is the most lethal and powerful form of radioactivity. Plutonium can also be used in making atomic bombs. Because Plutonium is not found naturally, it must be made from Uranium. This is done by processing U-238 through a nuclear reactor.
Atomic energy was not thought be a feasible weapon until 1939. The Germans tried to use this energy, as did the United States and Russia. Americans spent billions of dollars an...