Essay on Why Did Oppenheimer Create the Atomic Bomb

Development of Nuclear Weapons in 1935-1955

Before the United States and Soviet were testing nuclear weapons and were in a competition to develop nuclear weapons, there was a discovery in Berlin, Germany. Physicist Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann discovered nuclear fission. Nuclear fission was key because this was how powerful nuclear weapons could be made. Danger of nuclear weapons were radiation, cancer, and permanent damage to the body physically. This showed that Germany was ahead of other countries and other scientists. The United States became aware of being able to produce nuclear weapons when Albert Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt,

'that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated' This would then lead to the race of creating massive bombs and destructive weapons. The race to create nuclear weapons was because of fear, the fear of other countries creating such weapons before anyone else is frightening.     

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Before the Arms race begun there were some key scientists that started to do research in Germany. Let me introduce a few scientists who led an experiment that would change the world forever such as, Otto Hahn a German chemist whose fields of study was radiochemistry and radioactivity. Then we have Lise Meitner an Austrian-Swedish physicist who studied radioactivity and nuclear physics and lastly, Fritz Strassmann a German chemist who studied chemistry. In 1938 an experiment had occurred by these scientists and had access to technology and equipment that was advanced than any other. The discovery of nuclear fission which is the process of when an atom splits into lighter atoms, releasing considerable energy. This experiment was quite huge because it was spread through here different rooms. An irradiation room, chemistry laboratory, and a measuring room. They had to measure radioactivity and used a uranium sample. Uranium sample was irradiated by a neutron source and when the neutrons would bombard the uranium, nuclear fission would then occur

To continue with, in order to measure radioactivity, they had to use a home-made device counter that would trace the decay of small amounts of radioactive materials created. During this process different elements would decay at different rates and times. They would plot their findings on a curve in a graph and it would help determine the elements that were produced by nuclear fission. This experiment was led by a few curious and determined scientists. After this ongoing experiment, due to Meitner’s Jewish ancestry it wasn’t safe for her to stay in Germany and led for her to flee and go to Sweden. The trio continued to communicate and keep Meitner updated with the experiment, after further testing they found that the uranium atom had split into smaller parts which explained the release of more neutrons. They then named this process nuclear fission. While this discovery was miraculous the trio made a statement that they were against using this for nuclear weapons.

Why was this discovery important? This discovery led to other countries believeing that with the discovery of nuclear fission Hitler would use that to create nuclear bombs. This made other countries fearful that he could use nuclear fission as a way to create bombs, which eventually lead to other countries to do their own research and create nuclear weapons. Which lead to the Arms race, a competition between countries for who could be the superiority in nuclear weapons.

The first country to take part in the Arms race was the United States. Key people that made tremendous impacts that lead to start were Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Truman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Albert Einstein. Little notes about these people is that F.D.R. was the 32nd president of the United States and authorized the Manhattan project, Mr. Truman took over as president when FDR passed away and authorized the use of the atomic bomb. Mr. Oppenheimer director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in Mexico (Location where Manhattan Project took place) and responsible for research and design of Atomic Bomb. Lastly, Mr. Einstein who influenced the beginning of the Manhattan Project.

Now that I have introduced some key people, how did the United States become aware of Germany discovering nuclear fission? While doing research I discovered the written letter that Albert Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt. In the letter it includes that Einstein became aware by others that uranium was going to be used in the future and as a source of energy. He writes in the letter the following, “that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium.” Einstein goes on to talk about how this phenomenon can be utilized in construction of bombs and that such bombs created would cause massive destruction. He encourages F.D.R. to speed up his process in his experimental work and if a budget is an issue try to supply additional funds.

Furthermore, President Roosevelt took matters into his hand and authorizes the Manhattan project which was the research and development of creating the first nuclear weapons. Started in August 1942 and directed by J. Robert Oppenheimer, their main goal was to use uranium and plutonium in their bombs. Their first major funding was by F.D.R. who asked for initial total of $500 million and the primary research and development location was in Los Alamos, New Mexico although having numerous other research centers throughout the country. A few other key locations that were very important was Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Dayton, Ohio. Oak ridge was the home to uranium enrichment plants and pilot plutonium production reactor. Whereas, Dayton Ohio was given the task to separate and purify polonium radioactive element which would be used for as an initiator for the atomic bombs. 

Two other key people not mentioned where Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard, Fermi an Italian and American physicists famously known as the “architect of the atomic bomb” and Szilard a Hungarian-American physicists who conceived the idea of nuclear chain reactor. These two guys were important because they worked on uranium enrichment and nuclear chain reactors. There purpose of doing this was to create uranium-235 which would be used for producing nuclear weapons. Towards the end of their research they had two nuclear materials uranium and plutonium which meant they had two bombs “The Fat Man” and “Little Boy”. Little boy design was a six-foot cannon with a ring of Uranium-235 fitted around the muzzle and a second piece fired up the barrel. Although this method seemed inefficient scientists had claimed that it was reliable, so they didn’t need to test it. By 1945 the Manhattan project concluded with a success of testing the Trinity Bomb. In Los Alomas, New Mexico the first bomb was tested in which scientists set off a plutonium bomb. The bomb was set on top of a steel tower and was set off, the explosion left a sudden heat wave and a blasting sound throughout the valley. The explosion was so huge that it set off a mushroom cloud (see Fig. 1) that rose eight miles high and left a hole ten feet deep and a thousand feet wide. This was just the beginning of the atomic bombs.

So why was it such an eyeopener after the United States successfully tested their bombs? After the U.S. were successful in creating their bombs this led to other countries becoming “nervous” because with massive weapons of destruction you never know when such a bomb could be deployed. This made other countries worried and get moving on their own production of nuclear weapons. In the book by Mrs. Kelly there was an interesting quote that pertains to creating these weapons. It says “not because anyone thought the atomic bomb would win the war, but because its sole possession by an enemy might turn allied victory abruptly into defeat”. This quote stuck to me because the atomic bomb is so powerful that a victory for someone could change so quickly by how much damage an atomic bomb would cause. This led to encourage other countries to participate in the Arms race and create their own nuclear weapons for precautions.

When learning about the discovery of nuclear fission Soviet Union had also taken a part in creating their own nuclear weapons. Their main reason to start their own research was solely based on the discovery made Hahn and Strassman in Berlin. The research that Soviet Union did compared to the U.S. was very different to U.S.S.R. there wasn’t that many scientists involved. There were only about 20 or so physicists and a small quantity of staff members. After learning about the Trinity Test Stalin began to speed up his development of nuclear weapons. After the Trinity Test President Truman had told Stalin about it and said specifically, “I casually mentioned to Stalin that we had a new weapon of unusual destructive force. The Russian Premier showed no special interest. All he said was he was glad to hear it and hoped we would make good use of it against the Japanese.' Although Stalin didn’t seem at all interest by Truman’s “warnings” he secretly told his team to try and speed up the process.

The main man that was the head of Soviets atomic project was Igor Kurchatov a nuclear physicist and nicknamed the “Father of the Soviet Bomb”. When Stalin learned that the U.S. dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he issued a program to accelerate the development of their nuclear weapons. The program that Stalin intensive had issued was that intensive that it was comparable to that of the Manhattan Project. Mr. Kurchatov’s role had just gotten bigger. Kurchatov was tasked with atomic research, development, design and location for bomb testing. While research continued for the U.S.S.R., Klaus Fuchs began to have an important role in production. Mr. Fuch’s was a German theoretical physicist and spy who had previously worked in Los Alomas famously know for the Trinity test location. It was said that he sent scientific process related to the construction of the A-Bomb, sent from United States to Moscow. He had also passed on information relating to the hydrogen bomb to the Soviet Union. Many reports were told that due to this information being leaked the timeline of Soviet Union’s bomb had finish about a year early than initially planned.

In December 1946, Soviets had successfully created their first chain reactor, but they ran into some issues relating to production of plutonium and separation of isotopes. This delayed the process for about two years and then in 1948 their first reactor had finally become adequate. A year later Soviet Union’s first bomb was ready to be tested called “First Lightening” this bomb has a close resemblance to the “Fat Man” due to Soviet espionage obtaining information of U.S. nuclear bomb. The bomb was so massive that when tested the fallout from the test had drifted towards the Northeast and traces of it were discovered by the United States that were later confirmed by Soviet Union.

So, what was Soviet Union main reason to join the Arms Race? Soviet’s primary lead to creating nuclear weapons was because of the discovery in Germany. The decision to create a nuclear bomb was primarily a political decision. In addition, it was a response to United States successfully creating nuclear bombs. Lastly because Stalin wanted to break the American atomic monopoly as quickly as possible.

Bibliography

Primary:

1. Einstein, Albert. “File:Einstein-Roosevelt-Letter.png.” Category:Heidentor (Carnuntum) - Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2007, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2679498#file.
2. Holloway, David. 'Entering the Nuclear Arms Race: The Soviet Decision to Build the Atomic Bomb, 1939-45.' Social Studies of Science 11, no. 2 (1981): 159-97. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/stable/284865.
3. Kelly, Cynthia C. Remembering the Manhattan Project : Perspectives on the Making of the Atomic Bomb and Its Legacy. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, 2004. Accessed February 24, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central.
4. Odom, William E. 'The Soviet Approach to Nuclear Weapons: A Historical Review.' The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 469 (1983): 117-35. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/stable/1044540.

Secondary:

1. “Home.” Famous Scientists, www.famousscientists.org/otto-hahn/.
2. Klaus Fuchs.' Atomic Heritage Foundation. December 29, 1911. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/klaus-fuchs.
3. “Leo Szilard.” Atomic Heritage Foundation, 11 Feb. 1898, www.atomicheritage.org/profile/leo-szilard.
4. 'Little Boy and Fat Man.' Atomic Heritage Foundation. July 23, 2014. Accessed February 25, 2019. https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/little-boy-and-fat-man.
5. Madsen, Michael. 'Pioneering Nuclear Science: The Discovery of Nuclear Fission.' IAEA. December 19, 2013. Accessed February 16, 2019. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/pioneering-nuclear-science-discovery-nuclear-fission.
6. ''RDS-1' Test on 29 August 1949, Semipalatinsk:The Soviet Unions' First Nuclear Test.' 1 March 1954 - Castle Bravo: CTBTO Preparatory Commission. Accessed March 11, 2019. https://www.ctbto.org/specials/testing-times/29-august-1949-first-soviet-nuclear-test.
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