During World War Two, Harry S. Truman (current president at the time) decided that in order to avoid American casualties by trying to invade Japan, They would need a weapon they could use to destroy Japan and end World War Two. Knowing this they developed the atomic bomb, a weapon that would release nuclear energy that would cause major damage and force Japan to surrender. The president was informed by Albert Einstein that Germany was developing nuclear weapons in a letter known as the Einstein–Szilárd letter this letter was written by Leó Szilárd and signed by Albert Einstein this letter warned Truman of possible german atomic bomb research. From there the U.S developed the Manhattan project. The Manhattan Project was a group of scientists who developed and constructed Americas atomic bombs that led to the destruction of Japan. On August 6, 1945, The first bomb, Little Boy was released on Hiroshima Japan and wiped out approximately 135,000 people. The rest died from the side effects of the atomic energy. On August 9, 1945 the second bomb was dropped, Fat Man. It was released on Nagasaki , Japan and killed an estimated amount of 70,000 people. These bomb cost the U.S nearly two billion dollars and ended world war two. The scientific triumphs were not worth the tragedies of the atomic bomb because even though the triumphs led to more medical knowledge and world war two coming to an end, Japan was destroyed with hundreds of thousands of people dead or severely injured and it cost the U.S. a significant amount of money.
The United States spent around two billion dollars on creating the atomic bomb. This included the research, production, maintenance and delivery system. CNBC says “To determine the cost of one nuclear weapon, you have to account for the costs of their production, delivery systems and maintenance.” In Who Were the Manhattan Project Scientists? By Norwich University shows it was not just one person’s research that went into the design but the work of several hundred scientists who collaborated to design the first atomic bomb. For delivery, they couldn’t use just any airplane. Instead, they had to specifically modify the B-29 bomber Enola Gay so it was strong enough and large enough to support the bomb. All of these things combined cost the United States a significant amount of money.
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Overall reported deaths from the bombings were around 140,000 by the end of 1945. Some of the deaths included doctors and nurses of the 42 hospitals that were destroyed. This severely impaired Japan’s ability to care for the injured. Some of the injured were so severely disfigured that families had trouble identifying their loved ones. In Nagasaki, 39.2% of the buildings and houses were destroyed by the bomb. In Hiroshima it was even higher at 67 percent. In the article The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki it says, “In Hiroshima over 60,000 of 90,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged by the atomic bomb; this figure represents over 67% of the city's structures.” This shows how much damage was caused by the atomic bombs.
In addition to the immediate impacts of the bomb, there were also long term impacts and effects of the bombs on Japan. Leukemia, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and lung cancer rates rose higher than in areas not affected by the bomb. It says in icanw.org, “Women exposed to the bombings while they were pregnant experienced higher rates of miscarriage and deaths among their infants... intellectual disabilities and impaired growth, as well as increased risk of developing cancer. ” Because of the atomic bomb more children died, had more disabilities than others and a higher chance or cancer. In the article Psychological Fallout of Atomic Bomb in Nagasaki Dana Yeo it reads, “survivors exposed to acute levels of radiation were twice as likely to exhibit anxiety and somatization symptoms.” People affected by the bomb mad more of a chance to have anxiety and symptoms of somatization, which is the reproduction of multiple medical systems with no organic cause.
Today, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki the radiation level is low like it is anywhere else in the world and does not affect humans. Hiroshima and Nagasaki have also been completely reconstructed and look as if they were never bombed in the first place. Though the structural part of those cities were rebuilt, the emotional and mental state of survivors are still impacted today with psychological disturbance. Some people may say that the triumphs of the atomic bomb were worth the tragedy because of the information discovered from the research conducted to construct the bomb and putting an end to world war two. They are wrong because of the atomic bomb, Japan was destroyed with hundreds of thousands of people dead or severely injured and it costed the U.S. a significant amount of money The tragedies of the atomic bomb including Hiroshima and Nagasaki japan being destroyed, many casualties or mental and physical injuries and the significant loss of money.
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