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"December 7th, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) From this date, the United States declared war on Germany, Japan, and Italy. For fear that the Germans may develop an atomic bomb before the Allies, the Manhattan Project was organized by the United States.
 * Atomic Bomb**

Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was a physics professor at Berkley led the research teams.

Enrico Fermi's research team worked at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago to create the "critical configuration" of uranium oxide, uranium metal, and graphite for the project.

Emilio Segre monitored the spontaneous fission rate of plutonium.

On September 18, 1942 Colonel Leslie Richard Groves purchased 1250 tons of high quality Belgian Congo uranium ore, and on Sept. 19, purchased 52000 acres of land to become the site of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Groves managed the Manhattan Project (to create the atomic bomb)

Col. Groves.......................Dr. Oppenheimer

[|nuclearweaponsarchive.org]

An atomic bomb (fission bomb) has plutonium or uranium surrounded by conventional explosives. Upon detonation, the conventional explosives release their energy inwards, crushing the plutonium o uranium. This increases the likelihood that a stray neutron will strike a nucleus and cause a chain reaction. When the "fissile material" (uranium or plutonium) reaches a critical point, where a runaway chain reaction is able to be undergone, neutrons are fired into the material by a "neutron gun." The added neutrons increase the reaction. Eventually the energy becomes so great that the bomb casing cannot contain it, and it explodes. Fall-out and radioactivity are released into the atmosphere, along with an immense shock wave.

[|thinkquest.org]

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The ability to make a nuclear reaction didn't exist until 1932 when the modern view of the atom was created. The first person to ever split an atom was Ernest Rutherford in 1919 when he used alpha particles to smash into nitrogen which made a radioactive source. He and the other scientists of the day couldn't, however, find a way to release the energy stored inside of the reaction faster than nature wanted it to go. It took until the 1930's when Sir John Cockfort and Ernest Walton split an atom to cause a nuclear reaction in 1932. Then in 1934 Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie found that radioactivity could be found in stable elements by smashing them with alpha particles. In the same year Enrico Fermi found the same results but didn't spread his findings because he didn't realise the importance. After these key findings Robert Oppenheimer was asked to look into the plutonium and nuclear reactors and fast neutron calculations. In the summer of 1942 he held a conference in which he gave a theoretical design for the atomic bomb. Then a team of scientists was sent to try and build an atomic bomb led by Enrico Fermi. On December 2, 1942 the team made the first artificial self sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

The first nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. This bomb was a uranium bomb that was made from a rare isotope called uranium-235. It was seperated by Franz Simon and Nicholas Kurti who used a gaseous diffusion with uranium hexafluoride as the gas.

The importance of the nuclear technology is huge. Politically nuclear weapons are a sign of power. If you want to be a country of major power who is taken seriously you would need a nuclear bomb. They have the ability to start (the Cold War) and end wars (WWII). With more relevance to today, nuclear technology is used to power houses and cities. The same reaction that was discovered by the Manhattan Project is used and the energy can be harnessed and distributed out as power. This is very important in our society to day with the raising gas prices and the increasing amount of demand for energy.