the atomic bomb by: luke, ben, alex, and brittany
TRANSCRIPT
The Atomic Bomb
By: Luke, Ben, Alex, and Brittany
The Manhattan Project
Overview Program to develop atomic weapons
Code Named: The Manhattan Project Began December 1941 & ended in 1946 Was discreet and kept extremely secret
Project Origins Letter written from Albert Einstein
inspired FDR to research the uses of uranium
Led to creation of “Uranium Committee” under National Research Defense Council
Later modified into Manhattan Project Approved by FDR with out direct
knowledge of Congress Funds came from secret Presidential
accounts
Goals and Tasks1) Research the nature and capabilities of atomic
energy
2) Use this energy to create first atomic bomb
Directors Army Corps of Engineers’
Manhattan District controlled bomb construction
Supervisor: General Leslie R. Groves
Head of Scientific Team: Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer
Workers and Expenses Cost $ 2.2 Billion Employed more than 600,000
people Involved US and foreign
scientists from universities & industrial sites Variety of scientists who worked
in different fields
Facilities Main Facility: Los Alamos,
New Mexico Other Sites: Oak Ridge,
Tennessee & Hanford, Washington
Research conducted in university laboratories Colombia and Berkley
Development Constructed nuclear
reactors to extract uranium from fossils and convert it into plutonium
Resulted in fission weapons that compress the plutonium so that a chain reactions occur and create explosive power
Results First atomic bomb created
Tested on July 16, 1945 at New Mexico facility
Produced the two bombs that were used against Japan “Little Boy” bomb dropped
on Hiroshima “Fatman” bomb dropped on
Nagasaki Became part of Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC) after World War II
Peace Before The Bomb In April 1945 a new Japanese cabinet formed
Prime Minister Baron Kantaro Suzuki Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo Army Minister Korechika Anami
New Cabinet decided to try and create a peace accord with the US
Japanese Peace Proposal Anami insisted that Japan make a plan that created
peace but did not say that Japan had been defeated This proposal would allow
Japan to keep possession of a fairly large empire Would allow for their army to withdraw from over sea
territories Retain some oversea territories Would have no Americans regulating what they did No war crimes would be punished
Why the US Said No Allowed Japan to keep their weapons and troops Did not want Japan to be like Germany after WWI Japan wanted to dodge their way out of defeat
Meaning that they just want to recover, rebuild and try again War Crimes
Japanese committed horrible crimes against the US and Korean prisoners Infecting them with diseases torture, starvation Overall most of the prisoner camps were just as bad if not worse as
the Holocaust camps in Germany
Wanted the people responsible to be held for trial
Pros To Using The Atomic Bomb•At this point in World War 2, mass killing had become almost acceptable due to the enormous amount of casualties
•It would strike fear in the Nazis and Soviet Union
•Assured complete surrender of the Japanese
•The Japanese had refused to surrender and instead wanted to reach a peace agreement in which the Japanese would be able to rebuild their army and maybe attack again later
•The U.S. thought that Japan deserved punishment for the acts that they committed toward other countries, for example the Rape of Nanking
Cons Could be seen as immoral It would kill thousands of innocent lives Some thought that Japan’s defeat was inevitable and
it could be found without the use of the atom bomb Using this weapon would remove Americans “clean
record” Other alternatives were not tried thoroughly before
the use of the atom bomb Although Japan would not accept defeat, they had
started trying to talk to U.S. officials about peace
VJ Day The formal surrender took place on August 15th,1945
in Tokyo Bay U.S. used island hopping in central and south west
pacific in 1944 to gain victory over Japan First stage taking back of Leyte in December of
1944 Next liberation of Luzon January 2nd-8th 1945 US
attacked Two battles were the final stages of liberation in the
Philippines, invasions in Iwo Jima and Okinawa Suffered severe casualties due to kamikaze attacks
Manila Battle for Manila began in early February ended on
March 4th Key strategic island for the rest of the invasions in
the future US took Manila Bay on April 17th US took Yamashita August 15th Total casualties US 33,000 Japan 190,000 and
10,000 captured
Iwo Jima February 18th land on shore to end of March 1945 Strategic land, for US bombers to resupply and to
make emergency landings 22,000 Japanese defended the island December 8th 1944 bombers started an on going
attack on Iwo Jima for 72 days 500 warships 75,000 Marines U.S. casualties 6,000 dead 17,000 wounded the
Japanese all dead except for 216 prisoners
Okinawa Japan 77,000 people US 1,200 warships 500,000 men Attacked in April Japan - Casualties 127,000 dead including civilians
400 warships sunk U.S. - 7,400 dead 32,000 wounded The battle was so fatal it is sometimes referred to as
the “Typhoon of Steel”
Atomic Bomb First atomic bomb named little boy, destroyed 4.5 miles, 66%
of building in a 9.5 mile radius were destroyed Dropped on august 6th Target Hiroshima 71,000 died 68,000 injured Second bomb Fat man Dropped on august 9th Target Nagasaki Killed 40,000 Injured 25,000
An Atomic Bomb Test YouTube - Atomic Bomb Explosion
North Korea and Weapons of Mass Destruction In 2003 North Korea withdrew
from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty due to their intentions try and create nuclear weapons
This treaty was a pact among most countries that said that no making or research of nuclear weapons would be attempted
North Korea’s Current Status In April of 2009 North
Korea was announced as a fully fledged nuclear power due their first successful test
Since April they have now made a total of six to eight nuclear weapons
Conflict Critics of the US government think
that the US is being hypocritical due to the fact that the US has many more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world
These people say that North Korea should not be criticized so heavily for trying to widen their defense
Possible Consequences The US Government
thinks that North Korea becoming a nuclear power threatens the peace of the world
They also think that if their leader Kim-Jong Il is not dealt with correctly then this threat could lead to nuclear war