History of Nuclear Weapons

I've watched the film Oppenheimer twice now in the past week and am quite inspired by the historical content. The movie went on to win 7 Academy Awards, including for best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan), best lead actor (Cillian Murphy), and best supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr). The story gives us a biographical account of the brilliant physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, his Manhattan Project, and his legal trials concerning Communism. I won't get too much into a full review here but can say I really enjoyed the film. There's not too many movies that can dive deep into physics and scientific discoveries and somehow make it all rather exciting. I suppose however the visual effects of an atom bomb can always help draw in the masses.

What I especially enjoyed about Nolan's film was not so much the life of Oppenheimer, but rather this major discovery of nuclear fission that lead to the Manhattan Project. From then on the film moves quickly, bringing together the top scientists in the world (such as Albert Einstein) to help create this weapon. It came at such a crucial time in world history, during WWII, where whoever could create the weapon first would have the advantage. The United States feared that if they did not create the weapon, Nazi Germany would and could use it to devastating effect. So it became a race of scientific experimentation that had the potential to define the outcome of the war (and even human existence if it all went wrong). 

The Manhattan Project began the atomic race in 1942 and were finally able to create the first ever bomb with the Trinity Test in July of 1945. However at this point Nazi Germany had been defeated and Japan was barely hobbling on. Nonetheless the United States still wanted to display a show of power and decided to drop two bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (killing approx 200,000). This was more-so a demonstration directed at their new rival, the Soviet Union. Following the end of WWII, a new Cold War began between the US and the USSR, which brought on a continued race of nuclear weapon production. 

In this post I want to focus on the historical development of the nuclear weapon. To me there is just nothing quite as terrible as the devastating power of these bombs that can eliminate thousands of lives instantaneously. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in my opinion, were the most evil act of human history. I will try to dip into the science and the philosophy of the weapon, but this post will be more a historical and political evolution. What's most interesting to me is the global race that occurred after WWII, and the current arsenal as it stands today.

The Discovery of Nuclear Fission

The scientific breakthrough of nuclear fission occurred in 1938 in the University of Berlin, Germany. It was discovered after 40 years of radioactive experiments by a group of German chemists and physicists (Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassman, Lise Meitner, and Otto Robert Frisch). The process of nuclear fission splits atoms into two, which causes a chemical reaction of great energy. It was quickly realized that this process could create a new form of energy production and even powerful weapons. With the use of uranium, this chemical metallic element could be used as fuel to create a very powerful and deadly explosion. 

Since the discovery of nuclear fission originated in Germany, they got the head start on nuclear research. In April of 1939 the Nazi government established a research project known as Uranprojekt (Uranium Project) with a goal to utilize nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. This instantly brought on a wave of fear among other Jewish physicists, who felt the Nazis would destroy the world if they created atom bombs. 

Hungarian Physicists Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, and Eugene Wigner were able to recruit the support of the most famous physicist in the world (and fellow Jew) Albert Einsten to their cause. The Einsten-Szilard letter was written and delivered to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in August of 1939 warning that the Nazi's had the potential to create devastating new bombs by using this new process of nuclear reaction with uranium. In response to this letter FDR established an executive committee to research the use of Uranium which gave way to the Manhattan Project to be lead by JP Oppenheimer.     

The Manhattan Project

Prior to be chosen as the chief coordinator of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer had become a well respected innovator in the field of theoretical physics. He studied with some of the top physicists in Europe under Max Born at the prestigious University of Gottingen, Germany. From there he took on a teaching post at the University of Berkley, where he got involved in left-wing communist politics. But the theory on physics was always his passion and when the opportunity came to lead this experiment, he quickly set his controversial politics aside.  Oppenheimer was appointed by US General Leslie R. Groves to lead the research of uranium weapons. They began their research in Manhattan, NY but quickly decided to establish their laboratories in a remote location in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The Los Alamos Laboratory was established in January of 1943 and built as a remote village for scientists to live deep in the desert. While there were various other branches of nuclear research tied to the Manhattan Project, the main one was known as Project Y with a mission to build an atom bomb. The project brought on some of the leading European physicists in the world such as Leo Szilard, Hans Bethe, Ernest Lawrence, Glenn Seaborg, Edward Tellar. The Manhattan Project also partnered and eventually absorbed the UK's uranium project (Tube Alloys). The project was one of the most costly in American history, at around 26 billion dollars, across 30 sites, and employing nearly 130,000 people.

While the uranium was collected from Congo, these top scientists deliberated on the approach of the chemical reaction. The two main theories were shooting one atom into another, or causing an implosion of the atoms. There was also experiments on nuclear fusion that could create a hydrogen bomb 1000 times more powerful than the atom bomb. This concept was brought on by Edward Tellar which was quickly discouraged as far too dangerous to dabble with. Also during the experiment were espionage reports on the Nazi's nuclear progress. It was vital for the Manhattan Project to create the atom bomb before Germany did. However the project was also infiltrated by Soviet spies, who were also beginning their development of the bomb.

On July 16th, 1945 the Manhattan Project succeeded in creating the first ever atom bomb detonation known as the Trinity Test. The bomb produced 25 kilotons of TNT, and it's flash could be seen as far as 200 miles away. The success of this bomb was quickly relayed to President Harry S. Truman who was at the Potsdam Conference meeting with Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin. Truman knew he could use this new weapon as political leverage over it's new enemy, the Soviet Union. Shortly after this successful demonstration the military exported two atom bombs from the laboratory site, The Fat Man and the Little Boy.     

The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Following the downfall of Nazi Germany, only the Empire of Japan fought on as enemy to the Allied Powers. The Pacific War had waged on for over four years among the sea and the islands of Japan. Knowing the Japanese would not surrender, the Americans planned a full scale invasion of the mainland, known as Operation Downfall in summer of 1945. However the successful Manhattan Project changed Truman's strategy. He knew he could use this weapon as a means of shock-and-awe to force Japan to surrender, and save the lives of both American and Japanese soldiers from an mainland battle. Truman sent an ultimatum to Japan on July 26th to either surrender or face total destruction. The stubborn Japanese of course ignored the ultimatum.  

On August 6th of 1945 the American warplane, Enola Gay, dropped the first ever atom bomb on humans in Hiroshima killing over 70,000 instantly. The bomb had the force of 15 kilotons, and yet was still considered inefficient. While the target had been chosen due to it's military hub most of the causalities were civilians. The next day President Truman announced to the world that he had dropped a devastating atom bomb and would continue to do so until Japan surrendered. Japan still did not surrender and on August 9th, the US dropped it's second bomb over Japan in Nagasaki. The Fat Man bomb had more explosive power at 21 kilotons and killed over 60,000 instantly. The US had continued it's production of atomic bombs, and planned to drop more after this. However on August 15th, Japan finally surrendered thus ending WWII.

Nuclear Testing during the Cold War

After WWII several world organizations were established to help govern and maintain peace such as the United Nations and the Atomic Energy Commission. The UN quickly called for the complete elimination of atomic weapons but this was caught on death ears. The United States and the Soviet Union found themselves in a hostile race for supreme power. This brought about a new arms race unlike any before, with the main focus on the further development of the nuclear bomb. By 1946 the Manhattan Project was eventually absorbed into the US Atomic Energy Commission to continue it's nuclear testing. The first post-war American tests occurred in the newly acquired Marshall Islands, on the Bikini Atoll. This included the first ever underwater bomb, the iconic Baker bomb, which was tested with nearby warships. It remains to this day one of the most visually stunning bombs seen on video.

By 1949 the Soviet Union finally caught up to the United States and detonated it's first nuclear bomb named Fast Lightning at their Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan. This became the site of over 456 nuclear detonation tests for the Soviets. Meanwhile in 1951 the US military shifted their desert test site from Los Alamos to Nevada where they detonated 928 nuclear bombs. Many of the mushroom clouds could often be seen from the Las Vegas strip. Simultaneously they conducted tests at the Marshall Islands (105 total) and dropped the first ever hydrogen bomb named Ivy Mike in 1952 (it was 500 times more powerful then the Nagasaki bomb). A couple years later they dropped their most powerful bomb ever, known as the Castle Bravo that had 17 megatons of TNT. The fallout of this was devastating with radiation that affected much of the island locals. 

By the mid 1950s many prominent scientists such as Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell warned against the dangers of nuclear weapons. After the death of Stalin in 1953, President Eisenhower spoke against the arms race and pushed for the development of peaceful atomic energy. However the testing still continued and the Soviets established a new site at Novaya Zemlya in the far north of the Kara Sea where they oversaw 224 detonations. This included the detonation of the Tsar Bomba in 1961. It was the most powerful bomb in history with a yield of 50 megatons of TNT, and a blast (burn) radius of 60 miles. 

The nuclear war outbreak probably hit it's closest at the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. This was a 13-day hostile stand off brought on in response to America's failed "Bay of Pigs" invasion of Cuba. In response to this the Soviet Union brought warheads into Cuba which infuriated the United States. President Kennedy was finally able to cool the situation by promising they would not invade Cuba if  Nikita Krushchev withdrew their warheads. Kennedy also settled this nuclear tension in 1963 by signing a deal with Krushchev to ban nuclear tests in space and underwater. Furthermore the American Atomic Energy Commission came under fire and was eventually disbanded in 1975 and absorbed by the international Atomic Energy Agency.     

The Modern Nuclear Age

By the 1970s nuclear tests significantly slowed due to further international protests and policies against their use. However as the tension between the Soviet Union and the United States began to simmer other nations had also begun to develop nuclear warheads. This first included the UK, then China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel. In 1968 the Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed by world leaders as an effort to begin nuclear disarmament. This allowed only 5 nations that had already developed and tested the weapons to possess them; the United States, Russia, China, the UK, and France. However India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel still developed them nonetheless counter to international law.

In 1987 President Ronald Reagan furthered the disarmament of nuclear warheads by signing the Intermediate-range missile ban with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev to disallow long-range nuclear missiles. However this treaty was recently cancelled by President Trump in 2019 due to growing tensions with Russia and China. By 1990 the Cold War had finally come to an end, bringing in an end to the American-Soviet arms race. The nuclear testing and build-up has thus continued to diminish ever-since. In 2010 President Obama signed a significant treaty with Russian president Dimitri Medvedev to reduce half of their warhead stockpiles. 

Despite the past 30 years of cooling tension, it appears things are heating up once again with current events. Russian president Vladimir Putin has openly aligned himself against the western powers with his war in Ukraine (which began in 2022 and still goes on). Furthermore the nuclear powers of China and North Korea have supported Russia's cause. For the first time since the 1960s, nuclear weapons have returned to the forefront of fear mongering. Putin has openly declared that he would use his warheads if the west intervenes in their invasion of Ukraine. This is no doubt a rather alarming time, quite similar to the Cuban Missile Crisis. One can only hope not to experience the sudden cataclysmic abrupt ending brought on from a nuclear explosion. As was the sad case for the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.