The Manhattan Project

by Cynthia C. Kelly

  The U.S. and Russia should work toward a mutual vision for a more stable security architecture in the next five to 10 years, and identify the tools and policy initiatives necessary to get there. Our nations have a shared responsibility to communicate about crisis management, including between our armed forces, and to maintain our agreements on arms control and transparency. Where treaties are not likely or feasible, understandings and red lines are imperative.

  The U.S. and Russia, joined by other nuclear states, must decisively confront the problems that threaten global security. It is essential that we re-engage with Russia in areas of common fundamental interest to both nations, including reducing reliance on nuclear weapons, keeping them out of unstable hands, preventing their use and ultimately ending them as a threat to the world.

  The Madness of Nuclear Deterrence

  From the Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2019

  BY MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

  “Deterrence cannot protect the world from a nuclear blunder or nuclear terrorism,” George Shultz, William Perry and Sam Nunn recently wrote. “Both become more likely when there is no sustained, meaningful dialogue between Washington and Moscow.” I agree with them about the urgent need for strategic engagement between the U.S. and Russia. I am also convinced that nuclear deterrence, instead of protecting the world, is keeping it in constant jeopardy.

  I recall my heated discussions of this issue with Margaret Thatcher. We argued about many things and often found common ground, but on this question she fought to the last. Nuclear weapons, she insisted, prevented World War III.

  I asked her: “Are you really comfortable sitting on a nuclear powder keg?” I showed her a diagram representing the world’s nuclear arsenals, grouped into hundreds of squares. Each square, I told her, is enough to eliminate human civilization as we know it. I was unable to persuade Margaret Thatcher. We hear the same arguments today, including in the U.S. and Russia.

  Yet nuclear weapons are like a rifle hanging on the wall in a play written and staged by a person unknown. We do not know the playwright’s intent. Nuclear weapons could go off because of a technical failure, human error or computer error. The last alarms me the most. Computer systems are now used everywhere. And how many times have computers and electronics failed—in aviation, in industry, in various control systems?

  Nuclear weapons might also be launched in response to a false alarm. If the flight time of the missiles is reduced, leaving less time to detect a false alarm, the probability of a mistaken retaliatory launch is bound to rise.

  Nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. And who knows what other “surprises” these weapons have in store for us?

  Those who believe nuclear weapons can save the world from war should recall the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. A dispute over the placement of Soviet nuclear weapons put the world on the brink of war. Recently published documents show how close the world came to the fateful line. It was not nuclear weapons that saved the world, but the sobering up of the two countries’ leaders, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev. I am sure they thought long and hard, then and afterward, and their perception of nuclear weapons changed a great deal.

  What’s more, they reached agreement on ending nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, thus slowing the qualitative weapons race as well as protecting the air from the deadly products of nuclear explosions.

  The opportunity to continue progress in nuclear arms control was then squandered. The military-industrial complex won out over common sense. Only much later, toward the end of the 1980s, were we able to stop the arms race. Today, the U.S. and Russia are at a perilous crossroads. They must stop and think. The veterans of the Cold War have spoken. It is now up to our nations’ leaders to act.

  The End of Nuclear Weapons or the End of Us

  On December 10, 2017, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). The nonprofit represents 468 organizations worldwide who worked toward the passage of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons signed by 122 nations in the United Nations. The following excerpts are from the acceptance speech delivered by ICAN executive director Beatrice Fihn and Setsuko Thurlow, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

  From the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, Oslo, Norway

  BY BEATRICE FIHN AND SETSUKO THURLOW

  Beatrice Fihn:

  We have avoided nuclear war not through prudent leadership but good fortune. Sooner or later, if we fail to act, our luck will run out. A moment of panic or carelessness, a misconstrued comment or bruised ego, could easily lead us unavoidably to the destruction of entire cities. A calculated military escalation could lead to the indiscriminate mass murder of civilians.

  The story of nuclear weapons will have an ending, and it is up to us what that ending will be. Will it be the end of nuclear weapons, or will it be the end of us? One of these things will happen. The only rational course of action is to cease living under the conditions where our mutual destruction is only one impulsive tantrum away.…

  The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons provides the pathway forward at a moment of great global crisis. It is a light in a dark time. And more than that, it provides a choice. A choice between the two endings: the end of nuclear weapons or the end of us.

  It is not naive to believe in the first choice. It is not irrational to think nuclear states can disarm. It is not idealistic to believe in life over fear and destruction; it is a necessity.

  All of us face that choice. And I call on every nation to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The United States, choose freedom over fear. Russia, choose disarmament over destruction. Britain, choose the rule of law over oppression. France, choose human rights over terror. China, choose reason over irrationality. India, choose sense over senselessness. Pakistan, choose logic over Armageddon. Israel, choose common sense over obliteration. North Korea, choose wisdom over ruin.

  To the nations who believe they are sheltered under the umbrella of nuclear weapons, will you be complicit in your own destruction and the destruction of others in your name? To all nations: choose the end of nuclear weapons over the end of us! This is the choice that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons represents. Join this Treaty!

  Setsuko Thurlow:

  Today, I want you to feel in this hall the presence of all those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I want you to feel, above and around us, a great cloud of a quarter million souls. Each person had a name. Each person was loved by someone. Let us ensure that their deaths were not in vain.

  I was just 13 years old when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, on my city Hiroshima. I still vividly remember that morning. At 8:15, I saw a blinding bluish-white flash from the window. I remember having the sensation of floating in the air.

  As I regained consciousness in the silence and darkness, I found myself pinned by the collapsed building. I began to hear my classmates’ faint cries: “Mother, help me. God, help me.”

  Then, suddenly, I felt hands touching my left shoulder, and heard a man saying: “Don’t give up! Keep pushing! I am trying to free you. See the light coming through that opening? Crawl towards it as quickly as you can.” As I crawled out, the ruins were on fire. Most of my classmates in that building were burned to death alive. I saw all around me utter, unimaginable devastation.…

  Tonight, as we march through the streets of Oslo with torches aflame, let us follow each other out of the dark night of nuclear terror. No matter what obstacles we face, we will keep moving and keep pushing and keep sharing this light with others. This is our passion and commitment for our one precious world to survive.

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to all the Manhattan Project veterans and their family members, distinguished historians, novelists, artists and others whose diverse perspectives enrich and enliven this book. This project reflects the expertise of five award-winning Manhattan Project authors who served as o
ur advisory team and were indispensable to the effort.

  In addition to providing valuable advice, Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, wrote a masterful introduction. Robert S. Norris, author of Racing for the Bomb, retrieved numerous documents from his personal archives and created guides to the Manhattan Project sites in New York City and Washington DC. William Lanouette, author of Genius in the Shadows, shaped the sections on the moral and ethical dilemmas associated with the use of the bomb. Kai Bird made many excellent suggestions stemming from his work on American Prometheus and Hiroshima’s Shadow. Andrew Brown, author of The Neutron and the Bomb, ensured that the British and their contributions are well represented.

  This volume came into being because of the personal interest of J. P. Leventhal, president of Black Dog & Leventhal. Joseph Kanon suggested that Black Dog contact the Atomic Heritage Foundation and Laura Ross expertly guided its development. It was a great opportunity and pleasure to work with Black Dog on this publication.

  Kathryn McPike and Jennifer Rea, Princeton Fellows, were responsible for translating the suggestions of the advisors into black-and-white content and did so with intelligence and professionalism. Colin Clay, Tim Malacarne, and Theresa Schlafly ably managed the Atomic Heritage Foundation’s many other projects. Also, we are grateful to Latham & Watkins for use of its high-tech conference space and thank Dorrie Nero for taking care of the logistics for the advisory team’s meetings.

  My personal interest in the Manhattan Project stems from working with the Department of Energy (DOE) in the 1990s when the mandate for environmental cleanup threatened to demolish almost all of the remaining Manhattan Project properties. Thanks to those who have been important allies for preservation at DOE including Gerald Boyd, Colleen French, Skip Gosling, Gary Hartman, John Isaacson, Keith Klein, Ellen Livingston-Behan, Steve McCracken, Ellen McGehee, Roger Meade, John Rhoades, Bill Richardson, Mike Telson and John Wagoner. The Advisory Council for Historic Preservation’s Chairman John Nau, John Fowler and Tom McCullough have been important advocates for preserving the Manhattan Project properties.

  The leadership and support of the Congressional delegations from New Mexico, Tennessee and Washington and their staff have been vitally important. In New Mexico, the Cultural Affairs Office, New Mexico Heritage and Preservation Alliance, Los Alamos County and the Los Alamos Historical Society have each played important roles. Special thanks to Nancy Bartlit, Nona Bowman, Fran Berting, Larry Campbell, George Cowan, Hedy Dunn, Bill Enloe, Dennis Erickson, Kevin Holsapple, Heather McClenahan, Louis Rosen, Kathryn Slick and Jeannette Wallace for their many contributions.

  For preserving Oak Ridge’s Manhattan Project heritage, thanks to the American Museum of Science and Energy, City of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Heritage & Preservation Association, Partnership for K-25 Preservation and the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge. Special thanks to Darrell Akins, Margaret Allard, David Bradshaw, Katy Brown, George Dials, the late Joseph Dykstra, Gordon Fee, Amy Fitzgerald, Susan Gawarecki, Steve Goodpasture, Johnny Gruber, Howard Harvey, Kem Hinton, Dennis Hill, Wayne Hope, Rick Howard, Mike Hughes, Ted Lollis, Martin McBride, Keith McDaniel, Patrick McMillan, David Miller, George Piper, Bob Seigler, D. Ray Smith, Lloyd Stokes, Steve Stowe, Mick Weist, and Bill Wilcox for their active support for heritage preservation in Oak Ridge.

  The B Reactor Museum Association, City of Richland, Columbia River Exhibition on History, Science and Technology, Hanford Communities, Hanford Reach Museum, Tri-Cities Visitors and Convention Bureau, and TRIDEC are all important players in preserving Hanford’s history. Tana Bader-Inglima, Del Ballard, Madeline Brown, Pam Brown-Larsen, Steve Buckingham, Dru Butler, Connie Estep, Bob Egge, Bob Ferguson, Michelle Gerber, Dave Harvey, Ron Hicks, Hank Kosmata, Gwen Leth, Tom Marceau, Rita Mazur, Todd Nelson, Gary Petersen, Bob and Sally Ann Potter, Roger Rohrbacher, Darby Stapp, Bob Thompson, Burt Vaughn, Paul Vinther, Kris Watkins, Gene Weisskopf, Rob Welch and Lyle Wilhelmi deserve special recognition for their commitment to preserving Hanford’s heritage.

  In addition, thanks to Cathy Allen, Ruth and Joe Bell, Josiah Brand, Roberta and Doug Colton, Linda Donnels, Jim Fitzpatrick, Joan and Allan Gerson, Greer and Gerry Goldman, Dan Guttman, Gail and John Harmon, Jean and Bob Kapp, Susan and Leslie Lepow, Larry Logan, Dorothy and Clay Perkins, and Deane and Paul Shatz for their strategic ideas, interest and encouragement. Most of all, thanks to my husband Bill and sons Patrick and Brian for inspiring me to take on new challenges.

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  Manhattan Project Chronology

  1899

  New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford identifies two kinds of natural radiation (alpha particles and beta rays).

  1900

  French physicist P.V. Villard identifies a third kind of natural radiation (gamma rays or high-energy X-rays).

  1907

  Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, proposes a theory, shown most dramatically in a nuclear explosion, that defines the relationship between energy and mass and is expressed in the famous formula, E=mc2.

  May 1932

  British physicist James Chadwick discovers the neutron.

  September 1933

  Leo Szilard, Hungarian physicist in London, first conceives of a “nuclear chain reaction” and the possibility of an atomic bomb.

  1934

  French physicist Irène Curie, daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, and Frédéric Joliot conduct the first demonstration of artificial radioactivity.

  May 1934

  Italian physicist Enrico Fermi and his team in Rome bombard elements with neutrons and split uranium but do not realize it.

  December 1938

  Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, German physicists, split uranium; Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch coin the term “nuclear fission” to explain the splitting of uranium atoms.

  January 26, 1939

  Danish physicist Niels Bohr announces recent discoveries about fission by European colleagues at an international conference on theoretical physics at the George Washington University in Washington, DC.

  January 28, 1939

  Physicists recreate fission experiment at the Carnegie Institution’s Atomic Physics Observatory in Washington, DC.

  April 22, 1939

  Joliot and his group in Paris publish their work on the secondary neutrons released in nuclear fission, demonstrating that a chain reaction is feasible.

  August 2, 1939

  Einstein sends a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning about the prospect of an atomic bomb.

  September 1, 1939

  Nazi Germany invades Poland, starting World War II.

  October 21, 1939

  Lyman J. Briggs convenes the first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Uranium that Roosevelt established in response to Einstein’s letter.

  March 1940

  Otto Frisch and Rudolph Peierls, émigré physicists in England, conclude that as little as one pound of highly enriched uranium is enough for a bomb in the Frisch-Peierls memorandum.

  June 27, 1940

  The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), with Vannevar Bush as Chairman, is established to organize U.S. scientific resources for war including research on the atom and the fission of uranium.

  February 24, 1941

  Glenn T. Seaborg’s research team discovers plutonium.

  June 22, 1941

  Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union.

  June 28, 1941

  The Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) is established under the direction of Vannevar Bush. James Conant, President of Harvard, takes over the NDRC, reporting to Bush.

  July 14, 1941

  Vannevar Bush and James Conant receive a British report (known as the Maud Report) concluding that an atomic bomb is feasible.

  October 9, 1941

  President Roosevelt asks Bush to determine the cost
of an atomic bomb and explore construction needs with the Army.

  December 7, 1941

  Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.

  December 8, 1941

  The United States Congress declares war on Japan.

  December 10, 1941

  Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.

  January 19, 1942

  President Roosevelt approves the production of an atomic bomb.

  August 13, 1942

  A general order is issued by the Chief of Engineers formally establishing the Manhattan Engineer District.

  September 13, 1942

  The S-1 Executive Committee visits E. O. Lawrence’s Berkeley laboratory and recommends building a pilot plant based on Lawrence’s cyclotrons to separate uranium isotopes in Tennessee.

  September 17, 1942

  Col. Leslie R. Groves takes over command of the Manhattan Engineer District.

  September 19, 1942

  Groves selects Oak Ridge, TN as the site for the pilot plant.

  September 23, 1942

  Secretary of War Henry Stimson creates a Military Policy Committee to supervise the Manhattan Project, with Vannevar Bush, Chairman, James B. Conant, his alternate, and an army member and a navy member.

  October 19, 1942

  Groves decides to establish a separate scientific laboratory to design the atomic bomb.

  November 12, 1942

  The Military Policy Committee decides to skip the pilot plant stages and go directly from research to industrial-scale production.