The Atomic Bomb: The Effects of Obtaining Extraordinary Power

William Kahn

The Manhattan ProjectStarted in 1942 by the

United States with support from the United Kingdom and Canada

Led by J.R. Oppenheimer to create the world’s first atomic bomb

Employed over 130,000 people (scientists, engineers and laborers)

End of WWII The atomic bombings

on Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred on August 6th, 1945 and August 9th, 1945.

Japan surrendered soon after

To this date, the only time in history that the atomic bomb was used in warfare

The Smyth ReportJust three days after the

atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 12, 1945, H.D. Smyth released his book, Atomic Energy for Military Purposes, or better known as The Smyth Report.

Summarized the previously declassified discoveries of the Manhattan Project and the associated nuclear physics

Modern SafeguardsThe Non-Proliferation

Treaty (NPT) was formed in 1970 to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Part of the treaty includes the International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards, which represent specific means of controlling non-proliferation.

SourcesH.D. Smyth. Atomic Energy for Military Purposes.

Princeton University: Review Of Modern Physics, Volume 27, Number 4, 1945.

Barnaby, Frank. How Nuclear Weapons Spread: Nuclear-Weapon proliferation in the 1990s. London, 1993.

Kelly, Cynthia C. Remembering the Manhattan Project: Perspectives on Making the Atomic Bomb and Its Legacy. New Jersey, 2005.