In June, 1942, the U.S. Department of War began to implement the plan to develop an atomic bomb by nuclear fission reaction, also known as Manhattan Project. In order to build an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany, the project concentrated the best nuclear scientists in western countries (except Nazi Germany) (including Chinese-American nuclear physicist Ms. Wu Jianxiong). At that time, more than 654.38 million people were mobilized to participate in the project, which lasted for three years and cost 2 billion US dollars. In July 1945, the world's first nuclear explosion was successful, press. The whole project was a complete success. In the process of project implementation, leaders L.R. groves and R. Oppenheimer applied the ideas and methods of systems engineering, which greatly shortened the project time. The success of this project promoted the development of system engineering after World War II.
At the beginning of 1942, although American scientists had a general understanding of the mechanism of the atomic bomb, the direction of efforts, and even the cost and time, the huge project of nuclear research exceeded the capabilities of scientific research institutions. At that time, the American economy had turned to war, and no industrial company could complete the construction of production facilities in a short time. Bush, one of the heads of nuclear research in the United States, believes that only when the military gives the highest priority can nuclear materials be produced before the end of the war. 1on March 9, 942, in his report to President Roosevelt, he emphasized the bright future of the atomic bomb and proposed to hand over all research and production management to the army. On June 17, Bush prepared a detailed report for Roosevelt and handed over all nuclear programs to military leaders for implementation. Roosevelt immediately approved the Bush report.
By 194 1, 65438+February 6, the United States formally formulated a top secret plan codenamed "Manhattan". President Roosevelt gave the plan "special priority over all actions" The scale of the Manhattan project is shocking. At that time, we didn't know which of the three ways to split uranium -235 was the best, so we had to split uranium -235 in three ways at the same time. This complex project has become a melting pot of American science. In the "Manhattan" project management area, a large number of scientists from all over the world, led by Oppenheimer, gathered. The number of scientists is unimaginable. In some departments, there are even more people with doctoral titles than ordinary staff, including many Nobel Prize winners. At its peak, the Manhattan Project used 539,000 people at a total cost of $2.5 billion. This is unmatched by any previous weapon experiment.
With the support of Marshall, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the US military agreed to press the original S? At the suggestion of the Committee, an institution responsible for uranium research, four uranium isotope separation plants and other research and production bases with different methods were started. The Army named the whole project "Alternative Materials Development Laboratory" and assigned Colonel Marshall of the US Department of Military Engineering to be in charge of all operations.
Because Colonel Marshall abided by the rules and didn't get along well with the scientific consultants, the upgrading of the priority of the research plan and the selection of the address of the gas separation plant were delayed for two months. In September, the wartime office of the government and senior military leaders decided that Colonel groves, who led the construction of the Pentagon of the US Department of Defense, would succeed Colonel Marshall. Groves was promoted to brigadier general before his appointment.
In less than 48 hours after taking office, groves successfully upgraded the priority of the program to the highest level, and selected Oak Ridge, Tennessee as the base of the uranium isotope separation plant. Because Colonel Marshall's general office will be located in new york City at first, they decided to name the new district "Manhattan". Thus, "Manhattan Project Area (or Mangong Area for short)" was born. The entire nuclear research program in the United States was soon named "Manhattan Project".
The ultimate goal of the Manhattan Project is to build an atomic bomb before the war. Although before this plan, s? The Executive Committee affirmed its feasibility, but there are still a lot of theoretical and engineering problems to be solved to realize this new outbreak. On the recommendation of Lawrence and Compton, groves asked Oppenheimer to take charge of this work. In order to successfully complete the atomic bomb research plan, according to Oppenheimer's suggestion, the military authorities decided to establish a new research base for fast neutron reaction and atomic bomb structure, which was later famous in the world as Los Alamos Laboratory. With his talent and wisdom, as well as his profound insight into the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer was appointed as the director of Los Alamos Laboratory. It was because of such a crucial appointment that he won the title of "the father of the atomic bomb" in the United States in the future.
Oppenheimer initially underestimated the difficulty and thought that only six physicists and 100 engineers and technicians were enough. But by 1945, the laboratory had grown to more than 2,000 civilian researchers and more than 3,000 military personnel, including 1000 scientists.
In view of the fact that most scientists are opposed to the militarization of the laboratory, groves agreed that the University of California should become the nominal management unit and contract guarantee unit of Los Alamos, and the army of the base should be responsible for the laboratory construction, logistics supply and security guarantee. This ensures free academic discussion in the laboratory. Oppenheimer encouraged scientists to boldly discuss scientific issues related to the atomic bomb, and put forward that even the opinions of gatekeepers would be helpful to the success of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer values anyone's opinion and controls the whole experiment process. Some physicists involved in nuclear research later recalled that they didn't even know the details and progress of their work like Oppenheimer did. On many issues, it was Oppenheimer's decision that made a breakthrough and ensured the implementation of the atomic bomb development schedule. Oppenheimer's prestige among scientists, ordinary workers and government officials is increasing. Los Alamos is known as the "Nobel Prize winner concentration camp", and people call Oppenheimer the "battalion commander" of this concentration camp. Oppenheimer has never won a Nobel Prize, but he has such a high personal prestige, which shows his organizational talent and personality charm.
Of the 6.5438+0.5 million people working in the Manhattan Project Area, only 654.38+0.2 people know the master plan. In fact, few crew members know that they are engaged in the work of making atomic bombs. For example, the Los Alamos Computing Center has been conducting complex calculations for a long time, but most staff members do not understand the practical significance of these tasks. Because they don't know the purpose of their work, it is impossible to make them really interested in their work. Later, a young man explained what they were doing. Since then, the work here has reached a climax, and many staff members have voluntarily stayed to work overtime. Through the efforts of all the staff, many technical and engineering problems of the atomic bomb have been solved. At 5: 30 am on July 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was successfully tested. On August 6 and 9, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. With the Soviet troops sending troops to the northeast of China, the Japanese emperor declared unconditional surrender on 14, and the Second World War ended.
The Manhattan Project not only produced an atomic bomb, but also left behind $6,543.804 billion in property, including a Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory with 9,000 people. 36,000 people and 900 million dollars worth of uranium material production plants and affiliated laboratories; Hanford plutonium production plant with 65,438+07,000 people and a value of more than 300 million US dollars, as well as laboratories in Berkeley and Chicago.
1946 In July, on the first anniversary of the successful development of the atomic bomb, the US Senate and House of Representatives passed the bill proposed by Senator McMahon after heated debate. Truman signed an order on August 1 and the proposal came into effect. This is the Atomic Energy Act 1946. It marks the end of America's wartime nuclear program and the beginning of a new transitional period, and it has also become the guiding program for the development of atomic energy in the United States in peacetime.
After the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 came into effect, Manhattan Project led by groves continued to support the whole nuclear program with the consent of Congress and the government. When the new American Atomic Energy Commission was established, Truman decided to hand over all the property and power of the original Manhattan Project to the Atomic Energy Commission on the last night of 1946, thus formally starting a new transition period. The Atomic Energy Commission has four departments: the research department, which controls all research related to atomic energy; Production department, which owns and controls all facilities for the production of fissile materials and atomic energy, and organizes the production of nuclear fissile materials; Engineering department to guide all equipment and projects related to atomic energy development; Military application department, dealing with atomic energy affairs related to armaments. The headquarters of the Atomic Energy Commission also moved from Oak Ridge to Washington.