Manhattanprosjektet

Manhattanprosjektet was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first atomic bombs. Led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada, the project was initiated in response to fears that Nazi Germany was developing nuclear weapons. The project officially began in 1942 and was codenamed after the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which initially oversaw the effort.

The project's primary objective was to harness nuclear fission to create a weapon of unprecedented destructive power. This involved a massive industrial and scientific undertaking, employing hundreds of thousands of people at numerous secret sites across the United States. Key locations included Los Alamos, New Mexico, where the bombs were designed; Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for uranium enrichment; and Hanford, Washington, for plutonium production.

The scientific leadership at Los Alamos was under the direction of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The project faced significant scientific and engineering challenges, including the separation of uranium isotopes and the production of plutonium. Ultimately, two types of atomic bombs were developed: a uranium-based gun-type fission weapon nicknamed "Little Boy" and a plutonium-based implosion-type fission weapon nicknamed "Fat Man."

The first successful test of an atomic bomb, codenamed "Trinity," occurred in July 1945 in New Mexico. Following this test, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, leading to Japan's unconditional surrender and the end of World War II. The Manhattan Project remains one of the most significant and controversial scientific endeavors in history, with profound implications for international relations and the dawn of the nuclear age.