The Manhattan Project
Starting as a research and development project, the US army
began the Manhattan Project and produced the first atomic bombs during World
War II. This began as a small mission in 1939 but soon became a much larger creation
with a budget of two million dollars and over 130,000 people working on it by 1945.
With less than 10% of this two million dollar budget being used for development
and production of the weapons, over 90% of the cost was for building factories
and producing the fissile materials. Several things were produced in these
factories including the final product of two types of atomic bombs. The first
was made up of an isotope of only 0.7 natural uranium, uranium-235. Plutonium
was among other products that were constructed during this time.
After
years of research and production of these products, the first nuclear bomb was
detonated at the Trinity test. This was a major milestone in nuclear weaponry
in the United States. The Manhattan Project conducted several other weapons
testing, resulting in development of other major weapons used in the military
today. Not only did this project promote further development across the nation
but it also laid down the foundations for the nuclear navy. It remained the
major contender for atomic weapons research and production until 1947 when the
United States Atomic Energy Commission was formed.
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