Nuclear bomb trials

For more information, contact Stoever at cell or henrystoever sbcglobal. View all posts by PeaceWorks KC. Each of the five is charged with trespass. Grant Richard Winters Harry Welsh. Project maintenance. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? British nuclear tests at Maralinga.

Edit source History Talk 0. UK Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on Retrieved Wayward governance : illegality and its control in the public sector. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. ISBN Swiss Seismological Service. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. British Broadcasting Corporation. Conservation Council of South Australia. Nuclear Weapon Archive.

Roy Glauber, physicist : There was great tension about the test, great uncertainty whether it would work or produce a pathetic fizzle. Robert Christy, physicist : This had never been done before and, no one had a clear picture at all of what to expect. Narrator : At , the countdown began at zero minus twenty minutes. As loudspeakers ticked off the time at five minute intervals, Oppenheimer wandered in and out of the control bunker, glancing up at the sky.

It was pitch dark outside, just before dawn… there was a lot of tension. Narrator : Oppenheimer lay on his stomach, his face dreamy, withdrawn. Robert Christy, physicist : There was a brilliant flash like daylight outside. Suddenly from pitch dark to daylight over a huge area. There was this rapidly expanding glowing sphere with swirling dark clouds in it and finally as it dimmed, you could see on the outside, a faint blue glow.

It was simply fantastic. Roy Glauber, physicist : We were just awestruck. There it was! It had happened. The test was evidently a success. But we had no idea when the next thing would happen. Nobody had said to us that a bomb had already been shipped out. There was total silence. Fear and tension. We heard not a single word until the 6th of August.

Narrator : On August 6, , the United States exploded an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, a city with a population of , His success had been exhilarating. But he was in anguish over the human costs. I think Oppenheimer saw the question in all its complexity. He understood that the bomb was going to change history. He might have hoped that there was some other way to demonstrate its effectiveness. They knew what they were making.

They knew it was going to kill a lot of people. Narrator : The second atomic bomb, exploded over Nagasaki on August 9, left him morose, consumed by doubts, fast sinking into depression. If they are ever used again, it may well be by the thousands, or perhaps by the tens of thousands.

Martin Sherwin, historian : He was a great supporter of using the bomb. But he understood all along that he was on the cusp of a new terror — even at the moment when the scientists believe that there was no other choice. They knew that most of the people killed were civilians. They knew that the targets for these bombs were the centers of cities. I am afraid that the answer to that question is yes.

Narrator : In , America was the only country in the world with the atomic bomb. President Harry Truman believed that national security depended on keeping nuclear technology secret. Oppenheimer, along with nearly every other nuclear scientist, disagreed. I am afraid there is no such hope. The secret was it worked.

His name became a household word. Herbert York, physicist : He was instantly famous. There was no other kind. Now Oppenheimer was right at the top of it, so it was the president or the Congress or the senators or the U. Priscilla McMillan, writer : He was interested in power, he was drawn to it. He wanted to have a say in what became of those weapons. He really thought that if he got inside, he could change things.

Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : Immediately after the war, I was deeply involved in the effort to devise effective means for the international control of atomic weapons. The plan was designed to put atomic energy into the hands of an international agency, controlling uranium mines, atomic power plants, and atomic laboratories.

Herbert York, physicist : It involved giving up nuclear weapons and internationalizing the entire nuclear enterprise. Martin Sherwin, historian : Oppenheimer believed that if we could figure out how to create a post-war period in which the foundation of international affairs was US-Soviet cooperation, the world would be a very different place.

Narrator : But the Soviet army already occupied much of Eastern Europe. Americans feared that Western Europe might be overrun. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had fears of his own. We had, after all, built a weapon in secret, telling our allies, Great Britain, but not telling our allies, the Soviet Union, and actually used the thing on a-on an enemy population.

Stalin had every reason to believe that we would use it on him. Richard Rhodes, writer : So it was a brilliant, and radical, and evidently premature idea. Two months before, Oppenheimer had written President Truman a letter opposing the tests. Priscilla McMillan, writer : He saw how intransigent the Russians were going be. And he went into another mode in his thinking about what should be done about the bomb.

Herbert York, physicist : He felt that what you had to do instead of you had to accomplish the impossible, what you had to do was accomplish another impossibility, and that is live successfully and peacefully with nuclear weapons.

Narrator : That fall, Oppenheimer was made a key advisor to the newly created Atomic Energy Commission. Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : As the prospects of success receded, and as the evidence of Soviet hostility and growing military power accumulated, we were more and more to devote ourselves to finding ways of adapting our atomic potential to offset the Soviet threat. We concluded that the principal job of the Commission was to provide atomic weapons and good atomic weapons and many atomic weapons.

Narrator : Oppenheimer was now a scientific statesman. He had little time to be a scientist. After the war, he had given up teaching to become the director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton — a center for theoretical research, renowned as the home of the most famous scientist in the world, Albert Einstein. But Oppenheimer rarely did any research himself anymore. He published only a few scientific papers and after , never published one again.

Freeman Dyson, physicist : And that was a great grief to him, he had had dreams of getting back into science and doing something great while he was here. Some — you know, it was — he never got down to the nitty-gritty. Priscilla McMillan, writer : He was older. What, he was forty? He was past the age when people do their best scientific work.

Narrator : The popular press continued to depict him as a scientist on the cutting edge and a model American — a happily married man with two small children, and a German shepherd called Buddy. No one knew that he was under close surveillance by the FBI because of his past ties to the Communist party. Martin Sherwin, historian : There were periods in which there was a letup, but the FBIstarted to follow and surveil Oppenheimer in about , and never stopped. Never stopped. Narrator : As the Soviets tightened their grip on Eastern Europe, the hunt for Communists spies was becoming a national obsession.

Priscilla McMillan, writer : Looked at from outside, the United States was the most powerful country in the world. But in the U. Narrator : The House Unamerican Activities Committee had begun investigating what they called the Communist threat to the American way of life. In June , it subpoenaed Oppenheimer. The famous scientist tried to charm the Congressmen.

When they asked, he confirmed the names of Communist Party members. Some had been his students. Freeman Dyson, physicist : It looked as though he was just trying to save his own skin by incriminating the students. To me, it was horrible. Priscilla McMillan, writer : He must have sensed that the flames could get to him sometime.

Narrator : That same June, Oppenheimer appeared before Congress again but this time, made a formidable enemy. Lewis Strauss was the president of the Institute for Advanced Study, he had hired Oppenheimer as its director.

Strauss was also a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. A self-made millionaire, ambitious, proud, fiercely anti-Communist, he did not like to be crossed. But if you go on disagreeing with him, he concludes you must be a traitor. Narrator : Oppenheimer was testifying in support of exporting radioisotopes to Europe — while Strauss looked on, seething. Strauss violently disagreed, fearing that the isotopes might fall into the hands of Russia. In a reckless display of arrogance, Oppenheimer aimed a jibe directly at Strauss, telling the Congressmen that radioisotopes were no more dangerous than a shovel, or a bottle of beer.

Martin Sherwin, historian : And everybody laughed and a journalist, said he looked over at Lewis Strauss who had turned beet red. Priscilla McMillan, writer : Strauss was very sensitive to criticism. And he had a long memory. He could deal with them a long time afterward, if he wanted to. Narrator : On August 29, , the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. America was still the most powerful nation on earth, but the confidence of many of its citizens was shattered. Richard Rhodes, writer : There was near hysteria in Washington.

Narrator : The day the test made headlines, Oppenheimer received a call from an agitated Edward Teller. What should I do now, Teller wanted to know. They had four million men on the ground in Eastern Europe and we had the bomb. Now suddenly they had four million men on the ground in Europe, we had the bomb, and they had the bomb, so the balance of forces was upset.

Marvin Goldberger, physicist : He hated the Soviet Union. He grew up in Hungary and Communism was a four letter word so he thought the only way you could deal with the Soviet Union was to have more bombs than they did, that they would be influenced by force and by nothing else. Narrator : Teller believed he had the answer to the Soviet threat: the super — the hydrogen bomb, which had remained his pet project ever since Los Alamos.

It was up to Oppenheimer and his General Advisory Committee to recommend to the Atomic Energy Commission whether or not to try and create the most awesome weapon of mass destruction ever devised. Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : A good many people came to see me or called me or wrote me letters about the super program.

It was not clear to me what the right thing to do was. Narrator : The debate over the H-bomb sparked a controversy fraught with danger for the unsuspecting scientist. Ever since the war had ended, Teller had been trying to convince any high official who would listen that the super would keep Americans safe.

Priscilla McMillan, writer : He thought that it would be crazy not to develop it and that those who opposed it might possibly be unpatriotic. Narrator : But Oppenheimer and the General Advisory Committee worried more about the destructive power of the H-bomb than they did about the Russians.

They voted eight to zero against it. Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : There was a surprising unanimity to me very surprising — that the United States ought not to take the initiative in an all out program for the development of thermonuclear weapons. Narrator : The debate seemed to be over.

But President Truman, fearing the Russians would develop an H-bomb first, dismissed it. On Nov. Harold Agnew, physicist : It became a great big lagoon, it just went away. And the whole water around it was milky white. It was scary. The heat from this thing was really very frightening. It started getting hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter! This is almost 30 miles away. Richard Rhodes, writer : These were no longer weapons that were military devices.

They were simply weapons of mass destruction on the most terrible scale. The blast would destroy the entire greater New York area. The fallout would take out the rest of the East Coast. One bomb. Priscilla McMillan, writer : It meant that a new era of warfare was upon us. We now had in our possession a weapon of genocide, not just warfare.

The modern arms race started with the invention of the hydrogen bomb, and after which it was escalation all the way. Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : If the development by the enemy as well as by us of thermonuclear weapons could have been averted, I think we would be in a somewhat safer world today than we are.

God knows, not entirely safe because atomic bombs are not jolly either. Narrator : Once the decision was made, Oppenheimer did nothing to oppose it. Frustrated, he considered leaving the government altogether, but instead played the loyal soldier. Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : I would think I could very well have said this is a dreadful weapon, or something like that. Roger Robb Michael Cumpsty :Why do you think you could very well have said that? Even if from a technical point of view it was a sweet and lovely and beautiful job, I have still thought it was a dreadful weapon.

Roger Robb Michael Cumpsty : You mean you had a moral revulsion against the production of such a dreadful weapon? Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : Your expression.

I had grave concern and anxiety. Robert Oppenheimer David Strathairn : How could one not have qualms about it? Narrator : In , the United States went to war in Korea. Soon Americans were fighting both Korean and Chinese communists while the Russians seemed to be growing increasingly belligerent.

Martin Sherwin, historian : The American government was planning, in its nuclear weapons response to any Soviet attack, to kill and something million people within a week or two. I mean, Oppenheimer just felt that this was madness, sheer madness.

Narrator : Oppenheimer spoke out for moderation. He took a stand against building nuclear powered aircraft and submarines, and advocated open discussion of the growing arms race. They were led by Lewis Strauss.

He now had the power to build a case to rid the government of the influential scientist. Richard Rhodes, writer : Strauss would deliberately destroy the name and reputation and government position of Robert Oppenheimer and when he destroyed something, he destroyed it thoroughly. The stories depicted Edward Teller as a scientific patriot. Teller readily joined the crusade against his old boss. He had long wanted to remove Oppenheimer from public life. Marvin Goldberger, physicist : Teller sincerely believed that we were in a dangerous arms race with the Russians, and that Oppenheimer was standing in the way of protecting the country against this dreaded foe.

I think he may well have sincerely believed that. I know that sounds absurd and yet I have no doubt that it was part of the equation, So get rid of him and then Teller, like cream would rise to the top of the bottle. German scientists who were Jews realized that the Nazis posed a deadly threat, and they began to emigrate, mostly to the United States.

These emigres continued their research and discussions in the United States and in Britain. By the thinking of nuclear scientists had progressed to such subjects as fission of uranium atoms and causing a chain reaction, particularly in the U isotope, when the material is bombarded by neutrons; the comparative effectiveness of slow neutrons versus fast neutrons in achieving a chain reaction; and the possible methods of separating U from U in natural uranium.

The possibility of producing a massive atomic explosion was generally known and discussed, and calculations of a "critical mass" were being made.

German intelligence had discovered the direction of nuclear research in the United States and Great Britain.

One of the issues being studied was the use of heavy-water as a moderator, used to slow the travel of secondary neutrons. In the United States, in the summer of , a small number of physicists, alarmed over the possibility of Germany successfully developing an atomic bomb, decided to warn President Roosevelt.

A letter was written by Einstein and Szilard, and was delivered to the President's aide, General Edwin Watson, by Alexander Sachs, an economist and writer who had a friendly relationship with Roosevelt. Sachs was given an appointment with the President to whom he read Einstein's letter. The letter described the new powerful bombs that could be produced and recommended that the U.

Government speed up experimental work currently taking place. Einstein closed his letter by stating his understanding that Germany had stopped the sale of uranium from Czechoslovakian mines and that Carl von Weizacker, a highly respected German scientist, was attached to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin where American work on uranium was being repeated. These last remarks reflected the concern of U.

The meeting with Roosevelt took place on October 11, The ensuing months saw the establishment of nuclear-devoted committees in the various departments of the U. Government and the continued research and inter-agency coordination of results. The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, , accelerated the development of an atomic bomb in the United States. In the spring of the decision was made to consolidate development activities in Chicago. The objective was to produce a nuclear chain reaction by the end of the year.

Fermi and colleagues moved from New York, where they had been using the resources of Columbia University, and commenced operation on the premises of the University of Chicago. To build an experimental "pile" to demonstrate the feasibility of a controllable chain reaction, Fermi assembled the components 6 tons of uranium and tons of graphite for use as a moderator in a squash court in the abandoned University of Chicago stadium.

Manually-operated cadmium rods were used as a control method. On the afternoon of December 2, , with 42 observers watching the instruments and listening to the clicking of the neutron counters, the pile achieved criticality, i.

Earlier, in the spring and summer of , nuclear scientists and their leaders in the United States became aware of a new material created by neutron bombardment of U This material was named plutonium by its discoverer, Glenn Seaborg.

The use of plutonium for bombs would have several advantages over U greater explosive power, smaller size and weight, and easier manufacturing. Its atomic designation became Pu In Germany, theoretical knowledge of atomic physics and the potential application of that science to weapons was abreast of that in Britain and the United States. German scientists, however, were handicapped by shortages in materials and funds.

Developments with long range application inevitably received priority behind those of immediate benefit to the war effort. Albert Speer in June discussed with Hitler the possibility of developing an atomic bomb but with no clear conclusions. German research would continue but without focus on weaponry.

Allies' intelligence was not aware of this situation. The British were concerned about German acquisition of heavy- water produced at Vemork in southern Norway.

A glider-borne British attempt to sabotage the installation in November was a failure, due to a combination of poor planning and bad weather. In February a Norwegian commando team made another attempt and succeeded in demolishing most of the plant, interrupting production for many months. In the autumn of , the British received news that the plant had resumed production of heavy-water.