Legacy of a Bomb: The Manhattan Project’s Impact on the Scientific Community

Abstract

Legacy of a Bomb WAR TECH SPRING WAR TECH The Manhattan Project’s Impact on the Scientific Community Above the pillared entrance of the University of dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of California Berkeley’s Doe library, the fair face of Athena, thousands of civilians and forcing Japan to finally surren- goddess of wisdom and war, smiles down on its visitors. der. Dual-natured Athena’s presence seems both fitting, yet odd After World War II, two of these three facilities on the Berkeley campus. While Berkeley may be the home remained important contributors to scientific discovery and of many reputable anti-war protests, the university’s technological innovations. Hanford Site remained a nuclear research department plays a large role in weapon develop- facility; it ran multiple reactors and produced tritium for ment. However, Berkeley is not alone in this dichotomy production of hydrogen bombs during the Cold War since many universities across the United States also con- (D’Antonio1993). In 1968, a major reactor was deactivated tribute to the development of war-related technology. Some in Hanford and most of the structures were encased and may protest that this research not only has negative effects buried. By 1987, all of the reactors were shut down. Today, on society, but also is antithetical to the progressive educa- Hanford Site is no more than a museum and remains an tion that students receive at such schools. area that demands extensive clean-up due to the early, leak- These critics, nevertheless, underemphasize that age-prone reactors. such research has a beneficial impact, especially on the sci- In contrast, the Los Alamos facility, now named the entific community. There is one specific military research Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), is still running. project that demonstrates well the complex relationship The LANL has continued to participate in military research between war and science: the Manhattan Project. This oper- and development. Even today it manages America’s nuclear ation ended the Second World War but also contributed to arsenal as part of the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile the making of the Cold War. It ushered in a Stewardship program. The LANL runs new age and raised many misgivings and threat detection and reduction programs fear as well. As will be demonstrated, how- and develops new technology for defense ever, the Manhattan Project’s legacy does and intelligence purposes. This lab also not entirely have to do with the military for researches in the areas of energy, material the operation also made an indelible mark science, computing, nanotechnology, and on research and education as well. the life sciences. The LANL has con- In 1941, while World War II was tributed significantly to the development of still raging, the Manhattan Project was com- biotechnology as well. In 1983, it began its missioned to develop the first nuclear partnership with Lawrence Livermore weapon. The majority of the project was National Laboratory and together the two Bust of Athena, Doe Library at the completed by the United States, although labs developed the National Laboratory University of California, Berkeley two other Allied nations, Britain and Gene Library project. The project conclud- Canada, both contributed to the undertaking as well. In the ed in 1995 after generating many libraries of the human United States, the bulk of the Manhattan Project was han- genome. The LANL has also made major advances in dled by three facilities that were constructed specifically for immunology. It published the first genetic sequence of the the project: Hanford Site, Oak Ridge, and Los Alamos. Oak HIV virus. Furthermore, the lab has built an impressive Ridge lab conducted research and development of success- database of genetic and immunological codes of various ful and controlled chain reaction and designed facilities pathogens. This database is available for all researchers to necessary to produce plutonium. Hanford Facility produced use. While the LANL remains a military research center, its plutonium and separated plutonium from uranium and fis- contributions to research and general science are also unde- sion byproducts (Brown & MacDonald 1977). The later niable. stages of the production of the first nuclear bomb were The Oak Ridge laboratory, now called Oak Ridge completed in Los Alamos. In 1945, as a result of this col- National Laboratory (ORNL), was less military-oriented laboration, the first atomic bombs were constructed and after the war, but like the LANL, its research has also http://www.alumni.berkeley.edu/imgs/Alumni/California_M onthly/2002_Feb/building_150athen150athena_bust.jpg by Jany Huan Gao