Lianna Trevino

English 1010
Issue Paper
December 2, 2015
The Atomic Bomb and Society

Scientists didnt know then what all the major effects these
nuclear weapons would have, but through studies, interviews and
research, one can see all the effects it may have on society, the
environment, new and growing technology, medical equipment and
also the harm that these weapons cause like radiation, mass
destruction and death.
On the morning of Friday September 1st, 1939, 1.25 million
Germans swept into Poland with the support of Stuka dive-bombers
overhead. Two days later, September 3rd 1939 Prime Minister of Britain,
Neville Chamberlain, declared war on Germany ("HowDidWorldWar2Start?"
TheWeekUK.N.p.,n.d.Web.26Oct.2015.). This event was one of the major

contributors into World War II. Although this war began with Germanys
attack on Poland, The United States did not enter the war until after
the attack of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7th, 1941, killing 2,403
Americans, and leaving thousands wounded (PearlHarbor."History.com.A&E
TelevisionNetworks,n.d.Web.26Oct.2015).

The following day after the Attack of Pearl Harbor, President

Roosevelt went to congress requesting a declaration of war against
Japan, with the full backing of the House of Representatives, but one.
America then went to war with Japan, and three days later with
Germany and also Italy. Although America had declared war the nation
had to be careful in how to fight this war and what enemy to fight first.
Roosevelt knew Germany was an advanced industrial nation with many
scientists, engineers, and possibly new deadly weapons, such as an
atomic bomb, thus leading America to a top secret project known
today as, The Manhattan Project
(http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/einstein/peace-andwar/the-manhattan-project).
The Manhattan Project started in 1942 under the control of Major
General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in Los
Alamos, New Mexico. Other, now famous scientists such as Robert
Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein also were major contributors to this
top-secret project. (Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d.
Web. 25 Nov. 2015.) The object of this project was to make a weapon
America could use to fight the war and help give them the upper hand
they needed. These scientists indeed went above and beyond those
expectations making a weapon of mass destruction, known as the
Atomic Bomb.

During the mid 1900s scientists were tampering with atoms to make
these nuclear weapons. These weapons where tested at the Trinity site
in southern New Mexico in 1957. The scientists that made these
nuclear weapons didnt know what kind of effect they were going to
have on the surroundings; some even feared it was going to ignite the
atmosphere and cause worldwide destructions. But, soon after these
bombs were tested the CDC to look into what kind of effect these
weapons had on the neighboring farms and communities did a study.
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.) The highest
radiation levels were within 12 miles of the testing point and were
called ground zero, but the fallout stretched as far as Indiana. This
radiation was then soaked into farmlands, water, and air supply where
people had lived. These nuclear weapons had altered the peoples
genes, and according to cancer.org eventually causing cancer due to
all the excess radiation levels. These cancers also had a huge variety,
from leukemia to myeloma to breast, thyroid, liver cancers and so on
(Cancer Compensation Programs for People Exposed to Radiation as
Part of Nuclear Weapons Testing. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
. The Atomic Bomb also led to many advances in Americas medical
technology. During the development of the Atomic Bomb scientists
discovered that the Atomic Bomb had emitted several different kinds of
radiation, these types included gamma, neutron and ionizing radiation.

Gamma rays, a kind of radiation essentially kills diseases such as

cancer. In the medical world these types of experiments are called
radiation therapy. With radiation therapy the gamma rays contains
charged particles with high-energy to shrink tumors and kill cancer
cells. These gamma rays kill the cancer cells by altering the DNA thus
making them useless and unable to copy. Although these rays are
highly effective at killing cancer cells they also can alter the DNA of
good cells within the body thus destroying those cells as well (National
Cancer Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
.
Some other Medical Advances found within creating the Atomic Bomb
were Radioisotopes. Radioactive isotopes are variants of stable atoms
(Information Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
. Angela Creager is a professor at Princeton University and had spent
most of her life studying Radioisotopes (Princeton University. N.p., n.d.
Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
. The U.S government had produced some of these radioisotopes using
the nuclear reactors that were built to produce material for the nuclear
weapons they had been making during WWII. Scientists also
understood more and more of metabolic pathways, such as
photosynthesis and how molecules travel within the body using
tracers. Tracers are used when one replaces an atom with a
particular radiolabeled atom so they then can follow that radiolabel

through the processes it goes within the body. These radiotracers also
made huge advancements within studying biochemistry, physiology,
and endocrinology. Creager said, The study of photosynthesis offered
a good example of how radio tracing were used. Researchers had
grown algae in a clear container exposed to a very bright light; Then
the researchers added carbon dioxide labeled with the radioisotope
carbon-14 and let the algae take up some of this carbon dioxide. The
researchers then, examined how the carbon dioxide labeled with the
radioisotope had moved from one compound to another through the
chemical reactions of photosynthesis thus making huge advancements
within science (HSC Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
.
Weapons like the Atomic Bomb not only changed mankind and genetic
make up but also to caused mass destruction within the environment.
America was the first to test these nuclear weapons, then followed by
the Soviet Union and so on. In 2000 the United Nations Scientific
Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation states that, The main
man-made contribution to the exposure of the world's population [to
radiation] has come from the testing of nuclear weapons in the
atmosphere, from 1945 to 1980. Each nuclear test resulted in
unrestrained release into the environment of substantial quantities of
radioactive materials, which were widely dispersed in the atmosphere

and deposited everywhere on the Earths surface. : (CTBTO

Preparatory Commission. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
Within the testing of the first bombs one can see that nuclear
weapons instantly kill most life forms within the target zone and if it
doesnt kill them instantly, life later dies from genetic mutation and
deterioration. One can also see how the use of these nuclear weapons
had on Hiroshima during WWII.
On August 6th, 1945, at 8:16 a.m., Enola Gay, an American B-29
bomber dropped Little Boy, a five-ton bomb over Hiroshima, a Japanese
city. Little Boy was engraved with a messaged that read, Greetings to
the Emperor and a blast equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, exploded
1,900 feet over a hospital and reduced four square miles of city to
ruins, immediately killing 80,000 people, 35,000 wounded and 60,000
would be dead because of the radiation fallout within the year (
History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
. A few days later on August 9th, 1945 another bomb was dropped, Fat
Man on Nagasaki, a Japanese city, killing 80,000 people either instantly
or from wounds the first day(History.com. A&E Television Networks,
n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
Yohko Kuwabara, a 7th grade girl, at the time remembered the
morning before
the first bomb, Little Boy was dropped, and said,
It was a clear but sultry morning the midsummer sun was so bright it
almost hurt my eyes. I looked at my watch. It was already past seven.

Ill be late for school! I started getting ready for school in a hurry. The
awful scream of the air-raid siren began to echo across the morning
sky, but the all-clear signal was given soon after. I left home and
rushed over the dry and dusty asphalt to the Yamaguchicho streetcar
stop. After I had waited thirty of forty minutes, a streetcar for Koi
pulled up, already packed. Everyone at the stop moved toward the
door at once, pushing and shoving. It looked as if I would not be able
to get on, no matter how hard I tried I pushed my way through unit I
was standing behind the driver.. Through the windshield I looked at the
pedestrians hurrying on their way, Suddenly, a strong flash of light
startled me- and another.. A profound weakness overcame me, so I
stopped to regain my strength. To my surprise I was completely
naked.. All over the right side of my body was cut and bleeding. A
larger splinter was protruding from a wound in my thigh.. Embedded in
my neck was a sizeable fragment of glass.. ( Publishing Committee
for children of Hiroshima. Childrean of Hiroshima. 1980. London:
Taylor and Francis, Ltd, 1981.260-261)
There were approximately 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the
Atomic Bomb was dropped and only 28,000 remained after it dropped.
After these horrific events Japans Empire announced its surrender on
August 15, 1945 but was formally signed on September 2,1945,
bringing the war to an end(History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d.
Web. 25 Nov. 2015.).

These kinds of weapons could kill everyone entirely. These weapons

also eliminated the word win because any county with weapons like
these no one would win, everyone would die and it would be the end of
society, as we know it. It is not entirely known which countries may
have these kinds of nuclear- weapons but an article by Euro news
suggests the USA, Russia, France, China, and the UK now has many
warheads(Edward Teller. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.) . Also according
to this article India, Pakistan and North Korea have testing sites.
The invention of the Atomic Bomb soon led to not only making more
nuclear weapons but making them better and more effective, causing
the way America fights war to never be the same. January 31, 1950
Truman announced in a nationwide radio address that he had
instructed AEC, Atomic Energy Commission, to continue its work on all
forms of atomic weapons, including the so-called hydrogen or superbomb. (Duck and Cover Drills Bring the Cold War Home. N.p., n.d.
Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
One might ask the question, why would we want to build or use
another weapon like this now knowing the effects they have? Fear was
the number one reason American did it and because they could do it,
according to Robert Oppenheimer. The American Nation was scared of
the Soviet Unions Atomic Bomb and proceeded to build a Super. The
Supper is a weapon that would to be the first fusion bomb, which would
be stronger and more efficient than the first Atomic Bombs. This fusion

bomb idea came from a Hungarian physicist, Edward Teller, who was
thinking about making a fusion bomb even before the Manhattan
Project1. By 1949 the Soviet Union had developed its own atomic
bomb and with that the Cold War nuclear arms race had begun2.
On the political and ethical sides of these kinds of weapons led to
many conflicts with other nations such as the Soviet Union and even
North Korea. The Cold War was a frightening time for people
everywhere. Since people now knew the use of an Atomic Bomb and
demolish an entire civilization within seconds the Duck and Cover
movement had begun. This tactic was shown in schools across the
nations. It was a way of training for self-protection (Duck and Cover
Drills Bring the Cold War Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.)
These were scary times for the people of the mid 1900s; these
nuclear weapons had wreaked all kinds of havoc within the world.
Americas release of Little boy and Fat Man is still talked about and
what events had led to releasing that kind of weapon. Most arguments
state that American needed to protect its own first and releasing these
weapons helped more American soldiers from dying in the Pacific. After
America found out the Soviets also had weapons like these it was only
a matter of time other nations would possess them as well, so America
build more, more effective and stronger than the first to stay ahead of
these uprising nations.
1
2

Through studies, interviews and research, one can see all the
effects the Atomic Bomb had and still has on society, the environment,
new and growing technology, medical equipment and also the harm
that these weapons can cause like radiation, mass destruction and
death. Our technology is vastly more effective than that of 70 years
ago; America and other nations are still making and discovering new
ways to make weapons like the Atomic Bomb. Although these weapons
are highly effective no one can win.