The Manhattan Project Research Paper

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Involvement of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan project resulted in the building and the detonation of the first atomic bombs in world history. During the Manhattan Project (1942 to 1946), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (operating under the governance and oversight of the U.S. Department of Defense) helped in the planning, design, procurement, construction, and development of atomic bombs. In the summer of 1945, after approximately three years of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers involvement in the Manhattan Project, two different types of atomic bombs (a uranium fission weapon code named Little Boy and a plutonium implosion device code named Fat Man) were built and dropped on Japan. The detonations of …show more content…
The S-1 Uranium Committee (i.e., an ad hoc assembly that headed the atomic bomb project prior to it becoming the Manhattan Project) decided to proceed with all possible fuel production pathways: gaseous diffusion, centrifugal, electromagnetic, and pile (Conant & the Bomb, n.d.). The decision to support all feasible approaches to fuel development imposed massive construction and logistical responsibilities on the government. In fact, each approach to weapons grade materials production required the construction of highly secure and specialized industrial/scientific facilities. The S-1 Uranium Committee mandate also required the procurement of diverse materials and resources. Thus, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was called upon to take charge of the critical responsibilities associated with the building and successful operation of research facilities and industrial sites across the United …show more content…
Army Corps of Engineers had managed the construction and security of more than a dozen sites. Three of the most vital and well known project sites included Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Tinian Island (the launching point of the Enola Gay bomber) (Conant & the Bomb, n.d.). The staffing of these facilities required a large contingency of skilled engineers, technicians, and military personnel. To assist in the staffing process, the Army Corps of Engineers created a sub-agency called the Special Engineering Detachment (SED). Most notably, the SED sent representatives to colleges and universities across the United States to support the recruitment of qualified workers. Instead of being sent into the combat theaters of Europe and the Pacific, college students with science and engineering education and backgrounds were offered the opportunity to work on a special project. For just the Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Tinian Island sites alone, the SED recruited more than 3,000 men and women to fill vital positions (Seidel, n.d.). The diverse team of workers recruited by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was involved in virtually every aspect of the Manhattan Project including bomb design, inventory control, bomb development, logistics, and critical technical support for lead scientists and engineers. It can be said, therefore, that throughout the Manhattan Project, the U.S. Army
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