The Manhattan Project

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One of the Last Living Manhattan Project Scientists Looks Back at the Atomic Bomb Tests

For the elite scientists, engineers and military brass of the Army’s remote nuclear weapons facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico, the night of July 15–16, 1945, was one of excruciating tension.

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The Atomic Buildup

The Manhattan Project (watch overview) was a top-secret US government program that developed the world’s first atomic weapons. In 1938, scientists in Germany discovered nuclear fission—the splitting of an atom that releases enormous energy. Fearing Nazi Germany might build an atomic bomb, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized advisory committees to study nuclear weapons—efforts that evolved into the Manhattan Project in 1942.    > Albert Einstein wrote a 1939 letter warning President Roosevelt about the possibility of atomic bombs—a decision he later regretted. (More) > Atomic bombs release nuclear energy by splitting large atomic nuclei. (More, w/video)   The US Army Corps of Engineers oversaw the project under the direction of General Leslie Groves, with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer serving as scientific director. Work took place across three primary sites where scientists produced the fissile material and designs for the first nuclear weapons.   > The Manhattan Project's three key sites: Hanford, Washington, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. (More) > Meet the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. (More) > Cillian Murphy won best actor for his portrayal of Oppenheimer. (More, w/video)   The project culminated in the Trinity test in July 1945, when a plutonium implosion bomb was detonated in the New Mexico desert. The Manhattan Project cost an estimated $27B in today’s dollars and ushered the world into the atomic era, reshaping global warfare, diplomacy, and the balance of power.   > On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare on Hiroshima, Japan, killing at least 80,000 people instantly. (More, w/photos) > The death toll of the atomic bombings in Japan remains disputed, with most deaths occurring within the first day. (More)   Discover more:  > US and Soviet/Russian leaders have previously agreed to arms control treaties, but rising tensions have caused deals to expire in recent years. (More) > Nearly 90% of the world's 12,187 nuclear warheads are held by Russia and the United States. (More, w/chart) > China doubled its nuclear stockpile between 2020 and 2025, with plans for further expansion. (More, w/video)