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plutonium production was increasing fast enough so that a test would cause little delay intime. They feared that if they dropped the untested plutonium bomb and it failed to work, “theenemy would find themselves owners of a ‘gift’ atomic weapon.”(Szasz 26) The final agreement forthe test was that the bomb would be placed in “a gigantic, 214-ton, cylinder-shaped tank (called’Jumbo’).”(Szasz 26) If the plutonium correctly fissioned, the tank would be vaporized. If it did notwork correctly, the conventional explosives would be contained in the tank and the plutoniumwould stay in the tank. After further development of the implosion design and fears that “Jumbo”would dramatically distort all “their complicated instrumentation-the raison d’ tre for thetest,”(Szasz 36) the world’s largest pressure tank was not used. On Monday, July 16, 1945, at 5:29:45 A.M., Mountain War Time, the plutonium bomb ignited atthe Trinity site, a remote site in the New Mexico desert. “The explosion created s brilliant flash thatwas seen in three states.”(Szasz 83) There were many reports from civilians from all over thatdescribed the experience. People who saw it said it looked like the sun had risen for a few minutesand then went back down. Others thought they had seen a large plane or meteor crash. A sheepherder who was laying sleeping on a cot fifteen miles away was blown off. “The SmithsonianObservatory on Burro Mountain confirmed a shock but noted that the vibrations were unlike anyearthquake ever recorded.”(Szasz 84) An eight year-old boy was awakened and ran for hisMethodist parents, and they considered if this might be the end of the world. The most powerful statement that has been cited in practically every coverage of the atomic bombis Georgia Green’s experience. She was being driven to Albuquerque. “What was that?” she askedher brother-in-law, who was driving. This was very unusual because Georgia Green was blind. Brigadier General Farrell wrote a letter for the Secretary of War. “‘No man-made phenomenon ofsuch tremendous power had ever occurred before . . . Thirty seconds after the explosion came,first, the air blast pressing hard against people and things, to be followed almost immediately by thestrong, sustained, awesome roar which warned of doomsday and made us feel that we puny thingswere blasphemous to dare tamper with forces heretofore reserved to the Almighty. Words areinadequate tools for the job of acquainting those not present with the physical, mental andpsychological effects.”(Groueff 355)Upon witnessing the explosion, reactions among the bomb’s creators were mixed. Their missionhad been successfully accomplished, however, they questioned whether “the equilibrium in naturehad been upset — as if humankind had become a threat to the world it inhabited.”(Outlaw 3)Oppenheimer was ecstatic about the success of the bomb, but quoted a fragment from BhagavadGita. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Many people who were involved in thecreation of the atomic bomb signed petitions against dropping the bomb. The atomic bomb has been used twice in warfare. The Uranium bomb nicknamed “Little Boy,”which weighed over 4.5 tons, was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. At 0815 hoursthe bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay. It missed Ground Zero at 1,980 feet by only 600feet. “At 0816 hours, in the flash of an instant, 66,000 people were killed and 69,000 people wereinjured by a 10 kiloton atomic explosion.”(Outlaw 4) [See blast ranges diagram]Nagasaki fell to the same treatment as Hiroshima on August 9, 1945. The plutonium bomb, “FatMan,” was dropped on the city. It missed its intended target by over one and a half miles. “Nagasaki’s population dropped in one split-second from 422,000 to 383,000. 39,000 werekilled, over 25,000 were injured. That blast was less than 10 kilotons as well. Physicists who havestudied the atomic explosions conclude that the bombs utilized “only 0.1% of their respectiveexplosive capabilities.”(Outlaw 4)Controversy still exists about dropping the two atomic bombs on Japan. Arguments defending theJapanese claim “the atomic bomb did not win the war in the Pacific; at best, it hastened Japaneseacceptance of a defeat that was viewed as inevitable.”(Grolier 8) Other arguments state that theUnited States should have warned the Japanese, or that we should have invited them to a publicdemonstration. “In retrospect that U.S. use of the atomic bomb may have been the first act of thecold war.”(Grolier 8) On the other side, advocates claimed that the invasion of the Japaneseislands could and would result in over one million military casualties plus the civilian losses basedon previous invasions of Japanese occupied islands. ============================================================================ – Diagram for Plutonium Bomb – ——————————– [Gravity Bomb - Implosion Model] ——————————– -> Cutaway Sections Visible ============================================================================ / / / _________________/_______________________ | : ||: : | [2]——-> | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | : ||: : | | :______||:_____________________________: | |/_______||/______________________________| | : |:| / | | : |:| / | | :__________|:| / |:_ | :__________:| / |___ |______________| / | | / |_______|__________________/ |_____________________________| / / / / _______________ / ___/ ___ /____ __/ __ ____ [3]_______________________________ ___| / __/ __ / / / / / ___________ / / __/_____________ ./ /__ ___ /================= ___ __ . [4]——-> ___||___|====|[[[[[|||||||]]]]]|====|___||___ / / |=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=| .’ / _______ _______/ `. : |___ |*| ___| : .’ | _________________ |*| _________________/ | `. : | ___________ ___ |*| / ___ ___________ | : : |__/ / _*//_/ /