All Questions
Tagged with nuclear-weapons world-war-two
36
questions
23
votes
1
answer
13k
views
Why did the United States drop a uranium bomb instead of a plutonium bomb on Hiroshima?
Why did the United States choose to use an untested uranium-fueled (Little Boy) bomb at Hiroshima instead of a plutonium-fueled (Fat Man) bomb, which had been successfully tested at Trinity? Surely ...
- 363
-1
votes
2
answers
275
views
Is the assertion that the A-bomb deterred Stalin plausible? [closed]
An answer on Quora asserted that if the USA had not dropped the a-bomb on Japan that Stalin would've invaded France and not stopped to meet the rest of the allies in Germany?
Is there any evidence to ...
23
votes
1
answer
14k
views
How much did J. Robert Oppenheimer get paid while overseeing the Manhattan Project?
I am curious to determine how much J. Robert Oppenheimer got paid in today's dollars when he was the head of Los Alamos National Laboratory?
Do we have any HR or accounting documents of the Los Alamos ...
- 497
-1
votes
1
answer
340
views
Would Stalin have dropped the nuclear bomb on Germany in 1945, if he had it then? [closed]
In an interview on RT Putin said, "I really doubt that Stalin,
in the Spring of 1945, if he had a nuclear bomb, I doubt that he would have
dropped it on Germany. In 1941 or 1942, when it was a ...
- 117
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Did the US really consider demonstrating the atomic bomb to the Japanese by "blowing the top" off of Mt. Fuji?
In reading this Washington Post article titled Five myths about the atomic bomb, it's mentioned:
The decision to use nuclear weapons is usually presented as either/or: either drop the bomb or land on ...
- 1,279
46
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Did the leaflets from the US to Hiroshima/Nagasaki civilians on bombing cities reduce the civilian casualties of the two nuclear bombs in August 1945?
I read on Wikipedia
Various leaflets were dropped on Japan, three versions showing the names of 11 or 12 Japanese cities targeted for destruction by firebombing. The other side contained text stating ...
2
votes
0
answers
130
views
Did the Japenese consider the atomic bomb no worse than any other bomb? [duplicate]
I read another article asserting that the US needlessly dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, but this one had a different spin: the Soviets had already defeated the Japanese. It basically lays out the ...
- 263
-4
votes
2
answers
353
views
How long did it take for Japanese high command to believe 1 bomb could destroy a city? [closed]
In 1776, had a man walked into the Continental Congress and told the Founding Fathers that the city of Boston seemed to be "gone". A few days prior, as he approached Boston, in the distance he'd seen ...
- 727
-4
votes
2
answers
417
views
What was the purpose of each project site during the Manhattan Project?
I'm looking for an answer as to what the purpose of each project site was during the Manhattan Project. The following image illustrates (but only includes some of the sites) where each site was ...
- 125
0
votes
1
answer
266
views
How much support did America give to the scientists working on the Manhattan Project?
How much support did America give to the scientists working on the Manhattan Project, be it financial or otherwise?
Did physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who headed the project to develop the atomic ...
- 125
10
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How important were Einstein and Szilard and other scientists to the creation and ultimate success of the Manhattan Project?
How important was Einstein and Szilard and other scientists to the creation and ultimate success of the Manhattan Project?
I understand that the Einstein-Szilard letter to President Roosevelt ...
- 125
8
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Where did one-in-a-million chance of nuking the atmosphere come from?
There's a well-known story that, while developing the atom bomb, the scientists at Los Alamos determined that there was a one-in-a-million chance that setting off the bomb would cause the atmosphere ...
- 8,539
31
votes
1
answer
5k
views
What was the plan for an abort of the Enola Gay's mission to drop the atomic bomb?
Following up on this answer...
@mark, in the answer, writes that "[i]n the event that the crew of Enola Gay had to abort their mission, they had no intention of trying to land with the bomb still ...
- 413
43
votes
3
answers
11k
views
Was there a contingency plan in place if Little Boy failed to detonate?
It's August 6th, 1945. The first atomic bomb ever dropped hurtles to the ground. Its fuse fails and with a thunk it buries itself in the ground. The Enola Gay flies home, its crew worried they did ...
- 1,938
9
votes
2
answers
512
views
Did the Allies' attacks on Germany's heavy water supply lead to any reevaluation of its nuclear goals?
It is well-known that throughout much of WWII the Allies made persistent attacks on Norsk Hydro's Vermork heavy-water plant, and on the transportation of heavy water from there, up until the point ...
- 352