DOCSLIB.ORG

The Laboratory of the Atomic Age

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Laboratory of the Atomic Age The Laboratory of the Atomic Age Edward Teller ll of us hope that, in the long New Mexico would be an ideal place ongoing liberalism in the old sense run, the energy of the atomic to develop weapons. That remark of the word, that is, an unques- A n nucleus will be used struck me as rather peculiar at the tioned—perhaps even unnoticed— only for peaceful purposes. After a time because it wasn’t until a year tolerance of widely different ideas. half century of nuclear explosives later that Fermi made the final deci- Another remarkable fact about Los and nuclear reactors, the practical sion to emigrate from Fascist Italy Alamos is the uniformity of the effect of the former has been more to the United States. standard of living of its residents. important, both in our thinking and When we arrived in Los Alamos There are no very rich and no very in our expenditures. The existence in late March of 1943, we found a poor. Perhaps this characterization of nuclear weapons has had a decid- striking contrast between the beauti- of Los Alamos sounds too good to ed influence on human affairs. Los ful mountain surroundings and the be true, but I think such praise is Alamos, since its beginnings in dreary, green, barracks-like build- not unfounded. In large part, this March 1943, has been a unique ings in which we were going to live liberal environment is attributable place, distinguished both by its na- and work. Today, nothing is left of to the founder of Los Alamos, ture as a community and its continu- those early structures. After the Robert Oppenheimer. ing influence on world history. I Second World War, people were Los Alamos National Laboratory, will speak to several aspects of both permitted to own the houses in together with its sister laboratory in characteristics. which they lived, and the once uni- Livermore, California, is currently In 1938, Enrico Fermi, my wife, form dwellings were replaced by a near the center of a great controver- Mici, and I were planning to drive beautiful variety. sy. On one side, it can be claimed from Stanford, California to the East Los Alamos is different from all that the efforts undertaken by the Coast. I clearly remember Oppen- other communities not only in ap- weapons laboratories won the Cold heimer’s suggestion that we stop on pearance but also in spirit. It was War and are ultimately responsible the way and spend some time in founded by scientists, and through- for the collapse of the Soviet Union. New Mexico. Even more particular- out its existence, has been led by If even a small portion of this claim ly, I remember Fermi’s remark that scientists. The result has been an is justified, the implied effect on 32 Los Alamos Science Number 21 1993 The Laboratory of the Atomic Age world history is most important— spontaneous fission would trigger a United States to retain great influ- particularly because expenditures on diverging chain of nuclear-fission re- ence in world affairs during the fol- nuclear weapons amounted to rough- actions, and a premature explosion of lowing half century. It was, in my ly only 3 percent of the United far lower energy-yield, that is, a fiz- opinion, an unprecedented situation States military budget over the past zle, would result. It was not many in history: that low-cost military half century and, even more so, be- months afterwards that the complete power should become available and cause the Cold War was won without concept of the solution appeared: an nonetheless not be used for con- any significant loss of life. On the elaborate spherical assembly of the quest, or for the imposition of our other side of this argument, it is fissile material wrapped in “lenses” of wishes in general, but rather for the claimed that we would be better off chemical high explosive, the operation sole purpose of deterrence, stability, had we never created atomic bombs, of which would result in substantial and peace on a global scale. and, now that the Cold War is over, compression of the “incompressible” In the meantime, the development we may forget about them forever. plutonium (or uranium). of nuclear weapons in the Soviet I intend to address this controver- The implementation of this con- Union, Great Britain, France, China, sy at some length as well as its rele- cept required a great deal of refine- India, Israel, and Pakistan is proof vance to the future of the weapons ment of both the techniques for han- that the technology to make nuclear laboratories. But to discuss the fu- dling chemical explosives and the weapons is there to be used by any- ture, we must first consider the past. calculations required for reliable esti- body. The detailed facts about such The most important accomplish- mates of the performance of the de- developments have been kept secret ment of Los Alamos was the con- sign. The result was the experimental and can therefore not be quoted. struction of atomic bombs in the two production of unprecedented pres- But in the special case of Iraq, a years and four months from the sures, exceeding even those that we commission of the United Nations founding of the Laboratory to the knew existed at the center of the has investigated, in an open manner, test in Alamagordo. Before this his- earth. In a period of twenty-eight the work of Saddam Hussein’s tory-making period I had been work- months, several new branches of ex- regime. They found not only that ing in the Manhattan Project labora- perimental physics and numerous cal- Iraq was within a few years of hav- tory in Chicago, which was code- culational techniques were opened up. ing nuclear weapons but also that named the Metallurgical Laboratory, All this was made possible by the these developments had required the and while there I saw a lot of my skillful leadership of Oppenheimer. expenditure of billions of dollars good friend Eugene Wigner. I had That we “created” the atomic and the work of more than twenty come to learn that he was almost al- bomb is not an entirely correct state- thousand remarkably well-trained ways right, and he strongly advised ment. The atomic bomb had been Iraqis in addition to the importation me not to go to the new Los Alamos long since predicted by Leo Szilard, of a great deal of equipment and laboratory. The only difficulty, ac- and it would have been developed, supporting technology. The UN cording to Wigner, was the produc- in any case, in the next one to two commission’s findings have under- tion of the needed nuclear explosive decades. That the nuclear explo- mined two opposing myths: First, material, that is, plutonium. Once sives were made available in time to that a nuclear explosive could be se- we had enough of that, he asserted, write a favorable conclusion to the cretly developed and completed in it would be easy and obvious to put Second World War is the great ac- someone’s garage, and second, that together an atomic bomb. For once complishment of Los Alamos. secrecy will stop the proliferation of Wigner was completely wrong. In fact, the early availability of nuclear weapons. Just a few weeks after we arrived in nuclear explosives and the subse- After the Second World War, Op- Los Alamos, Emilio Segré discovered quent possession of an overwhelm- penheimer’s slogan concerning Los spontaneous fission, a most important ing military force at a continuing Alamos was, “Let us give it back to and unwanted source of neutrons. cost of a small fraction of 1 percent the Indians.” To his great credit This discovery meant that as we tried of our gross national product (count- Norris Bradbury, as the first postwar to assemble the fissile material into a ing only the essential nuclear explo- director of Los Alamos, prevented configuration that would result in a sives on which this force was cen- that from happening. As for the fur- nuclear explosion, the neutrons from tered) have made it possible for the ther development of nuclear explo- 1993 Number 21 Los Alamos Science 33 The Laboratory of the Atomic Age sives, Oppenheimer’s attitude was up and, soon thereafter, are realized. With the passage of many years, it summarized in the statement he While some people may believe we has become quite clear that the hy- made to me in the fall of 1945, “We are fast approaching “the end of his- drogen bomb played an important did a wonderful job and it will be tory,” I still find myself in agree- role in the national military posture many years before anybody can im- ment with Plato: “Only the dead of both the United States and the So- prove on it.” have seen the end of war.” viet Union. I have had the privilege After the war I left Los Alamos to Although Bradbury took a strong of meeting some of the Russian sci- go to the University of Chicago, but stand on advancing the development entists who worked on nuclear I came back for frequent visits. In of fission weapons, he nevertheless weapons. Most important was An- the summer of 1946, I traveled to considered the development of the drei Sakharov, who is credited with Albuquerque to participate in dis- hydrogen bomb to be either an im- the development of the hydrogen cussions with the military regarding possibility or, at best, a challenge bomb in the Soviet Union and who further developments of nu- later became an exception- clear weapons.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Making of an Atomic Bomb
    (Image: Courtesy of United States Government, public domain.) INTRODUCTORY ESSAY "DESTROYER OF WORLDS": THE MAKING OF AN ATOMIC BOMB At 5:29 a.m. (MST), the world’s first atomic bomb detonated in the New Mexican desert, releasing a level of destructive power unknown in the existence of humanity. Emitting as much energy as 21,000 tons of TNT and creating a fireball that measured roughly 2,000 feet in diameter, the first successful test of an atomic bomb, known as the Trinity Test, forever changed the history of the world. The road to Trinity may have begun before the start of World War II, but the war brought the creation of atomic weaponry to fruition. The harnessing of atomic energy may have come as a result of World War II, but it also helped bring the conflict to an end. How did humanity come to construct and wield such a devastating weapon? 1 | THE MANHATTAN PROJECT Models of Fat Man and Little Boy on display at the Bradbury Science Museum. (Image: Courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory.) WE WAITED UNTIL THE BLAST HAD PASSED, WALKED OUT OF THE SHELTER AND THEN IT WAS ENTIRELY SOLEMN. WE KNEW THE WORLD WOULD NOT BE THE SAME. A FEW PEOPLE LAUGHED, A FEW PEOPLE CRIED. MOST PEOPLE WERE SILENT. J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER EARLY NUCLEAR RESEARCH GERMAN DISCOVERY OF FISSION Achieving the monumental goal of splitting the nucleus The 1930s saw further development in the field. Hungarian- of an atom, known as nuclear fission, came through the German physicist Leo Szilard conceived the possibility of self- development of scientific discoveries that stretched over several sustaining nuclear fission reactions, or a nuclear chain reaction, centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • Richard G. Hewlett and Jack M. Holl. Atoms
    ATOMS PEACE WAR Eisenhower and the Atomic Energy Commission Richard G. Hewlett and lack M. Roll With a Foreword by Richard S. Kirkendall and an Essay on Sources by Roger M. Anders University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London Published 1989 by the University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England Prepared by the Atomic Energy Commission; work made for hire. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hewlett, Richard G. Atoms for peace and war, 1953-1961. (California studies in the history of science) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Nuclear energy—United States—History. 2. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission—History. 3. Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969. 4. United States—Politics and government-1953-1961. I. Holl, Jack M. II. Title. III. Series. QC792. 7. H48 1989 333.79'24'0973 88-29578 ISBN 0-520-06018-0 (alk. paper) Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 CONTENTS List of Illustrations vii List of Figures and Tables ix Foreword by Richard S. Kirkendall xi Preface xix Acknowledgements xxvii 1. A Secret Mission 1 2. The Eisenhower Imprint 17 3. The President and the Bomb 34 4. The Oppenheimer Case 73 5. The Political Arena 113 6. Nuclear Weapons: A New Reality 144 7. Nuclear Power for the Marketplace 183 8. Atoms for Peace: Building American Policy 209 9. Pursuit of the Peaceful Atom 238 10. The Seeds of Anxiety 271 11. Safeguards, EURATOM, and the International Agency 305 12.
    [Show full text]
  • Trinity Scientific Firsts
    TRINITY SCIENTIFIC FIRSTS THE TRINITY TEST was perhaps the greatest scientifi c experiment ever. Seventy-fi ve years ago, Los Alamos scientists and engineers from the U.S., Britain, and Canada changed the world. July 16, 1945 marks the entry into the Atomic Age. PLUTONIUM: THE BETHE-FEYNMAN FORMULA: Scientists confi rmed the newly discovered 239Pu has attractive nuclear Nobel Laureates Hans Bethe and Richard Feynman developed the physics fi ssion properties for an atomic weapon. They were able to discern which equation used to estimate the yield of a fi ssion weapon, building on earlier production path would be most effective based on nuclear chemistry, and work by Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls. The equation elegantly encapsulates separated plutonium from Hanford reactor fuel. essential physics involved in the nuclear explosion process. PRECISION HIGH-EXPLOSIVE IMPLOSION FOUNDATIONAL RADIOCHEMICAL TO CREATE A SUPER-CRITICAL ASSEMBLY: YIELD ANALYSIS: Project Y scientists developed simultaneously-exploding bridgewire detonators Wartime radiochemistry techniques developed and used at Trinity with a pioneering high-explosive lens system to create a symmetrically provide the foundation for subsequent analyses of nuclear detonations, convergent detonation wave to compress the core. both foreign and domestic. ADVANCED IMAGING TECHNIQUES: NEW FRONTIERS IN COMPUTING: Complementary diagnostics were developed to optimize the implosion Human computers and IBM punched-card machines together calculated design, including fl ash x-radiography, the RaLa method,
    [Show full text]
  • Duck and Cover: How Print Media, the U.S. Government, and Entertainment Culture Formedamerica's Understanding of the Atom
    DUCK AND COVER: HOW PRINT MEDIA, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, AND ENTERTAINMENT CULTURE FORMEDAMERICA’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE ATOM BOMB A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By Daniel Patrick Wright B.A., University of Cincinnati, 2013 2015 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL May 5, 2015 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Daniel Patrick Wright ENTITLED Duck and Cover: How Print Media, the U.S. Government and Entertainment Culture Formed America’s Understanding of the Atom Bomb BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Arts ________________________________ Jonathan Winkler, Thesis Director ________________________________ Carol Herringer, Chair History Department Committee on College of Liberal Arts Final Examination ________________________________ Drew Swanson, Ph.D. ________________________________ Nancy Garner, Ph.D. ________________________________ Robert E. W. Fyffe, Ph.D. Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School ABSTRACT Wright, Daniel Patrick. M.A. Department of History, Wright State University, 2015. Duck and Cover: How Print Media, the U.S. Government and Entertainment Culture Formed America’s Understanding of the Atom Bomb This research project will explore an overview of the different subsections of American post-war society that contributed to the American “atomic reality” in hopes of revealing how and why the American understanding of atomic weapons did not slowly evolve over the course of a generation, but instead materialize rapidly in the years following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By analyzing government sources and programs, print media sources such as newspapers and magazines, and the American entertainment culture of the 1940s and 1950s, this research project will answer exactly why and how the American public arrived at its understanding of the atom bomb.
    [Show full text]
  • HISC 111, UCSD, FALL 2011 the Atomic Bomb & the Atomic Age William Clark / [email protected] / Lecture: Tuesdays-Thursdays 5
    HISC 111, UCSD, FALL 2011 The Atomic Bomb & the Atomic Age William Clark / [email protected] / Lecture: Tuesdays-Thursdays 5-6:20 PM, Center Hall 113 Office: 2302 HSS, East Wing / Hours: Tues+Thurs 12-1 & 6:30-7:30 P.M. Philip Clements ([email protected]): Sections & Office Hrs. TBA Audrey Lackner ([email protected]): Sections & Office Hrs. TBA There are no requirements or expected prior knowledge to take this class. You are expected to come to lectures. Grading: Class Participation (15+%) + Midterm (30%) + Final (55%). The class participation 15+% is given automatically to each student, but “bad behavior” (see below) will lead to a loss of some of this per cent of the grade. The midterm and final will consist of in-class short answers and essays. Exams will be based on materials presented in lectures and discussed in sections. You will NOT be examined on readings and videos per se, although they will be of great use in acquiring a depth of knowledge to write the essays. Excepting pace-makers, heating aids, and book-lights. all electronic devices are forbidden in class – use of such devices will severely impact your class participation grade! This means no texting etc. in class. The discussion sections are optional. It is absolutely possible to get an A in the class without attending any sections. But the TAs will play a very big role in formulating the midterm and final essay questions, based on discussions in the sections to be set up: we shall begin setting up the days and times of the sections on Thursday, 22 September, based on input from all the students.
    [Show full text]
  • Nuclear Power Standardization
    NUCLEAR POWER STANDARDIZATION By Robert Zuppert INTRODUCTION America has not ordered a new nuclear power plant since the 1970s. France, by contrast, has built 58 plants in the same period. And today, France gets more than 78 percent of its electricity from safe, clean nuclear power.1 America’s production of nuclear power plants in the United States has been stagnant for nearly 30 years. On the forefront of the failure of the government and private sector to revitalize the nuclear power industry has been the lack of standardization within the licensing, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. The failure to standardize all facets of nuclear power prevented the industry from being able to continue its licensing process following the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in 1979. “After Three Mile Island (TMI), plants already designed and built, or partially built, incurred additional costs and delays associated with changes resulting from TMI.”2 Throughout this research paper, I will analyze the history of nuclear power and how the lack of a formal standardization process significantly affected the licensing process of nuclear reactors by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). From the early licensing process, I will present why standardization was needed in the nuclear power industry and how the NRC implemented their new standardized licensing process for all nuclear reactors. Following my analysis, I will offer recommendations to help improve the current status of standardization in 1 Bush, George W. “A Secure Energy Future for America.” Nuclear Plant Journal. Vol. 23, Iss. 3 (May/Jun 2005), 42. 2 Blankinship, Steve.
    [Show full text]
  • Risk Criticism: Precautionary Reading in an Age of Environmental
    0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE Revised Pages RISK CRITICISM Revised Pages Revised Pages Risk Criticism PRECAUTIONARY READING IN AN AGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL UNCERTAINTY Molly Wallace UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS Ann Arbor Revised Pages Copyright © 2016 by Molly Wallace All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid- free paper 2019 2018 2017 2016 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Wallace, Molly, author. Title: Risk criticism : precautionary reading in an age of environmental uncertainty / Molly Wallace. Description: Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015038637 | ISBN 9780472073023 (hardback) | ISBN 9780472053025 (paperback) | ISBN 9780472121694 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Ecocriticism. | Criticism. | Risk in literature. | Environmental risk assessment. | Risk-taking (Psychology) Classification: LCC PN98.E36 W35 2016 | DDC 809/.93355— dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038637 Revised Pages For my family Revised Pages Revised Pages Acknowledgments This book has been a number of years in the writing, and I am deeply grate- ful for the support and encouragement that I have received along the way.
    [Show full text]
  • The Atomic Age – History 105A - Spring 2007
    The Atomic Age – History 105A - Spring 2007 Instructor: Prof. W. Patrick McCray Time: 9:00 – 9:50 on M-W-F in HSSB 1174 Office and Office Hours: HSSB 4224; Monday and Friday 10-11 or by appointment Phone: 805.893.2665 E-mail: [email protected] COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course examines important aspects of the nuclear era from 1945 to the signing of the first arms treaties between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R in the 1960s. We will also pay some attention to nuclear issues during the Carter-Reagan years. A course on the atomic age could be taught from a number of perspectives – social history, history of technology, the impact of nuclear weapons on military history, the effect of atomic weapons on foreign policy, and so forth. The focus here is on two primary areas – the diverse roles that scientists had during the Atomic Age and the powerful influence nuclear weapons had over American military strategy, politics, and popular culture. TEXTBOOKS: Please purchase the following paperback books. There are also several articles on electronic reserve in the library for you to read. 1. Lawrence Badash, Scientists and the Development of Nuclear Weapons: From Fission to the Limited Test Ban Treaty (ISBN: 1-57392-538-1) 2. Shane Maddock (editor), Problems in American Civilization: The Nuclear Age (ISBN: 0-618-00737-7) 3. Philip Cantelon, Richard Hewlett, and Robert Williams (eds.), The American Atom (Referred to below as ‘CHW’) (ISBN: 0-8122-1354-8) 4. Richard Smoke, National Security and the Nuclear Dilemma (ISBN: 0-07-059352-3) 5.
    [Show full text]
  • The Unsustainable Legacy of the Nuclear Age 1
    The unsustainable legacy of the Nuclear Age 1 The enduring legacy of the Nuclear Age is incompatible with the terrestrial (and human) environment Angelo Baracca Retired Professor of Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy: [email protected] Keywords: Nuclear Age; Anthropocene; nuclear tests; radioactive contamination; health consequences; nuclear waste; spent nuclear fuel; plutonium; uranium mining. In the dispute on the beginning of the Anthropocene it has been proposed, among many, a precise date, July 16th 1945, when the Trinity Test exploded the first atomic bomb in the desert of Alamogordo2, which inaugurated the Nuclear Age. On the other hand, the almost contemporaneous Ecomodernist Manifesto proposed that, among other things, “nuclear fission today represents the only present-day zero-carbon technology with the demonstrated ability to meet most, if not all, of the energy demands of a modern economy.”3 I do not agree with either of these thesis. The Atomic Age has undoubtedly been a tremendous acceleration of the impact of human activities on natural environment, but in my opinion it joined, however it exacerbated, the trend embarked upon since the First Industrial Revolution, when Capitalism adopted radically new (scientific) methods to exploit and “commodise” Nature and its resources. This breakthrough kicked off the development of industrial processes carried out in physical and chemical conditions further and further away from the conditions of the natural environment on Earth surface,
    [Show full text]
  • The Pre-History of Nuclear Development in Pakistan
    Fevered with Dreams of the Future: The Coming of the Atomic Age to Pakistan* Zia Mian Too little attention has been paid to the part which an early exposure to American goods, skills, and American ways of doing things can play in forming the tastes and desires of newly emerging countries. President John F. Kennedy, 1963. On October 19, 1954, Pakistan’s prime minister met the president of the United States at the White House, in Washington. In Pakistan, this news was carried alongside the report that the Minister for Industries, Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, had announced the establishment of an Atomic Energy Research Organization. These developments came a few months after Pakistan and the United States had signed an agreement on military cooperation and launched a new program to bring American economic advisers to Pakistan. Each of these initiatives expressed a particular relationship between Pakistan and the United States, a key moment in the coming into play of ways of thinking, the rise of institutions, and preparation of people, all of which have profoundly shaped contemporary Pakistan. This essay examines the period before and immediately after this critical year in which Pakistan’s leaders tied their national future to the United States. It focuses in particular on how elite aspirations and ideas of being modern, especially the role played by the prospect of an imminent ‘atomic age,’ shaped Pakistan’s search for U.S. military, economic and technical support to strengthen the new state. The essay begins by looking briefly at how the possibility of an ‘atomic age’ as an approaching, desirable global future took shape in the early decades of the twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • NUCLEAR WEAPONS a Very Short Introduction by Joseph M
    NUCLEAR WEAPONS A Very Short Introduction By Joseph M. Siracusa Questions for Thought and Discussion Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction rests on a single premise: the bomb still matters. Do you agree or disagree? If so, why? If not, why not? Does the spread of nuclear weapons make the world safer or more dangerous? Be specific in your answer. Describe and examine the race to beat the Nazis to the bomb. And why does it matter? The bombings of Hiroshima, and three days later, Nagasaki, were a terrible act of war, but they were no crime. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? And why? Compare and contrast the Baruch Plan and the Gromyko Plan. What were the sticking points? To what extent if any did the Soviet detonation of an atomic device in August 1949 alter the nuclear arms race? What was the purpose of President Ronald Reagan’s missile defence system (SDI)? Was it ever practical or merely a bargaining chip in arms negotiations? The H-bomb really changed everything, transforming the very nature of war and peace. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Be specific. Most scholars agree that the post-Cold War world was decidedly not post-nuclear. Do you agree or disagree? And why? There is a great debate today surrounding the issue of no first use of nuclear weapons. Why is this significant? Why would North Korea want nuclear weapons? And what would it take for them to forego their development? Describe and examine the significance of the 1972 ABM Treaty.
    [Show full text]
  • Student Workbook for Science in the Atomic Age
    Student Workbook for Science in the Atomic Age Property of: Student Workbook for Science in the Atomic Age Published by Berean Builders Muncie, IN bereanbuilders.com Copyright ©2020 Berean Builders Publishing, All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America By My Father’s World ISBN: 978-1-7350291-0-8 A copy of this document can be made for any student who owns Science in the Atomic Age Table of Contents Daily Assignments ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Worksheets ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 Documenting Experiments .......................................................................................................................... 171 Laboratory Notebook ................................................................................................................................... 175 Daily Assignments The daily assignments are built into the layout of the textbook. You will basically spend seven days in a given two-week period reading and doing experiments. You will then spend two days answering the questions in the chapter review. Finally, you’ll spend one day taking the test. This book is made up of 16 chapters. The first one is shorter than the others, because it is a general introduction to science and to the process of documenting experiments. Each chapter contains reading and
    [Show full text]