The atomic bomb was developed by a group of American, British and European scientists. It was an international project named “The Manhattan Project”. (History.com, 2009) It was developed because the U.S. government officials were aware of a possible new type of radioactive weapon that the Nazi Germany might be developing. They aimed to develop the weapon before the Nazi Germany. (Lallanilla, 2014)
After years of research, they developed two bombs named “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” which used uranium-235 (U-235) and plutonium-239 respectively. Little Boy weighed approximately 9,700 pounds, whereas Fat Man weighed approximately 10,300 pounds. (Lallanilla, 2014)
Little Boy creates a supercritical mass by bringing the subcritical masses together using a gun that fires one mass into the other. It has a sphere of U-235 around the neutron generator. A small bullet of U-235 is removed and placed in front of the explosives at one end of a …show more content…
Initial radiation was exposed approximately one minute from the explosion. Residual radiation stayed in the air and soil, even after a long period of time after the explosion. Radiation is measured in grays. Anyone receiving more than 7 grays of radiation will have no chance of surviving. (Skaer, 1998)
There are around 400 deaths among exposed survivors in the next 30 years following the explosion, due to radiation-induced cancers and leukaemia. Among pregnant survivors, there were teratogenic effects on foetuses which resulted in birth deformities and stillbirths over the next 9 months. (World Nuclear Association, 2014)
Today, the radioactivity in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is so miniscule that it is difficult to distinguish from radioactivity caused by the nuclear fallout after the explosion as opposed to underground atomic-bomb tests that were conducted around the world in past decades, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. (Radiation Effects Research Foundation,
After years of research, they developed two bombs named “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” which used uranium-235 (U-235) and plutonium-239 respectively. Little Boy weighed approximately 9,700 pounds, whereas Fat Man weighed approximately 10,300 pounds. (Lallanilla, 2014)
Little Boy creates a supercritical mass by bringing the subcritical masses together using a gun that fires one mass into the other. It has a sphere of U-235 around the neutron generator. A small bullet of U-235 is removed and placed in front of the explosives at one end of a …show more content…
Initial radiation was exposed approximately one minute from the explosion. Residual radiation stayed in the air and soil, even after a long period of time after the explosion. Radiation is measured in grays. Anyone receiving more than 7 grays of radiation will have no chance of surviving. (Skaer, 1998)
There are around 400 deaths among exposed survivors in the next 30 years following the explosion, due to radiation-induced cancers and leukaemia. Among pregnant survivors, there were teratogenic effects on foetuses which resulted in birth deformities and stillbirths over the next 9 months. (World Nuclear Association, 2014)
Today, the radioactivity in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is so miniscule that it is difficult to distinguish from radioactivity caused by the nuclear fallout after the explosion as opposed to underground atomic-bomb tests that were conducted around the world in past decades, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. (Radiation Effects Research Foundation,