The bomb dropped on Hiroshima had never been beta tested but it virtually exhausted our hard-won U-235 supply from Oak Ridge. Its design was so simple it didn't need testing.
The Nagasaki bomb used plutonium as the fissile material which was artificially produced at the Hanford Site in WA. Its design was trickier and that's why the Trinity Site experiment was necessary. In theory, we could have made more Pu but not under those time constraints.
The bomb dropped on Hiroshima had never been beta tested but it virtually exhausted our hard-won U-235 supply from Oak Ridge. Its design was so simple it didn't need testing.
ReplyDeleteThe Nagasaki bomb used plutonium as the fissile material which was artificially produced at the Hanford Site in WA. Its design was trickier and that's why the Trinity Site experiment was necessary. In theory, we could have made more Pu but not under those time constraints.
Even after this, it still took Japan 5 days to make up its mind and, even after that, there were several attempts to derail the surrender.
ReplyDeleteI don't think many people appreciate what a delicate thing it was.