The Effects of Nuclear Weapons Essay -- Nuclear Weapons Essays

The Effects of Nuclear Weapons The United States is the most powerful country in the World. They have the biggest army, navy, and airforce, but that is not why other countries fear them. The reason the United States is feared, is because of its nuclear capabilities. The United States has the power to blow up the entire World without even using half of their nuclear bombs. Having all of this nuclear power is good, because it prevents other countries from trying to go to war with the United States. The problem with these bombs is that in order to make sure they work, the United States has to test them. There is only one way to test a nuclear bomb, and that is by letting it off. When they test these bombs, it send radiation flying through the air, causing many innocent civilians to get severely sick, and even die. Not only do these bombs effect humans, but they also effect the wildlife. When these bombs are sent off in the ocean, they kill many fish, and also plant life. Some fish don't die and then are con taminated with the radiation For years the government has been testing Nuclear Weapons to make sure that they work, incase we ever have to use them. It is a good idea to make sure that our country is protected, but is it worth killing American citizens in the process. The idea for a Nuclear Bomb came into the picture, during World War II. The code name for the project to create it was the Manhattan Project. It was named for the Manhattan Engineer District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, because much of the early research was done in New York City. In 1942 General Leslie Groves was chosen to lead the project, and he immediately purchased a site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee for facilities to separate the necessary ur... ...Nagasaki, in order to end WW II, and to save American lives at the same time. The question remains, just how many American live were saved, if you add up all of the people that died from the nuclear testing that followed after the war? Works Cited: 1. Manhattan Project. "The Story." www.gis.net/~carter/manhattan/thestory.html. 2. "Atomic Bomb – Truman Press Release – August 6, 1945. www.trumanlibrary.org/teaching/abomb.htm#further. 3. York, The Advisor, p. 77. 4. Michael Marchino, "A Wrongful Death," Progressive, November 1980, pp. 9-10. 5. Atomic Veterans’ Newsletter, November/December 1979, p. 7 6. Ralph E. Lapp, The Voyage of the Lucky Dragon (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1958), pp. 81-83. 7. Robert C. Pendleton, et al. "Iodine-131 in Utah During July and August 1962, "Science, August 16, 1963, pp. 640-642.