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Mand125 t1_jadrlwp wrote

Well, the point of the bomb part is you not keeping them under control.

How we did it the first time was decades of research from the world’s best scientists, starting with the basics of nuclear physics and how the different particles would interact. On top of that knowledge was a ton of engineering about how to manufacture the material components needed, including building an entire chemical processing plant at Oak Ridge, TN. Then it was experiments on the different shapes and components, and how to get them to work together.

Ultimately, the process is to take the fissile material and drastically compress it, turning it from merely dangerously radioactive to explosively radioactive.

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police-ical t1_jadupbt wrote

To add to the why question: The 1940s were a pretty terrifying time in human history. A few powerful countries were under the total control of people who believed their country was superior and had the right to overrun the world around them. Every major country was trying as hard as possible to make the most effective weapons to win the war. In 1941-42, it looked entirely possible that Germany was going to overrun the Soviet Union, murder or starve most of the people living in Eastern Europe, and be in an invulnerable position controlling Europe with an eye towards the Middle East, while Japan might control much of Asia. The idea of a bomb that could destroy a city looked like the one thing that could defeat Germany and save civilization. The U.S. and U.K. poured a lot of money and top scientists into it because it looked like a war-winner. (Fun fact: The project to develop the B-29 bomber, which dropped the first atomic bomb, was actually more expensive than the bomb project.) In the end, the Soviets fought like hell, the Western allies invaded as well, and Germany lost a conventional war, so Japan got bombed instead.

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