Manhattan District History: Book I - General; Volume 4 - Auxiliary Activities; Chapter 8 - Press Releases; Part I

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29 9-8-·'6 Cormo.ent By Seoretuy Ot War On UH Ot Atomio Bomb. 32 13--8-48 lfAOS .M1igned to hnhattu Projeot. 40 9•10-40 Statement Ot Seoretary Ot War letore The Bouie ll1lit1.17 . -ii 20•10-46 Secretary Ot lfar Weloomea Publlca DbouH1on Ot Atomo 44 Statem.e11t to The Pr••• By Seoretary Ot War Conoel'Jl1ng 46 10-12-46 Announoem•t Ot Contaplatecl Joint 1'e1• Ot Atomic 47 4-2-46 lfew College Organised 1or Bigh Ranking Ott1oer1 Ot Armed 1~2-46 Statement By Seoretary Ot War Detore The Senate Speoial Committee On Atomio Energro

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Statement by Goneral Groves Regarding Prevalenoe Of Loose Talk About Atomio Bomb Project. Awards Presented To Scientists For Work On Atomio Bomb. Radio Address By Seoretary Of War On Atomio Ener~. Awards Presented To Atomio Bomb Soientist1. Summary Ot Preas Conterenoe Conduoted By Seoretary Of War On Atomio Energy. Reference To Report On The International Control Ot Atomio Energy And To Possibility Of Denaturing Atomio Explosives. Report On The International eontrol Of Atomio EnerS1• Publioity Proposed To Be Given To Atomio Bomb Teats . Arrrr,( And Navy Munitions Board Survey Ot Underground Last Shipment Bnroute For AtOJll Test At Bikini. General Lellay Plans Pittsburgh Addreaa On Atomio Bomb And Future Air Development. Aberdeen 8tudie1 Regarding Etteot Ot Shook Wavea On Peacetime Application Of Atomio Research Possible Manhattan Projeot Reports On Atoa Bombing Ot Hiroshima And Nagasaki To Be R•leased 29 J~. Photographs Ot The Atomic Bombing• Of Hiro1hima And ResUJIMt Ot Kanhattan Project Reports On Atoxa Bombing ot Hiroahiua And Nagasaki. Remarks ~ Seoreta.ry Ot War On Radio Program •rou And Announoement Ot First Shipment O.f Radioisotopes i'roxa

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Produotion Ot Radioaot1Te I1otope1 In The Pile. Background Uaterial For ToWll Ot Oak Ridge. Baokground Material lor Clinton Laboratorie1. Camp Upton To Be Site Ot lfew AtOJllio Re1earoh Center. Atomio F.nerg LeoturH fo Open In War Departmeat. Remark• By Seoretary Ot War At Opening Ot Atomio Ener17 AddreH By Qeneral Ridgwq At San franoiloo, Cal. Shipped To Great Jri tun. aat Ot The Atomo Buro Collli11ioa.. Calendar Ot Important hent1 In Dnelopment Ot AtoJd.o Atomio Laboratory To Bo Built At Sohneotady, lf. Y.

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NO. DATE TIT LB 93 29-11-46 Ceremonie• To Kark Atomio .A.nniTor•ar:r• 94 29-11-46 Announo811lent Ot Award Ot Conat.ruotion Contraot For 95 1-12-46 Baokground Material for Ob1erTan•e Ot Ann1Tsreary Ot Dnelopment or Ato:mio Energy. v 98 10-12-46 .Announo•ent Ot Award or Contraot Por BrookhaTen lrational 98 l51•1Z-46 Statement Ot Secretary Ot War On fran•ter Ot Manhattan Under Manhattan Projeot. 100 31-12-4.6 Joint .Announoement By Atomio Energy COllllld.11ion And Seoretary Ot War On ?r111•ter Ot llanhattan D11triote 101 31-12-4.6 Statement ot Jleab•ra Ot .Atollio lnera Com.iuioii On Transfer Ot Jl111hattu Dittriot.

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THE WHITE HOUSE IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 6, 1945 STATEMENT BY TEE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an inrportant Japanese Army base. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British "Grand Slam" which is the ].arge st bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare. The Japanese bega..~ the war from the air at Pearl Harbor. They have been repaid many fold. And the end is not yet. With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces. In their present form tnese( bombs are now in production and even more powerful forms are in development. It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws it power has been loosed against those who· brought war to the Far East. Before 1939, it was the accepted belief of scientists that it was theoretically possible to release atomic energy, But no one knew any practical method of doing it. ·By 1942, however, we knew that the Germans were working feverishly to find a way to add atomic energy to the other 'engines of war with which they hoped to enslave the· world. But they failed. We may be gratef'ul to Providence that the Germans got the V-l's and the V-2's late and in limited quantities and even more grateful that they did not get the atomic bomb at all. The battle of the laboratories held fatef'ul risks for us as well as the battles of the air, land and sea, and we have now won the battle of the laboratories as we have won the other battles. Beginning in 1940, before Pearl Harbor, scientific knowledge usef'ul in war was pooled between the United States and Great Britain, end many priceless helps to our victories have come from that arrangement. Under that general policy the research on the atomic. bomb was begun. With American and British scientists working together we entered the race of discovery

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against the Germane. The United States had available the large number of scientists of distinction in the many needed areas of knowledge. It had the tremendous industrial and financial resources necessary for the project and they could be devoted to it without undue impairment of other vital · war work. In the Un_ited States the laboratory work and the production plants, on which a substantial start had already been ma.de, would be out of reach of enemy bombing, while at that time Britain was exposed to constant air attack and was still threatened with the possibility of invasion. For these reasons Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt agreed that it was wise to carry on the project here. We now have 'two great plants and many lesser works devoted to the production of atomic power. Employment during peak construction numbered 125,000 and over 65,000 individuals are even now engaged in operating the plants. Many have worked there for two and a half years. Few know what they have been producing • . They see great quantities of material going in and they see nothing coming out of these plants, for the physical size of the explosive charge is exceedingly s:mall. We have spent two billion dollars on the greatest s c~ entific gamble in history -- and won, But the greatest marvel is not the size of the enterprise, its secrecy, nor its cost, but the achievement of scientific brains in putting together _infinitely complex pieces of knowledge held by many men in .different fields of science into a workable plan. And hardly less marvelous hae been the capacity of indu~try to design, and of labor to operate, the machines and methods to do things never done before so that the brain child of many minds came forth in physical shape and performed as it was supposed to do. Both science and industry worked under the .direction of the United States Army, which achieved a unique success in managing so diverse a problem in the advancement of knowledge in an amazingly short time, It is doubtful if such another combination could be got together in the -world. What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized sctence in history. It was done under high pressure and without failure.

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We are now prepared to obliterate more r apidly and completely every productive enterpr!ae the Japanese have above ground in any city. We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan's power to make war. It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly reje cted that ultilllatum. If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power a s they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which t hey are a lready well aware. The Secretary of War, who has kept in personal touch with all phases of the project, will immediately make public a statement giving further His statement will give facts concerning the sites at Oak Ridge near Knoxville, Tennessee, and at Richland near Pasco, Wa shi ngton, and an installation near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Although the workers at the sites .have been ma.kin~ materials to be used in producing the greatest destructive force in history they have not themselves been in danger beyond that of many other occupations, for the utmost care has been taken:.of their / afety. The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new era in man's understanding of nature's forces. Atomic energy may in the future supplement the power that now comes from coal, oil, and falling water, but at present it cannot be produced on a basis to compete with them commercially. Before that comes there must be a long period of intensive ·research. rt·Jias never been the habit of the scientists of this country or the policy of this Government to withhold from the world s cientific knowledge. Normally, therefore, everything about the work with atomic energy would be -But under present circumstances it is not intended to divulge the technical processes of production or all the military applications, pending

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further examination of possible methods of protecting us and the rest of the world from the danger of sudden destruction. I shall reccmmend that the Congress of the United States consider promptly the establishment of an appropriate commission to control the production and use of atomic power within the United States. I shall give further consideration and make further recommendations to the Congress as to how atomic power can become a powerful and forceful influence towards the maintenance of world peace.

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STATEMENI' OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR The recent use of the atomic bomb over Japan, which was today made known by the President, is the culmination of years of herculean effort on the part of science and industry working in cooperation with the militar1 participants with the utmost energy and the very highest sense of national duty, with the greatest secrecy and the most imperative of time schedules, probably represents the greatest achievement of the' combined· efforts of science, industry, labor, and the military in all history. The military weapon which has been forged from the products of this vast undertaking has an explosive force such as to stagger imagination. Improvements will be forthcoming shortly which will increase by several._ fold the present effectiveness. But more important for the long-range implications of this new weapon, is the possibility that another scale of magnitude will be evolved af'ter considerable research and development. The scientists .are confident that over a period of many years atomic bombs may well be developed . which will be very much more powerful than the atomic bombs now at hand. It is abund'antly clear that the possession of this weapon by the United States even in its present form should prove a tremendous · aid in the shortening of the war against Japan. The requirements of security do not permit of any revelation at this time of the exact methods by which the bombs are produced or of the nature of their action. However, in acc_ord with its policy of keeping the people of the nation as completely informed as is consistent with national security, the War _Department wishes to make known at this time, at least· in broad dimension, the stOry behind this tremendous weapon which has been developed so effectively to hasten the end of the war. Other statements will '- ·be released which will give further details e!Onsertling the scientific and production aspects of the project and will give proper recognition to the scientists, technicians, and the men of industry ;aJJd labor who have '\JtRdit.. '<3

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The chain o:f scienti:fic discoveries which has led t.o the atomic bomb began at the turn o:f the century when radio-activity was discovered. Until 1939 work in this :field was world-wide, being carried on particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germ a-.;i y, France, Italy and Derunark. ' Before the lights w~nt out over Europe and the advent o:f war imposed security restrictions, the fundamental scienti:fic knowledge concerning atomic energy :from which has been developed the atomic bomb now in use by the United States was widely known in many countries, both Allied and Axis. The war, however, ended the exchange of scientific informat~on on. this subject and, with the exception o:f the Uni~ed Kingdom and Canada, the status of work in this .field in other countries is not fully known, but we are convinced that Japan will not be in a pos:i,tion to use an atomic bomb in this war. While it is known that Germany was working feverishly in an attempt to develop such a weapon, her complete defeat and occupation has now removed that source of danger. Thus it was evident when the war began that the development ·of atomic energy for war purposes would occur in the near future and it was a question o:f which nations would control the discovery. A large number of American , scientists were 'pressing forward the boundaries of scientific knowledge in this fertile new field at the time when American science was mobilized for war. Work on atomic fission was also in progress in the United Kingdom when the war began in Europe. A close connection was mairitained between the British inv.estigations and the work here, with a pooling of information on this as on other matters of scientific research of importance for military purposes. It was later a~reed between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill that the project would be most quickly and effectively brought to fruition if all e:ffort were concentrated in the United States, thus ensuring ~ntimate collaboration and also avoiding duplication. As a consequence of ,,this decision, a number of British scientists who had been working on this problem were transferred here in late 1943, and they have from tha~ time participated in the ~evelopment of the project in the United States.

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Late in 1939 the possibility of using atomic energy for military purposes was brought to the attention of President Roosevelt. He appointed a committee to survey the problem. Research which h~d been conducted on a small scale with Navy ftmds was put on a full scale basis as a result of . the recommendations of various scientific committees. At· the end· .of 1941 the decision was made to go all-out on research work, and the project was put tmder the direction of a group of eminent Am,erican scientists in the Office of Scientific Research and Development, ~ith all projects in operation OSRJ;J, reported directly to the President on major develbpments ~ Meanwhile~ President Roosevelt appointed a. General Policy Group, which consisted of this group recommended a great expanaion of the work and the transfer of the major part of the program to the War Dapartment. These recollm.!&:.1dations were approved by President Roosevelt e.nd put into ~ffect. Major General Leslie R. Groves we.a appointed …