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The Uranium Committee
Lyman J. Briggs and his team of advisers met for the first time to discuss the current research on uranium and the governments role in the project. -
The First Report
The Uranium Committee issued its first report on November 1st, 1939. It called for the government to supply 4 tons of graphite and 50 tons of uranium oxide. -
Reorganization
In June 1940 president Roosevelt decided that the committee should be more of a scientific community so he decided to remove all military personnel from the Uranium committee. -
A Snails Pace
During 1939 and 1940 the research on uranium was in laboratories and was moving painfully slow. In response to this scientist Earnest O. Lawrence started a campaign to push for the uranium research to move faster in early 1941. -
Out With the Old
On June 28th an executive order established the Office of Scientific Research and Development. This order also made The Uranium Committee the Office of Scientific Research and Development on Uranium, code-named S1. -
The MAUD Report
The MAUD report was written by a group of distinguished scientists in Britain. It dismissed plutonium production, thermal diffusion, the electromagnetic method, and the centrifuge. It called for gaseous diffusion of uranium 235 on a massive scale. -
Code-named: The Manhattan Project
In December 1941, the American effort to create a bomb received its code-name: The Manhattan Project -
Indecision
On May 23, 1942 Bush and his committee decided to push forward with all 4 processes: gaseous diffusion, electromagnetic, centrifuge, and he pile. This showed the committees indecisiveness and unwillingness to abandon any method. -
New Boss
With the project's sense of urgency renewed, Bush and the Army decided that an officer other than George C. Marshall should head the entire project. So on September 17th 1942 the Army appointed Colonel Leslie R. Groves to head the project. -
Decision Time... Sorta
On November 12th 1942, Groves and the Military Policy Committee decided to abandon the centrifuge project. Gaseous diffusion, the pile, and the electromagnetic method were to proceed to full scale, eliminating the pilot plant stage. -
The First Reaction
On December 2nd, 1942, Fermi's massive lattice pile of 400 hundred tons of graphite, 6 tons of uranium metal, and 50 tons of uranium oxide achieved the first self sustaining chain reaction. It only produced about 1/2 of a watt but 10 days later it was upgraded to 200 watts. -
Full Authorization
President Roosevelt fully authorized the project on December 28th 1942 -
Pushing the Contractors
In a meeting on January 14, 1943, Groves astounded the Y-12 contractors by declaring that the first racetrack made up of 96 tanks be in operation on July 1st, -
X 10
Ground broke for the X-10 site in February 1943 -
Y 12
Groundbreaking for the Alpha Y-12 site took place on February 18th, 1943. -
Finalization of Y-12
Negotiations continued for roughly two months but a final design for Y-12 emerged on March 17th 1943. The one major modification was the inclusion of a second stage of the electromagnetic process. -
Warning From Los Alamos
In July 1943 Oppenheimer warned Groves that new estimates meant that roughly 3 times more fissionable material would be required. This meant that even if everything went perfectly with the current Y-12 system it still may not be enough material to meet the 1945 deadline. -
Shutdown
On December 15th, 1943 Groves had to shutdown Y-12 because of the many malfunctions in the rushed system -
Dawn of the Nuclear Age
The first bomb was tested at Trinity Site on July 16th 1945
