Atomic Heritage Foundation

In partnership with the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

History

History

This section provides an overview of the history of the Manhattan Project, the key organizations involved, the science behind the bomb, and more.
The first large-scale nuclear reactor in history, the B-Reactor, in Hanford, Washington

Nuclear Reactors

A nuclear reactor is a device that initiates, moderates, and controls the output of a nuclear chain reaction.

Nuclear Testing in Mississippi

After nine years of negotiations, the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (LTBT) in 1963, which prohibited “any nuclear weapon test explosion, or any other nuclear explosion” “in the atmosphere; beyond its limits, including outer space; or under water, including waters or high seas.”[i] This treaty, in part, resulted from the

Emblem of the Antarctic Treaty

Nuclear Weapon Free Zones and Denuclearization

This article discusses Nuclear Weapon Free Zones and other denuclearization agreements.

Nuclear Weapon Test Bans

This article summarizes multilateral and bilateral nuclear weapon test ban treaties.
The late Bill Wilcox by the Friendship Bell. Courtesy of the Friends of the International Friendship Bell.

Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell

Since World War II, bells have served as proponents of freedom, peace, and remembrance internationally. At the A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell symbolizes the strides for peace and reconciliation between Japan and the United States.
Bikini Test

Operation Crossroads

Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946.
Norsk Hydro's Vemork Plant Outside of Rjukan, Norway. Photo Credit: By Tor-Egil Farestveit (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Operation Gunnerside

On February 27, 1943, nine Norwegian commandos sabotaged the German-held Vemork plant outside of Rjukan, Norway. Operation Gunnerside successfully set back Germany's atomic bomb program.
Shot Hood of Operation Plumbbob. Image courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory Archives.

Operation Plumbbob - 1957

Operation Plumbbob was a series of 29 nuclear tests conducted by the U.S. military between May 28 and October 7, 1957, at the Nevada Test Site.
Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer Security Hearing

In 1954, J. Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked by the Atomic Energy Commission.

Pages