Atomic Episode

With the release of the Christopher Nolen movie Oppenheimer has come a resurgence of interest in the Manhattan Project. This 1940s project which produced the first nuclear weapons would change modern warfare forever. Although the Trinity Site has been described as a "desolate" area, it was far from such, with around half a million people living within a 150-mile radius of the explosion, with some as close as 12-miles away. None were warned or evacuated. The radioactive fallout has left what are known as Downwinders with increased infant mortality rate, radiation exposure, leukemia, cancer, and an array of other disease. The legacy of the most destructive creation in history remains. Were these bombs necessary to end WW2 or was it an overt display of morally reprehensible power from the United States? In a country unafraid to harm their own people, it seems justice may be only an external ideal fleeting in the minds of those hungry for power.