War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Weapon of Choice, The; Interview with Norris Bradbury, 1986 [2]

Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.

03/17/1986

Norris Bradbury was a physicist who served as Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and worked on the Manhattan Project. In the interview he discusses the work at Los Alamos after the end of World War II. He describes the challenge of rebuilding the laboratory in a peacetime environment, when most staff wanted to get back to their academic and industry positions. He describes the research that went into making smaller fission bombs with larger yields, and work on hydrogen bombs and other nuclear developments deemed necessary to stay ahead of other countries nuclear programs. He specifically describes the pressure of Operation Sandstone. He explains the difference between working under civilian and military commands, and also the balance that was eventually struck with the Atomic Energy Commission, which featured both types of organization in the form of the General Advisory Committee and the Military Liaison Committee. The discussion turns to strategy, specifically the question of whether the INF treaty has the effect of decoupling of Europe from the United States. Among the key issues discussed in connection with the military-civilian was that of custody of nuclear weapons. Another topic covered in the interview is Operation Sandstone, designed to boost the yield and shrink the size of those weapons. Dr. Bradbury also covers issues relating to congressional pressure and the impact of the Soviet bomb test. The interview closes with a discussion of the effect of the leadership changes in the USSR on American policy-makers.

License Clip

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Series

War and Peace in the Nuclear Age

Program

Weapon of Choice, The

Program Number

102

Title

Interview with Norris Bradbury, 1986 [2]

Series Description

The first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, changed the world forever. This series chronicles these changes and the history of a new era. It traces the development of nuclear weapons, the evolution of nuclear strategy, and the politics of a world with the power to destroy itself.

In thirteen one-hour programs that combine historic footage and recent interviews with key American, Soviet, and European participants, the nuclear age unfolds: the origin and evolution of nuclear weapons; the people of the past who have shaped the events of the present; the ideas and issues that political leaders, scientists, and the public at large must confront, and the prospects for the future. Nuclear Age highlights the profound changes in contemporary thinking imposed by the advent of nuclear weapons. Series release date: 1/1989

Program Description

The United States and the Soviet Union, former allies, become adversaries in a “Cold War,” and nuclear weapons become the weapon of choice for both sides.

From 1947 to 1953 the threat to use nuclear weapons became the principal currency of conflict. During the Korean War, Texas Congressman J. Frank Wilson said, “We are dealing with mad dogs ... we must treat them accordingly. I urge the atomic bomb be used if it can be used efficiently.” Against this background, President Harry Truman made crucial decisions that affected the history of the Nuclear Age. The United states deployed the B-36, a huge intercontinental bomber. It started mass production of atomic bombs. In 1952, the US exploded the first hydrogen bomb, a quantum leap in destructive force. Less than a year later, the Soviet Union exploded its own hydrogen bomb.

Duration

00:34:47

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Brezhnev, Leonid Il?ich, 1906-1982

United States. Navy

Nuclear weapons

Nichols, Kenneth D. (Kenneth David), 1907-

United States. Air Force

Soviet Union

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Hiroshima-shi (Japan) -- History -- Bombardment, 1945

Lilienthal, David Eli, 1899-1981

Groves, Leslie Richard

Gorbachev, Mikhail

Physicists

Teller, Edward, 1908-2003

Nagasaki-shi (Japan) -- History -- Bombardment, 1945

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. General Advisory Committee

Locations

Genres

Topics

Contributors

Bradbury, Norris, 1909-1997 (Interviewee)

Publication Information

WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Weapon of Choice, The; Interview with Norris Bradbury, 1986 [2],” 03/17/1986, GBH Archives, accessed April 23, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_A3C9C6A907AE41B09566B05ADB1EA2C9.

MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Weapon of Choice, The; Interview with Norris Bradbury, 1986 [2].” 03/17/1986. GBH Archives. Web. April 23, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_A3C9C6A907AE41B09566B05ADB1EA2C9>.

APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Weapon of Choice, The; Interview with Norris Bradbury, 1986 [2]. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_A3C9C6A907AE41B09566B05ADB1EA2C9

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War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Weapon of Choice, The; Interview with Norris Bradbury, 1986 [2]