Nuclear Weapons: History, Technology, and Consequences in Historic Documents, Photos, and Videos
Online Resources about Nuclear Weapons
- General Nuclear Weapon Links
- Trinity Atomic Site
- Manhattan Project History
- Nuclear Weapons Technology
- The Nuclear Age
- U.S. Government Information Sources
- Anti-nuclear Activism
- General Indexes to Nuclear Information
The Alsos Digital Library is a web-based collection of references to resources that offer a broad, balanced perspective of topics relating to the origins, functions, and legacies of the Manhattan Project. The materials referenced includes books, articles, videos, images, and web sites.
This site has an extensive list of links to nuclear weapons sites on the Internet. One unique feature is a collection of links to recent online new articles related to nuclear weapons.
This site lists atomic tourist attractions in the U.S. with a one-page description of each, including the National Atomic Museum and Trinity Site.
Another 50th Anniversary visit to Trinity Site at the Center for Land Use Interpretation
I am not exactly sure what the "Center for Land User Interpretation" is all about, but they have written a one-page description of their visit to Trinity Site. They also sell a great visitor's guide to the Nevada Test Site.
Another Visit to Trinity Atomic Site
This page describes a visit to Trinity Site in words and photos. Includes links to other Trinity Sites and a short bibliography.
The Seattle Times wrote an article about the history of the Trinity Test that includes a visit to Trinity Site.
Los Alamos History Online
The Los Alamos Research Library sponsors this page of historical documents about Los Alamos. It includes "Los Alamos 50 years ago," series of articles about the early history of Los Alamos with great photos. Some information can be found at http://www.lanl.gov/history/index.shtmlRadiation Monitoring at Trinity and Eyewitness Reports on the Trinity Test.
Nuclear Weapons FAQ
This document in progress gives a detailed technical discussion of how nuclear weapons work. You can find it at the Nuclear Weapons Archive, sister site to this one.
The Swords of Armageddon CD-ROM
Chuck Hansen has spent over 25 years pushing the barriers of secrecy around nuclear weapons. He has updated and extended his 1988 book U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History in this CD-ROM. He tells the inside workings of nuclear weapons technology and presents an elaborate history of nuclear weapons tests, especially how those tests improved weapons design.
Otowi Station Bookstore (Los Alamos)
This bookstore is located next to the Bradbury Museum in Los Alamos. They offer numerous books and videos about atomic history in their online catalog.
Trinity and Beyond Video
This is the most amazing documentary of nuclear weapons testing since The Atomic Cafe. More serious in tone, it covers the entire span of above-ground tests. The Toronto International Film Festival site has two other video clips as well.
Jayne Loader was co-creator of the hit movie, The Atomic Cafe. Her CD-ROM is a wacky and in-depth look at the nuclear age and its echoes in society. Look beyond the video clips, which are sometimes humorous and sometimes chilling. An extensive archive of searchable text documents makes this a useful reference work in addition to all the fun.
Atomic Archive:Enhanced Edition CD-ROM.
I have reviewed the CD-ROM and highly recommend it.
Atomic Archive: Enhanced Edition combines photographs, restored film footage, and historical documents with over ten years of research to tell one of the most intriguing stories of the twentieth century.
It contains over thirty minutes of video and more than 400 photographs from government archives, an extensive text written for this CD-ROM, and interactive maps and timeline of the nuclear age.
The U.S. National Archives contains a wealth of information about the history of the Manhattan Project. You can search the on-line catalog or go directly to the WWW page of selected WWII photos (the photos themselves are on-line).
This database is an incredible resource. It can be searched for documents from the beginnings of the Manhattan Project all the way up to present activities. Many of the documents are housed at the DOE/NV Coordination and Information Center. Copies can be ordered (via e-mail!) for 25 cents per page.
The Department of Energy has gone to great efforts to open up this hidden chapter of atomic history. In addition to the over-view report, you can search through an extensive database of documents. The bad news is that the search procedure is very awkward. The good news is that the documents themselves are on-line, though only in GIF or TIF image format. (These documents are also indexed through the Dept. of Energy OpenNet Database, see above).
Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)
The OTA was closed in 1995 in a short-sighted attempt a budget-cutting. OTA issued numerous reports on the nuclear proliferation, the weapons complex, and clean-up of nuclear sites. Fortunately the OTA documents (all public domain) are available on-line or on an inexpensive set of CDROMs. Here are links to some reports in the OTA archive related to nuclear weapons:
- Complex Cleanup: The Environmental Legacy of Nuclear Weapons Production (February 1991)
- The Containment of Underground Nuclear Explosions (October 1989)
- Dismantling the Bomb and Managing the Nuclear Materials (September 1993)
- The Effects of Nuclear War (May 1979)
- Environmental Monitoring for Nuclear Safeguards (September 1995)
- Hazards Ahead: Managing Cleanup Worker Health and Safety at the Nuclear Weapons Complex (February 1993)
- Long-Lived Legacy: Managing High-Level and Transuranic Waste at the DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex (May 1991)
- Nuclear Proliferation and Safeguards (June 1977)
- Nuclear Proliferation and Safeguards: Appendix Volume II, Part One (June 1977)
- Nuclear Proliferation and Safeguards: Appendix Volume II, Part Two (June 1977)
- Nuclear Safeguards and the International Atomic Energy Agency (April 1995)
- Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Assessing the Risks (August 1993)
- SDI: Technology, Survivability, and Software (May 1988)
- Seismic Verification of Nuclear Testing Treaties (May 1988)
- Technologies Underlying Weapons of Mass Destruction (December 1993)
- Verification Technologies: Cooperative Aerial Surveillance in International Agreements (July 1991)
- Verification Technologies: Managing Research and Development for Cooperative Arms Control Monitoring Measures (May 1991)
- Verification Technologies: Measures for Monitoring Compliance With the START Treaty (December 1990)
General Accounting Office (GAO) of the U.S. Congress
The GAO has issued numerous reports about nuclear proliferation and management of the Nuclear Weapons Complex. Reports issued since 1994 are available online. Single copies of earlier reports are available for free.
Here is a short, photo-essay about a peace protest at the DOE Nevada Test Site. It gives a good feel for the atmosphere at such protests: a mix of "be-in" and ritualized civil disobedience.
Jayne Loader, co-creator of The Atomic Cafe and more recently creator of the Public Shelter CD-ROM takes a uniquely irreverent look at the Pantex plant, where nuclear weapons are made and unmade.
This nuclear engineering student a U.C. Berkeley has put together a link to just about every kind of nuclear-related site.
The Research Library at Los Alamos National Laboratory has compiled this extensive list of links to online nuclear information.