“In answer to the question, 'Was the development of the atomic bomb by the United States necessary?’ I reply unequivocally, ‘Yes.’ To the question, 'Is atomic energy a force for good or for evil?’ I can only say, 'As mankind wills it.’ "
— Leslie Richard Groves, US Army Corps of Engineers
Regardless of whether you support or cannot comprehend the decision to use nuclear weapons over Japan during WWII, there is no question that the efforts of the Manhattan Project created a modern world dramatically different from the one which existed before the bombs were dropped. Nuclear technology now touches many parts of our lives in addition to national defense.
While it is possible that some of these technologies might have emerged via other pathways, it is certainly also true that the Manhattan Project – and its physicists, chemists, engineers, other scientists and technicians – advanced them all. Would they have arrived in our lifetimes otherwise? That is a question worthy of debate, but it seems unlikely.
The Manhattan Project industrialized scientific pursuits, creating immeasurable impact in the field. Whether it was the cross-pollination from scientists in different fields working closely together, or from the enormous support the government poured into their efforts—something it had not done before—it showed America that industrial might, coupled with properly-resourced scientific research and development, could offer a significant avenue for improving both the nation and the greater world beyond it.
National Defense
Nuclear weapons continue to play a role in national defense, as do nuclear reactors. The technology generated in this space has meaningful benefits to life in our modern world.
- Certainly, the United States and several other nations maintain nuclear weapons stockpiles, ostensibly as deterrents to hostile action from others. The United States holds that its many ballistic missiles and air-dropped bombs are there for its protection and that of its allies; the rules for their deployment being structured around retaliation to an attack.
- Nuclear technologies have helped position the United States as the world’s only superpower. Nuclear reactors power our submarines and our aircraft carriers, many of them being based here in Hampton Roads. These ships are essentially able to operate without refueling, giving the US Navy the global ability to protect commerce and shipping, while keeping peace around the planet.
- The development of the S1W reactor—spearheaded by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover—for the purpose of propelling the submarine USS Nautilus gave birth to both the first nuclear powered vessel and the pressurized water reactor, the latter technology now forming the backbone of civilian nuclear power generation.
A 1955 portrait of Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the Nuclear Navy. Interestingly, Admiral Rickover personally selected the nuclear physicist and future US President, naval Lieutenant Jimmy Carter to help develop the Navy's nuclear propulsion systems and future training programs for sailors who operated them. (image via Wikipedia)
An image showing the prototype nuclear reactor core for USS Nautilus undergoing testing at what became the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho. Dubbed S1W, short for Submarine 1st Generation Westinghouse, this land-based version of the US Navy's first nuclear reactor was housed within a section of submarine hull which could be submerged under 300,000 gallons of water to simulate operational conditions. Almost 40,000 Nuclear Navy personnel learned their trade at this facility alongside the later A1W (Aircraft Carrier 1st Generation Westinghouse) and the S5G (Submarine 5th Generation General Electric) units nearby between 1954 and 1995, when the site was decommissioned. After a formal decontamination process, these important, historic facilities were dismantled over a period of years, with the buildings being demolished finally in 2025. (image via wikimedia)
USS Nautilus (SSN-571) at sea during the 1950s. Commissioned in September 1954, Nautilus was the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. Among the vessel's many feats, it made the first underwater transit of the North Pole on August 3, 1958. Nautilus survives as part of the Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton, Conecticut. (image via Wikipedia)
Nuclear Energy
Reliable and affordable energy which does not negatively affect climate change—it may sound like the technology of the future, but it’s already here! In fact, the Virginia Beach area, including our own museum, is powered — 24/7 — by zero-carbon electricity generated by a nuclear power plant.
The story of post-war nuclear power began with Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I) at what is now Idaho National Laboratory. On Dec. 20, 1951, EBR-1 became the first reactor to generate usable electricity, famously lighting four 200-watt lightbulbs. This electric moment sparked the beginning of the civil nuclear age and the ability to convert heat from nuclear reactions into steam to drive turbines and produce electricity.
Starting in the early 1950s, the world rapidly built hundreds of nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy was cheap, seemingly inexhaustible, and full of potential to fuel economic growth and improve living standards. Nuclear energy became a symbol for modernity and scientific progress.
Beginning in the early 1980s, nuclear site construction slowed due to a combination of cheaper fossil fuels, slowing electricity demand, higher financing costs, and opposition from an influential anti-nuclear movement. Three major accidents further shaped this trajectory: Three Mile Island (1979) caused no deaths, but led to sweeping U.S. safety reforms, while Chernobyl (1986)—the only recorded fatal accident—drove the worldwide adoption of containment domes and stricter international safety standards. Fukushima (2011) caused no immediate, radiation-related deaths, but led to mass evacuations and prompted globally-adopted upgrades, like FLEX backup systems, to keep reactors cool during extreme natural disasters. That being said, the sometimes enormous cleanup costs, both financial and otherwise, associated with these nuclear incidents must also be factored into decisions regarding the design, construction and location of future nuclear power plants.
Today, nuclear energy provides about 10% of the world’s electricity and nearly 25% of the world’s carbon-free electricity. Presently (2026), there are roughly 440 commercial nuclear reactors operating in 31 countries. Of those nations with nuclear power, only nine possess nuclear weapons—a distinction made possible in large part by the Atoms for Peace program and an international safeguards system which help ensure that civilian nuclear energy does not fuel weapons proliferation.
Global interest in nuclear energy is surging again as nations confront climate change and the need for reliable, around-the-clock energy, complementing the production from solar, wind, and battery sources. The seemingly regular interruption of fossil fuel supplies arising from regional conflicts in sensitive areas of the globe have also contributed to the renewed focus on nuclear power too. Modern reactor designs can ramp up and down to meet demand spikes, too.
The United States is home to the largest number of reactors in the world—93 units producing about 20% of America’s electricity and nearly 50% of its low-carbon electricity. France, Slovakia, and independent Ukraine are the most nuclear-reliant nations, with roughly 67, 61 and 52% of their electricity needs respectively generated by reactors.
Many homes and businesses here in Hampton Roads are powered, in part, by Dominion Energy’s Surry Nuclear Power Plant in Surry County, which operates two pressurized water reactors built in the early 1970s. Space was left for two more reactors at the site – and as energy demands increase, there is talk of new construction.
Radiation Exposure: The average American receives 620 millirems (mrem) of radiation exposure annually, most of it coming from natural sources. That being said, many people receive higher exposures in places like Denver, Colorado due to the city's higher altitude and local geology. Furthermore, some locations in other countries have naturally occurring radiation levels which are so high that they exceed U.S. nuclear worker dose limits.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission along with the Environmental Protection Agency set strict radiation exposure limits, but the nation's nuclear industry adheres to even stricter safety protocols. The average person living within 50 miles of a nuclear plant receives an additional dose of only 0.01 mrem a year, which is roughly equivalent to the amount one would receive from eating a single banana. For perspective, a round-trip, cross-country flight exposes you to about 3–5 mrem—hundreds of times more than a year spent living next to a nuclear plant.
Medical Technology
Advances in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment have been driven by nuclear technology. In the treatment of Cancer and Cardiovascular conditions specifically, the technology is indispensable.
- On the day of the Trinity Test those present had placed informal bets guessing what the explosive force of the blast might be. Arriving late, Nobel Prize-winning Physicist, Isidor Isaac Rabi, was left with only one choice—18 kilotons. Moments later, the seemingly ludicrous amount of explosive power he had been forced to pick was determined to be closest—the blast being calculated at 18.6kT. Although invited to join the Manhattan project, and a regular consultant, Rabi’s work with Radar was also vitally important—in fact, his Nobel Prize in Physics stemmed from the molecular beam magnetic resonance detection method he helped develop. This unlocked the foundational physics which MRI machines now use.
- Molybdenum-99 may not be a familiar name to many, but it is used in 40,000 US medical procedures—daily. Our largest domestic supply comes from the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge Tennessee, where it is separated from low-enriched uranium to this day. Molybdenum-99 is a product of uranium-235 fission. It decays to produce technetium-99m, which helps generate the imaging results you may have encountered on a cardiac “stress test,” functional brain scan, coronary artery scan or other SPECT scan procedures. This vital isotope permits the non-invasive diagnosis of heart disease, which previously required a physical probe to enter the chest.
- Of the 1.2 million cancer cases diagnosed in the United States each year, about half will receive some dose of radiation as part of their treatment course. Radiation treatment works by damaging the DNA of cancer cells, aiming to prevent their replication. The invention of the nuclear reactor during the Manhattan Project allowed for the creation of radioisotopes like cobalt-60 which can emit targeted gamma rays directly at tumors.
- There are still some older cobalt 60 machines in use, because they are relatively inexpensive, robust and simple to use. However, more modern treatments are making use of linear particle accelerators, a technology which advanced significantly via wartime efforts at the intersection of radar and nuclear energy.
- Medical Sterilization & Devices: Medical devices are commonly sterilized with radiation, which can penetrate packaging to ensure product sterility is maintained until it is used. Hundreds of tools in each hospital operating room—including syringes, bandages, surgical tools, and gloves—are sterilized in this way. Orthopedic devices, such as hip replacements, are irradiated multiple times—first to strengthen the polymer material, and then to sterilize the finished device.
- Advanced Medical Uses: Doctors rely upon radioisotopes for radiosurgery (such as gamma knife) to treat otherwise inoperable brain tumors. Brachytherapy places small radioactive implants directly into body tissue to treat certain cancers with precision. Blood is irradiated before transfusion to reduce the risk of transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease.
Industrial, Research & Agricultural Applications
Radioisotopes—unstable forms of elements which emit radiation—are at the heart of many modern technologies. They can be used to assess the age and properties of materials, measure pollution, sterilize components, monitor and optimize industrial processes and even to produce new materials.
- Industrial Applications: From radiography to radiotracers, many of the isotopes used today could not have been isolated without techniques pioneered during the Manhattan Project. Radiation safely inspects welds, examines concrete, measures the thickness and volume of manufactured products—even a soda can—and ensures our water pipelines are sound. It also prevents contaminants from leaving factories and entering the food supply, and is even used in modern criminal investigations.
- Agricultural & Environmental Applications: Particularly impactful in the developing world, radioisotopes are used in isotope hydrology to examine fresh water sources and protect clean drinking water. They track nutrient movement in soils, ensuring planting methods preserve soil quality. Farmers use radioisotopes to optimize fertilization and watering, breed improved and drought-resistant seed varieties, and sterilize insects to control pests and disease without pesticides. Thanks to cobalt-60, one notable success has been the eradication of the New World Screw-worm fly, a parasite with larvae which burrow into the flesh of livestock—and even humans—causing severe wounds and infections. Environmental researchers use radioisotopes to study ecosystem dynamics, manage water resources, and monitor pollution.
- Irradiation: Radiation is used to sterilize many products—including some cosmetics, medical supplies, and even food prepared for hospital patients with compromised immune systems. However, the levels of radiation used for fresh produce and spices do not sterilize them; instead, they kill pests in spices and slow spoilage in produce, helping ensure these items are safe and remain fresh when they reach consumers.
- Oil & Gas Applications: Radioisotopes play a vital role in energy production. Known U.S. oil reserves are calculated using radiological sources, and radioisotopes are used to log and track wells for drilling oil and natural gas. If these isotopes were discontinued, every well in the country would have to be re-mapped—a process which would cost the industry (and hence, consumers) billions of dollars.
Space Exploration
Space travel at increasing distances from the sun is very limited if powered by solar panels. Nuclear power allows longer mission durations, faster travel times, more payload capacity, and even the possibility of a sustainable human presence on other planets.
Nuclear technology has made a massive impact on the space program.
- Older technologies like the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) convert the heat from decaying plutonium-238 into electricity, powering spacecraft traveling beyond the solar system (as was the case with the Voyager probes). The Galileo spacecraft which studied Jupiter was similarly equipped, as was Cassini on its journey to Saturn.
- Perhaps better known to many, the Mars Rover, Curiosity, also used RTGs for its power source, as did Perseverance. Perseverance’s RTG even charged two lithium-ion batteries, supporting both the rover and its onboard helicopter, Ingenuity.
- Modern reactors based on fission, or even (potentially) fusion, are planned for future lunar and Martian bases. We don’t have to look so far from home for the useful applications of this research though–because some of these Small Modular Reactor technologies are being investigated as power sources for new data centers right here on earth.
