Scientists Make, Politicians Use "75Years A-bomb Hiroshima" Frank Report , Dr.Soko DAY30/50

The FRANK REPORT

On June 11, 1945, the Frank Report ("The Commission's Report on Political and Social Issues") was submitted to the Presidential Advisory Board by seven scientists working on the atomic bomb at the University of Chicago. 

The report was called the Frank Report, after the name of James Frank, the chief of the scientists. Firstly in this report, scientists described the responsibilities of their position. It was written that they had participated in a secret plan called the Manhattan Project.   

"We found ourselves, by the force of events, the last five years in the position of a small group of citizens cognizant of a grave danger for the safety of this country as well as for the future of all the other nations, of which the rest of mankind is unaware."

We therefore felt it our duty to urge that the political problems, arising from the mastering of atomic power, be recognized in all their gravity, and that appropriate steps be taken for their study and the preparation of necessary decisions. We hope that the creation of the Committee by the Secretary of War to deal with all aspects of nucleonics, indicates that these implications have been recognized by the government. We feel that our acquaintance with the scientific elements of the situation and prolonged preoccupation with its world-wide political implications, imposes on us the obligation to offer to the Committee some suggestions as to the possible solution of these grave problems.

Scientists have often before been accused of providing new weapons for the mutual destruction of nations, instead of improving their well-being. It is undoubtedly true that the discovery of flying, for example, has so far brought much more misery than enjoyment or profit to humanity. However, in the past, scientists could disclaim direct responsibility for the use to which mankind had put their disinterested discoveries. We cannot take the same attitude now because the success which we have achieved in the development of nuclear power is fraught with infinitely greater dangers than were all the inventions of the past. All of us, familiar with the present state of nucleonics, live with the vision before our eyes of sudden destruction visited on our own country, of Pearl Harbor disaster, repeated in thousandfold magnification, in every one of our major cities.

In the past, science has often been able to provide adequate protection against new weapons it has given into the hands of an agressor, but it cannot promise such efficient protection against the destructive use of nuclear power. This protection can only come from the political organization of the world. Among all arguments calling for an efficient international organization for peace, the existence of nuclear weapons is the most compelling one. In the absence of an international authority which would make all resort to force in international conflicts impossible, nations could still be diverted from a path which must lead to total mutual destruction, by a specific international agreement barring a nuclear armaments race.

The Scientists Knew the Outcome will be Beyond Expectations

As the development of atomic bombs progressed, scientists knew that the consequences of the atomic bomb would be even more horrifying.

They realized that without a political agreement between nations, war on nuclear weapons could no longer be stopped. They tried hard to convey that idea to politicians.

They tried to tell the government: By using nuclear weapons and revealing their power to the world, no matter how scientists try to keep the secret of atomic bombs, knowledge of atomic bombs will spread to the world. Also, it is impossible for the United States alone to have monopoly control over uranium and other materials. As a result, the United States will not be able to maintain its strong position with nuclear weapons.

So they strongly had emphasized to make international agreements and controlling systems between nations to prevent competitions of the nuclear development, and to prevent dreadful consequences of a nuclear weapon use. 

Frank Report had been submitted on June 11, 1945, about two months before the first atomic bomb dropped.

 After all, the scientists had no reply from the government and were literally ignored.

Rabinowitch, one of the scientists described the emptiness he felt with his colleagues, as if they had been all surrounded by soundproof wall.

After that, scientists had continued to wait for a response from the government. Szilard and his colleagues took actions to collect signatures and sent them for the president, but the results were no longer the same. The first nuclear weapons for humanity were dropped above the citizens of Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9.

At that time, Hiroshima had about 350,000 inhabitants, including Chinese, Taiwanese, Koreans,  international students from Southeast Asia, and American POWs. By the end of December 1945, it was estimated that about 140,000 people had died. Fifty percent of those who were within 1.2 km of the hypocenter of Hiroshima died the day the atomic bomb was dropped. By the end of December 1945, 74,000 of Nagasaki's population of 240,000 had died. There were certainly people who survived in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

However, it goes without saying that the survivors suffered for years and decades the aftereffects, their war that was not over when the war ended.
Also, the Manhattan project did not end there. The final mission may be the most significant for the country developing nuclear weapons: to collect statistics of the outcome. 

 *One of reasons why I am writing now:   

   I am writing for the sake of keeping peace,  for people living now and the future of the world.  Beyond countries, religions, gender and creed, I would like to tie heart in heart with people for peace. Thank you for reading, my friend.