What was the name of the United States’ initial nuclear testing project and how did it evolve?
The “Manhattan Project”. Starting out as a small research programme in 1939, this World War II project was transferred to the authority of the United States Army and operated from 1941–1946. The scientific research was directed by American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, credited with developing the first atomic bomb. Eventually, this project employed more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$ 2 billion (equivalent to US$ 23 billion in 2007 dollars). It maintained control over United States’ weapons production until formation of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in January 1947.
