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was the code name for the US effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. It was named for the Manhattan Engineer District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, since much of the early research was done in New York City. It was top-secret engineering and i ....

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.... in each fission, which elements would not capture the neutrons, would they moderate or reduce their velocity, and whether only the lighter and more rare isotope of uranium (U- 235) or the common isotope (U-238) could be used. They learned that each fission releases a few neutrons. A chain reaction, therefore, was theoretically possible, if not too many neutrons escaped from the mass or were captured by impurities. In 1942 General Leslie Groves was chosen to lead the project, and he immediately purchased a site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee for facilities to separate the necessary uranium-235 from the much more common uranium-238. He also appointed theore ....