The Manhattan Engineer District

Decisions made in September provided administrative clarity and renewed the project s sense of urgency. Bush and the Army agreed that an officer other than Marshall should be given the assignment of overseeing the entire atomic project, which by now was referred to as the Manhattan Project. On September 17, the Army appointed Colonel 

General Leslie R. Groves. Reprinted from Vincent C. Jones, Manhattan The Army and the Atomic Bomb (Washington, D.C. U.S. Govenmient Printing Office, 1985). 

Marshall s deputy, Colonel Kenneth D. Nichols, and arranged for Nichols to work as his chief aide and troubleshooter throughout the war. 

The centrifuge being developed by Jesse Beams at the University of Virginia was the big loser in the November meetings. Westinghouse had been unable to overcome problems with its model centrifuge. 

Parts failed with discouraging regularity due to severe vibrations during trial runs consequently, a pilot plant and subsequent production stages appeared impractical in the near future. Conant had already concluded that the centrifuge was likely to be dropped when he reported to Bush on October 26. The meetings of November 12 and 14 confirmed his analysis. 

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In accordance with the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, all atomic energy activities are transferred from the Manhattan Engineer District to the newly created United States Atomic Energy Commission. The Top Policy Group and the Military Policy Committee had already disbanded. 

The AEC succeeded the Manhattan Engineer District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. David Lilienthal was appointed the first Chairman of the AEC. Congress gave the new civilian Commission extraordinary power and independence to carry out its mission. To provide the Commission exceptional freedom in hiring scientists and professionals, Corranission employees were exempt from the Civil Service system. Because of the need for great security, all production facilities and nuclear reactors... 

The project s official name was the Manhattan Engineer District, although it soon became known simply as the Manhattan Project. The name was selected by US Army general Leslie Groves, who was appointed to head the project. Knowing the bomb had to be developed in complete secrecy. Groves wanted a nondescript, bureaucratic name for the project so that it would not draw attention. He was nuts about not attracting attention, says historian Robert S. Norris. 

June The U.S. War Department tasks the Army Corps of Engineers to establish the Manhattan Engineering District (MED), a secret effort to develop a nuclear weapon. MED wih become more popularly known as the Manhattan Project. 2 December The first self-sustaining chain fission reaction takes place in a nuclear pile at the University of Chicago. 

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