Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The Dawn of the Nuclear Age in Two Blinding Flashes

At 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima was bathed in the soft morning light of a clear summer day. Schoolchildren were beginning their lessons, workers were arriving at offices, and families were starting their daily routines. In an instant, a single atomic bomb dropped from an American B-29 bomber erased the city center and killed 80,000 people immediately. Three days later, a second atomic bomb would devastate Nagasaki, and within a week, World War II would be over. These two explosions remain the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, serving as both the terrible culmination of the Manhattan Project and the stark warning that has shaped international relations ever since.

Background

The Manhattan Project

• Origins - Initiated in 1939 after Einstein’s letter to Roosevelt warning of German nuclear research
• Scale - Cost $2 billion (about $28 billion in 2024 dollars) and employed 130,000 workers
• Key sites - Los Alamos (design), Oak Ridge (uranium enrichment), Hanford (plutonium production)
• Scientific leadership - J. Robert Oppenheimer directed the Los Alamos laboratory
• First test - Trinity test on July 16, 1945, in Alamogordo, New Mexico

Pacific War Context (1945)

• Japanese resistance - Fierce fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa showed Japanese determination
• Casualty projections - U.S. military estimated 500,000 to 1 million American casualties for invasion
• Operation Downfall - Planned two-stage invasion of Japan scheduled for November 1945
• Soviet entry - USSR promised to enter Pacific War by August 1945
• Japanese government - Military hardliners dominated despite deteriorating situation

The Decision to Use Atomic Weapons

• Truman’s inheritance - Vice President Truman only learned of atomic bomb after Roosevelt’s death in April 1945
• Interim Committee - Recommended direct military use without prior demonstration
• Target selection - Committee chose cities with military value that were previously unbombed
• Alternatives considered - Demonstration bombing, continued conventional bombing, awaiting Soviet entry
• Potsdam Declaration - July 26, 1945, ultimatum demanding unconditional surrender

The Atomic Bombings

Hiroshima - August 6, 1945

The Mission

• Aircraft - B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay” piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets
• Weapon - “Little Boy” uranium-based bomb, 15 kilotons yield
• Crew - 12 men including weaponeer Captain William Parsons
• Weather planes - Confirmed clear conditions over primary target
• Time of detonation - 8:15:17 AM local time at 1,900 feet altitude

Immediate Effects

• Hypocenter - Shima Surgical Clinic, 600 meters from intended Aioi Bridge target
• Temperature - Ground temperature reached 4,000°C (7,200°F)
• Blast radius - Total destruction within 1.6 kilometers
• Initial deaths - Approximately 80,000 killed immediately
• Destruction - 69% of buildings destroyed, 6-7% severely damaged

Human Impact

• Vaporization - People near ground zero literally vanished, leaving only shadows
• Burns - Severe thermal burns up to 3.5 kilometers from hypocenter
• Radiation sickness - Thousands died within weeks from acute radiation exposure
• Medical system - 90% of doctors and nurses killed or injured
• Children - Thousands of schoolchildren working on firebreaks killed instantly

Nagasaki - August 9, 1945

The Mission

• Aircraft - B-29 “Bockscar” piloted by Major Charles Sweeney
• Weapon - “Fat Man” plutonium implosion bomb, 21 kilotons yield
• Primary target - Kokura Arsenal, switched to Nagasaki due to cloud cover
• Challenges - Fuel problems and weather nearly aborted mission
• Time of detonation - 11:02 AM at 1,650 feet altitude

Immediate Effects

• Hypocenter - Urakami Valley, 3 kilometers from intended city center
• Topography - Hills contained blast, limiting but concentrating damage
• Initial deaths - Approximately 40,000 killed immediately
• Destruction - 44% of city destroyed despite larger yield
• Industrial damage - Mitsubishi shipyards and arms factories devastated

Human Impact

• Christian community - Urakami Cathedral and Japan’s largest Christian population devastated
• Korean workers - Thousands of forced laborers among casualties
• Medical response - Better than Hiroshima due to partial medical infrastructure survival
• Radiation effects - Similar acute radiation syndrome patterns
• Long-term deaths - Total reached 70,000 by end of 1945

Immediate Response

Japanese Government Reaction

• Initial confusion - Military leaders disputed whether it was atomic weapon
• Emperor’s intervention - Hirohito broke precedent to advocate surrender
• Military coup attempt - Hardliners tried to prevent surrender broadcast
• Surrender announcement - Emperor’s recorded message broadcast August 15
• Occupation begins - MacArthur arrives August 30 to begin occupation

International Reaction

• Soviet Union - Accelerated nuclear program in response
• Allied nations - Mixed relief at war’s end and horror at destruction
• Scientists’ response - Many Manhattan Project scientists expressed regret
• Media coverage - Initial censorship followed by gradual revelation of effects
• Moral debate - Immediate questioning of nuclear weapons’ legitimacy

Survivor Experiences

• Hibakusha - Term for atomic bomb survivors, faced discrimination
• Medical treatment - Inadequate understanding of radiation effects
• Keloid scars - Distinctive burn scarring marked survivors
• Psychological trauma - Lifelong effects including survivor guilt
• Testimony movement - Survivors became peace advocates

Key Figures

American Leadership

• Harry Truman - President who authorized atomic bomb use
• Henry Stimson - Secretary of War who oversaw targeting decisions
• Leslie Groves - Military director of Manhattan Project
• Paul Tibbets - Enola Gay pilot who never expressed regret
• Charles Sweeney - Bockscar pilot who later advocated for nuclear weapons

Japanese Figures

• Emperor Hirohito - Broke precedent to end the war
• Tsuyoshi Hasegawa - Foreign minister advocating peace
• Korechika Anami - War minister who opposed surrender
• Takijiro Onishi - Admiral who wanted to fight to the end
• Michihiko Hachiya - Hiroshima doctor who documented the aftermath

Survivors and Witnesses

• Sadako Sasaki - Girl who folded paper cranes before dying of leukemia
• Sunao Tsuboi - Engineering student who became prominent peace activist
• Yoshito Matsushige - Photographer who captured only images of Hiroshima on August 6
• Tsutomu Yamaguchi - Survived both atomic bombings
• John Hersey - Journalist whose “Hiroshima” article revealed human impact

Long-term Consequences

Health Effects

• Acute deaths - Combined 210,000 by end of 1945
• Cancer increases - Leukemia peaked 6-8 years later, solid cancers continued
• Genetic effects - Feared mutations in children largely didn’t materialize
• Cataracts - Common among survivors exposed to flash
• Life-span study - Ongoing research on 120,000 survivors

Social and Cultural Impact

• Hibakusha discrimination - Marriage and employment difficulties
• Peace movement - Cities became symbols of nuclear abolition
• Cultural memory - Memorials, museums, and peace education
• Literature and art - Profound influence on Japanese culture
• Annual commemorations - August 6 and 9 ceremonies continue

Nuclear Policy Implications

• Nuclear taboo - Non-use norm established
• Arms control - Spurred efforts to control nuclear weapons
• Deterrence theory - Demonstration of devastating power
• Proliferation concerns - Other nations sought nuclear weapons
• Moral constraints - Lasting debate over nuclear weapons use

Scientific and Medical Advances

• Radiation medicine - Treatment protocols developed from survivor care
• Dose reconstruction - Precise measurement of radiation exposure
• Cancer research - Unique data on radiation-induced cancers
• Emergency planning - Civil defense based on bombing effects
• International cooperation - Joint U.S.-Japan research programs

Connection to Nuclear Weapons

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fundamentally shaped nuclear weapons policy:

• Demonstrated effects - Showed actual nuclear weapons impact on cities and populations
• Deterrence foundation - Established credible threat that underlies nuclear deterrence
• Arms race catalyst - Spurred Soviet Union and others to develop nuclear weapons
• Non-use norm - Created powerful taboo against nuclear weapons use
• Abolition movement - Survivor testimony drives continued disarmament efforts

Deep Dive

The Morning of August 6

The city of Hiroshima stirred to life under a pristine blue sky on the morning of August 6, 1945. The air raid sirens that had wailed at 7:09 AM had been quickly silenced when spotters identified only three American aircraft - too few for a serious bombing raid. By 8:00 AM, the all-clear had sounded, and the city’s 350,000 residents resumed their Monday morning routines. Students assembled for work details to create firebreaks, a civil defense measure against the conventional bombing that had devastated other Japanese cities. Office workers crowded onto streetcars. Soldiers performed morning exercises in the parade grounds of Hiroshima Castle.

At 8:09 AM, the Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress that had taken off from Tinian Island six hours earlier, began its bombing run. Colonel Paul Tibbets, who had named the plane after his mother, held the aircraft steady at 31,600 feet. In the bomb bay hung “Little Boy,” a 10-foot-long uranium bomb that represented the culmination of the Manhattan Project’s frantic three-year effort. At 8:14:17 AM, bombardier Major Thomas Ferebee spotted his aiming point - the distinctive T-shaped Aioi Bridge in the heart of Hiroshima. He engaged the Norden bombsight’s autopilot, and at 8:15:17 AM, the bomb bay doors snapped open.

Forty-three seconds later, at an altitude of 1,900 feet above the Shima Surgical Clinic, Little Boy detonated with a force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT. The temperature at the point of explosion reached several million degrees Celsius, creating a fireball that expanded to 900 feet in diameter within a millisecond. At ground zero, the temperature exceeded 4,000°C - hot enough to melt steel. The brilliant flash, many times brighter than the sun, burned shadows of people and objects into concrete and stone. These “nuclear shadows” would become one of the most haunting images of the atomic age.

The Physics of Destruction

The detonation of Little Boy released its energy in several distinct but nearly simultaneous phases, each contributing to the unprecedented destruction. In the first microseconds, intense gamma rays and neutrons irradiated everything within a kilometer of the hypocenter, delivering lethal doses of radiation that would have killed even without the subsequent blast and heat. The thermal pulse that followed lasted about three seconds, but its intensity was beyond anything previously experienced in warfare. People within a kilometer of ground zero were literally vaporized, their bodies converted to gas by temperatures that exceeded those on the surface of the sun.

The blast wave followed milliseconds behind the thermal pulse, radiating outward at supersonic speeds. Near ground zero, the overpressure exceeded 35 pounds per square inch - enough to crush any structure. Even reinforced concrete buildings collapsed. The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, almost directly below the explosion, had its dome structure partially survive because the blast came from directly above, leaving the building’s skeletal remains to become the iconic Atomic Bomb Dome.

As the blast wave expanded, it created winds exceeding 1,000 miles per hour near the hypocenter, gradually diminishing but still producing hurricane-force winds two miles away. These winds hurled debris with lethal force, turning fragments of buildings, glass, and even clothing into deadly projectiles. The blast wave reflected off the ground and buildings, creating complex patterns of overpressure that could crush a person in one spot while someone a few feet away might survive.

Human Suffering Beyond Imagination

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya, director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital, was at home two kilometers from ground zero when the bomb exploded. His diary, later published as “Hiroshima Diary,” provides one of the most detailed medical accounts of the immediate aftermath. “The hour was early; the morning still, warm, and beautiful… Suddenly, a strong flash of light startled me… Garden shadows disappeared. The view where a moment before all had been so bright and sunny was now dark and hazy… What had happened?”

Dr. Hachiya stumbled from his collapsed house, his body riddled with glass splinters, to find a city transformed into hell. The streets were filled with ghostly figures - people whose skin hung in sheets from their bodies, their arms held out from their bodies to prevent the painful friction of skin against skin. Many were naked, their clothes burned away or stripped off to escape the agony of fabric against burned flesh. The walking wounded moved in eerie silence, too shocked to cry out, creating processions that survivors would describe as looking like Buddhist depictions of the afterlife.

At the Red Cross Hospital, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki was one of six doctors out of 30 who could still function. He worked for three straight days without sleep, treating an endless stream of patients with no understanding of what had caused their injuries. The symptoms were unlike anything in medical experience - patients who seemed to recover from burns and blast injuries would suddenly develop purple spots on their skin, their hair would fall out, and they would die vomiting blood. This was acute radiation syndrome, a condition unknown to medical science before August 6, 1945.

The suffering of children was particularly heartbreaking. Thousands of junior high school students had been mobilized to clear firebreaks in the city center. Most were killed instantly. Those who survived made their way home with terrible burns, many dying in their parents’ arms over the following days. One mother later recalled her daughter’s last words: “Mother, I’m cold, please hold me tighter.” Parents searched through the ruins for days, hoping to find their children alive, often identifying bodies only by scraps of clothing or school badges.

Three Days of Uncertainty

In the three days between Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world teetered on the edge of an uncertain future. In Tokyo, the Japanese government struggled to comprehend what had happened. The military command initially refused to believe that a single bomb could destroy an entire city. Some argued it must have been a massive conventional raid with incendiary bombs, despite reports from Hiroshima describing a single blinding flash followed by unprecedented destruction.

President Truman announced the atomic bombing to the world on August 6, warning that if Japan did not surrender, “they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” Yet even this stark warning failed to break the deadlock in the Japanese government. Military hardliners argued that the Americans could not possibly have more than one or two such weapons. They advocated continuing the war, believing that the massive casualties the Americans would suffer invading Japan would force a negotiated peace.

On August 8, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan, launching a massive invasion of Japanese-occupied Manchuria. This development, which some historians argue was as decisive as the atomic bombs in forcing Japan’s surrender, shattered any remaining hope of Soviet mediation for peace terms. Still, the Supreme War Council remained deadlocked, with military leaders insisting on conditions that included no occupation of Japan, Japanese handling of their own disarmament, and no war crimes trials.

The Second Atomic Attack

The mission to drop the second atomic bomb on August 9 nearly ended in disaster. Major Charles Sweeney’s B-29, Bockscar, took off from Tinian carrying “Fat Man,” a plutonium implosion device more complex but more powerful than Little Boy. From the beginning, problems plagued the mission. A fuel pump malfunction left 800 gallons of fuel inaccessible, critically limiting their range. The observation plane carrying essential instruments was late to the rendezvous. When Bockscar reached the primary target of Kokura, the city was obscured by clouds and smoke from a conventional bombing raid on nearby Yahata the previous day.

After three unsuccessful bombing runs over Kokura, with fuel running dangerously low and Japanese anti-aircraft fire intensifying, Sweeney turned toward the secondary target of Nagasaki. Even there, clouds covered the city. Navy Commander Frederick Ashworth, the weaponeer, faced a terrible decision. Orders required visual bombing to ensure accuracy, but they lacked fuel to return to base if they didn’t drop the bomb soon. At the last possible moment, bombardier Captain Kermit Beahan spotted a break in the clouds and released Fat Man at 11:02 AM.

The bomb detonated 1,650 feet above the Urakami Valley, home to the Mitsubishi armaments factories but also to Nagasaki’s historic Christian community. The Urakami Cathedral, the largest Christian church in East Asia, stood just 500 meters from ground zero. The 21-kiloton explosion - 40% more powerful than Hiroshima - destroyed the cathedral and killed thousands of worshippers preparing for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. The valley’s geography both concentrated and contained the blast, resulting in fewer casualties than Hiroshima despite the greater yield.

Voices from Nagasaki

Sumiteru Taniguchi was a 16-year-old postal worker delivering mail when the bomb exploded 1.8 kilometers behind him. The thermal rays burned his entire back, and the blast threw him from his bicycle. “The skin of my back, both arms, and the back of my head had peeled off and was hanging down,” he later testified. “I was in agony, but strangely felt no pain.” He lay on his stomach for nearly two years while his burns slowly healed, becoming one of the most photographed hibakusha and a lifelong advocate for nuclear disarmament.

Dr. Takashi Nagai, a radiologist and convert to Catholicism, was working at Nagasaki Medical College 700 meters from the hypocenter. Already suffering from leukemia caused by years of X-ray exposure, he survived the blast but received a severe radiation dose. Despite his injuries, he organized medical relief efforts and later wrote extensively about his experiences. His book “The Bells of Nagasaki” became one of the first widely read accounts of the atomic bombing, though American occupation authorities initially censored it.

The atomic bombing devastated Nagasaki’s Korean community, forced laborers brought to work in the city’s war industries. An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 Koreans died in the bombing, but their suffering went largely unrecognized for decades. Korean hibakusha faced double discrimination - as atomic bomb survivors in Japan and as Koreans when they returned home. Many were denied medical care and compensation available to Japanese survivors, a injustice not partially rectified until the 1970s.

The Emperor’s Decision

The atomic bombings and Soviet entry into the war finally gave Emperor Hirohito the crisis he needed to break the government deadlock. On August 9, as Nagasaki burned, the Supreme War Council met in an underground bunker beneath the Imperial Palace. The military still insisted on conditions, while civilian leaders urged acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. In an unprecedented move, Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki asked the Emperor to break the tie.

Hirohito, speaking in the formal court language few present fully understood, said the unthinkable must be thought. Japan must “bear the unbearable” and accept defeat. Even then, military fanatics attempted a coup on the night of August 14, trying to prevent the broadcast of the Emperor’s surrender announcement. The plot failed, and at noon on August 15, the Japanese people heard their Emperor’s voice for the first time as he announced Japan’s capitulation.

The Occupation and Censorship

When American occupation forces arrived in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in September 1945, they found cities that challenged comprehension. William Laurence of the New York Times, who had been embedded with the Manhattan Project, wrote that Hiroshima looked “as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of existence.” But even as journalists began to report on the devastation, occupation authorities imposed strict censorship on Japanese accounts of the bombings.

The occupation’s press code prohibited publication of anything that might “disturb public tranquility,” which authorities interpreted to include detailed accounts of radiation sickness or criticism of the atomic bombings. Japanese scientists were forbidden from conducting research on radiation effects. Film footage and photographs were confiscated. When the Japanese film company Nichiei attempted to document the destruction, occupation forces seized 26,000 feet of film, which remained classified until the 1970s.

This censorship had profound effects on both Japanese understanding of the bombings and medical treatment of survivors. Without access to American research on radiation effects, Japanese doctors struggled to treat patients. The suppression of survivor testimony also prevented the Japanese people from fully processing the trauma of the atomic bombings for years after the war.

The Birth of the Hibakusha

The survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occupied a unique and often tragic position in postwar Japan. Called “hibakusha” (explosion-affected people), they faced discrimination in employment and marriage due to fears about radiation effects and genetic damage. Many concealed their survivor status, moving to other cities and hiding their scars. The Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law wasn’t passed until 1957, twelve years after the bombings.

Medical studies of the hibakusha, conducted jointly by American and Japanese researchers, provided unprecedented data on radiation effects on human populations. The Life Span Study, following 120,000 survivors, revealed that radiation exposure increased cancer risks for decades after exposure. Leukemia rates peaked in the early 1950s, while solid cancers continued to appear at elevated rates throughout survivors’ lives. However, the feared genetic effects - mutations in survivors’ children - proved much less severe than initially feared.

Some hibakusha transformed their suffering into advocacy. Sadako Sasaki, who was two years old when the bomb fell on Hiroshima, developed leukemia at age 11. While hospitalized, she began folding paper cranes, inspired by the Japanese legend that folding 1,000 cranes would grant a wish. She completed 644 before her death in 1955. Her classmates finished folding 1,000 cranes, and her story inspired the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima, where millions of paper cranes are still placed each year.

Scientific and Military Reckoning

The atomic bombings forced a rapid reassessment of warfare and international relations. Scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project, many of whom had urged a demonstration rather than military use, organized to advocate for international control of atomic energy. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded in December 1945, created the Doomsday Clock to symbolize humanity’s proximity to nuclear catastrophe.

Military strategists grappled with the implications of weapons that could destroy entire cities. Initial American nuclear monopoly lasted only four years, until the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb in 1949. The hydrogen bomb, successfully tested by both superpowers in the early 1950s, made the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs seem almost primitive by comparison. A single hydrogen bomb could release energy equivalent to hundreds of Hiroshimas.

The bombings also raised profound ethical questions that remain debated. Were they necessary to end the war? Historians have argued this question for decades, examining Japanese diplomatic cables, American invasion plans, and the role of the Soviet entry into the war. Some argue the bombings saved lives by preventing a bloody invasion. Others contend Japan was already seeking surrender terms and the bombings were unnecessary, or that they were motivated partly by a desire to demonstrate American power to the Soviet Union.

Legacy and Memory

Today, Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand as monuments to both human destructiveness and resilience. The cities rebuilt themselves from atomic wasteland to thriving modern metropolises. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, built around the preserved Atomic Bomb Dome, receives millions of visitors annually. The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum tells the story of the bombing and its aftermath, emphasizing the city’s unique perspective as a historical center of international exchange.

The hibakusha, now mostly in their 80s and 90s, continue their testimony despite advancing age. They speak at schools, meet with world leaders, and travel internationally to share their experiences. Their message is consistent: nuclear weapons must never be used again. As their numbers dwindle - fewer than 120,000 registered hibakusha remained alive in 2024 - efforts to preserve their testimony through video recordings and written accounts have intensified.

The atomic bombings fundamentally shaped the nuclear age. They established what scholars call the “nuclear taboo” - the strong norm against using nuclear weapons that has held for nearly 80 years despite numerous international crises. They demonstrated that nuclear weapons are not simply larger conventional bombs but represent a qualitative change in warfare’s destructive potential. The images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - the mushroom clouds, the devastated cities, the human suffering - became the symbolic representation of what nuclear war means.

Contemporary Relevance

As we move further from 1945, the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain urgently relevant. Nine nations now possess nuclear weapons, with combined arsenals of approximately 13,000 warheads. While this represents a significant reduction from Cold War peaks, today’s weapons are generally far more powerful than those used in 1945. A single modern thermonuclear weapon could cause destruction dwarfing both atomic bombings combined.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force in 2021, represents the culmination of decades of hibakusha advocacy. Though no nuclear-armed state has signed it, the treaty stigmatizes nuclear weapons in international law. The hibakusha’s testimony was crucial in establishing the treaty’s foundation - that nuclear weapons cause unacceptable humanitarian consequences.

Recent events have renewed concerns about nuclear weapons use. Regional tensions, the development of smaller “tactical” nuclear weapons, and the erosion of arms control agreements have led some experts to warn that the risk of nuclear weapons use is higher now than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis. In this context, the witness of Hiroshima and Nagasaki becomes even more vital.

The Eternal Flame

In Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park burns an eternal flame, lit on August 1, 1964. It will remain burning until all nuclear weapons are eliminated from Earth. Nearby stands the Memorial Cenotaph, inscribed with words that capture both the horror of the atomic bombings and the hope they inspired: “Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil.”

This promise - to not repeat the evil - requires remembering what happened on those August mornings in 1945. It demands we understand not just the abstract destructive power of nuclear weapons but their human cost. The shadows burned into Hiroshima’s steps, the melted rosaries found in Nagasaki’s ruins, the testimonies of hibakusha who transformed unimaginable suffering into calls for peace - all serve as warnings to future generations.

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked humanity’s entry into an age where we possess the capability to destroy ourselves. Nearly 80 years later, that capability remains, refined and multiplied many times over. The cities rebuilt from atomic ashes stand as proof of human resilience, while their peace memorials remind us of the price of failure. In their rebuilt streets and testimonies of their survivors lies both history’s warning and its challenge: to ensure that Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain the last cities to experience nuclear weapons, not merely the first.

---

Sources

Authoritative Sources:

• Atomic Archive - Comprehensive documentation of the Manhattan Project and atomic bombings
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum - Official museum with extensive survivor testimonies and artifacts
• Radiation Effects Research Foundation - Joint Japan-US research organization studying atomic bomb survivors
• The National Security Archive - Declassified documents on atomic bomb decision-making
• United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs - International perspective on the bombings’ impact on nuclear disarmament