While the film that bears his name was successful at the box officeI take the liberty of pointing to the repercussions of its influence on American soil.
A complex man, a challenge and a legacy that were just as complex
In an interview given to the Harvard Gazette, Professor Steven Shapin points out that the choice of Oppenheimer to lead the Manhattan Project surprised. One of his coworkers even reportedly said he didn’t have the skills to run a burger stand.
However, it was to him that General Leslie Groves entrusted the reins of the greatest collaborative project between scientists of that time. The names of Groves and Oppenheimer will forever be linked to the history of nuclear weapons.
Eccentric, enigmatic and charismatic, Oppenheimer knew how to take up the challenge, validating in passing this declaration by Gustave Le Bon: “It is not men who make events, but events which, on the contrary, make men”.
If nuclear weapons have had a profound effect on the way we think about national security, foreign policy and the conduct of war, Oppenheimer’s legacy is also visible at the Los Alamos site in New Mexico.
He can legitimately be seen there as a hero, helping to give birth to the city and the Los Alamos National Lab. New Mexico, a particularly poor state, will also benefit from the arrival of military industry and researchers from around the world.
Even today, the state and Oppenheimer-related facilities enjoy tourism spinoffs. Since last Thursday, the Oppenheimer Festival has been taking place.
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Negative and, above all, radioactive fallout
Even if the positive effects of the passage of Oppenheimer and the Manhattan project are well known, there is however a very dark balance sheet that we must not ignore.
Near the Trinidad Test Site, site of the first nuclear test, Spanish-speaking and Apache Mescaleros suffered the adverse effects of nuclear weapon development. A high number of very rare cancers have been identified.
The Axios site pointed out last week that in the wake of the Manhattan Project, the American government had accelerated the production of nuclear weapons, developing at the same time more than 500 uranium mines on the territory of the Navajos, also overrepresented in cancer statistics.
Unlike radiation victims in Nevada who were able to benefit from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, those in New Mexico, mostly from ethnic minorities, received no help. Never did Oppenheimer or the US government apologize.
You will surely understand that not everyone is delighted with the release of the film or the commemorations surrounding the work of the famous researcher. This is exactly what one of the victims, Tina Cordova, says:I don’t have anything against him. But I really despise the fact that they brought the Manhattan Project to New Mexico because it changed our state forever.»