The atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb were two very different projects, and each project had a very different effect on both Oppenheimer and the man himself. Oppenheimer follows a few key moments in the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who helped build the first atomic bomb. By the end of Oppenheimer, the movie had explored his role in the Manhattan Project, his time on the Atomic Energy Commission, and his guilt for helping develop a nuclear weapon. The timeline of Oppenheimer stopped short of one major event, though: the development of the hydrogen bomb.

For the majority of Oppenheimer, Robert was working on building the atomic bomb, the world’s first nuclear weapon. Years after his career as a theoretical physicist had ended, however, the United States would develop another nuclear weapon in the form of the hydrogen bomb. Oppenheimer had a complicated relationship to the hydrogen bomb, both because of the events depicted in Oppenheimer and because of the differences it had from the atomic bomb. That relationship is key to the final moments of Oppenheimer, as are the differences between the atom bomb and the hydrogen bomb.

J. Robert Oppenheimer Was The Father Of The Atomic Bomb

J. Robert Oppenheimer was often called the “father of the atomic bomb” for two key reasons. Firstly, he was a brilliant physicist. Without his knowledge and problem-solving skills, building a working atomic bomb in time would have been significantly more difficult. The bigger reason, however, was not for his scientific mind, but for his leadership. As one of the organizers of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer was completely instrumental to the nuclear weapons program. He coordinated the work of dozens of scientists, motivated them to keep going, and acted as a go-between for them and the military (via Harvard Gazette).

How Hydrogen Bombs Differ From Atomic Bombs

The main difference between the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb is how destructive they are. The atomic bomb got most of its destructive power from a fission reaction, which essentially meant splitting the atom (via Time). Fission releases a tremendous amount of energy when the nucleus of an atom is split apart, but hydrogen bombs release even more. Hydrogen bombs are much more powerful than atomic bombs because they use both fission and fusion – when two atoms combine (via International Atomic Energy Agency). Hydrogen bombs are about 1,000 times more powerful than atom bombs, which makes them almost incomprehensibly deadly.

What Oppenheimer Has Said About Hydrogen Bombs – Why Did He Develop An A-Bomb?

After his work on the Manhattan Project was complete and World War II was over, Oppenheimer had a change of heart with regard to nuclear weaponry. In the years following the war, the U.S. government set its sights on the hydrogen bomb, the next step in the nuclear arms race. Oppenheimer still had a hand in the United States’ nuclear program, as he was a member of the Atomic Energy Commission, but he fiercely opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb. The biography American Prometheus, which Oppenheimer is based on, stated that Robert hoped the hydrogen bomb would never be produced (via Los Alamos National Labratory).

Oppenheimer’s views on the hydrogen bomb seem to make his work on the atomic bomb hypocritical. That was a point Roger Robb and the U.S. government raised during Oppenheimer’s security clearance hearing. There was, however, a key difference in the development of the two bombs. Oppenheimer likely agreed to work on the Manhattan Project because it was a wartime effort, and he believed that if the U.S. didn’t develop it first, Nazi Germany would. The hydrogen bomb, however, was built after Oppenheimer was able to actually see the devastating effects of the far less powerful atomic bomb.

J. Robert Oppenheimer came to deeply regret his most famous work later in his life, and he carried a great deal of guilt for building the atomic bomb. He tried to reverse some of the damage he caused and began advocating for nuclear peace, but that change of heart caused him serious damage. One of the reasons Oppenheimer’s security clearance was revoked was because he opposed the hydrogen bomb, and that trial spelled the end of Robert’s career. Despite Robert’s efforts, the hydrogen bomb would be built, and the nuclear arms race would continue long after the end of Oppenheimer.