After Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Nuclear Age and the Problem of the Preservation of the Atomic Secret

In early August 1945, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki suffered the attack of two atomic bombs by US air crews. Its devastating effects generated the immediate surrender of Japan and the consequent end of World War II. However, the beginning of the postwar period was marked by the tense debate surrounding the control of this bomb of mass destruction, particularly the possession of the atomic secret that ensured its manufacture. In that autumn of 1945 and in a climate of widespread fear of a possible world cataclysm, it was thought that the secret would remain in the hands of the United States, the UN, and even a newly created world government, all under the suspicion and distrust of the Stalin's Soviet Union. Because of the importance it had for the future of humanity, this will be the central theme of this article.