Report and letter signed by Oppenheimer up for auction ahead of Oscars

An auction house is taking bids on a report of the atomic bomb’s birth and a letter signed by Robert Oppenheimer describing his creation as a ‘weapon for aggressors’

It comes as Christopher Nolan’s US$1 billion-grossing epic ‘Oppenheimer’ leads the Academy Awards nominations, including for best picture, best actor and best director

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Items related to the US atomic bomb programme, some signed by J. Robert Oppenheimer and others, are displayed at the RR Auction House in Boston. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:00pm, 10 Mar 2024Updated: 5:12pm, 10 Mar 2024

Propelled to prominence by the blockbuster film Oppenheimer, papers charting the world-changing creation of the atomic bomb by the eponymous physicist are up for auction in the United States.

Christopher Nolan’s US$1 billion-grossing epic immortalises the story of the wartime race to create nuclear weapons, with the film the leading contender at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

It has received 13 nominations, including for best picture, best actor and best director.

Cillian Murphy plays J. Robert Oppenheimer, left, and Robert Downey Jnr plays Lewis Strauss, in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”. Photo: Universal Pictures/TNS

Among the items to go under the hammer in Boston is a report on the birth of the atomic bomb, which was subsequently used against Japan, helping lead to the end of World War II.

It chronicles the Manhattan Project which was managed in secret in Los Alamos, a town built around a classified lab that was created from scratch in New Mexico at the suggestion of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had a lifelong passion for the surrounding mountains.

Dubbed the Smyth Report, the document was first released to the press on August 12, 1945, days after the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“The report serves as a comprehensive overview of the scientific and administrative journey leading to the creation of one of humanity’s most formidable weapons,” according to the RR Auction House in Boston.