ncounio Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 H30 what that Heavy Water ? Shouldn't that be D20 (D for Deuterium, isotop of Hydrogen) IIRC from my far far away college years ? By the way on the german and the atom, there is a well done book "The Heisenberg Mistery". And from what I read, Germans first explored the fission stuff to produce an engine rather than a bomb ! There were also less manpower on their project and the installations were bombed severall times ! ------------------ Nicolas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 Germanboy wrote: Of course they later claimed that they did not produce it for ethical reasons and were consciously stalling - yeah right. There were a couple of occasions where somebody was either stalling or criminally incompetent. For example, when they were searching for the correct material to use to slow down the reaction they tested lead and rejected it as unsuitable. The later examination of lab reports showed that there was an error in the calculations so that the result was a couple orders of magnitude too small. In another occasion, some of the leading Nazis were invited for a presentation. However, the invitation letters were put in wrong envelopes and nobody came. - Tommi [This message has been edited by tss (edited 07-17-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreasyPig Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 Hey, Got a question, I know what "heavy water" is (atomicly). I believe it was used in the purification process of urainium. Is this correct? If so can anyone tell me why? How did this aid in refinement? Just curious. GP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott Clinton Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Although until they actually ran the Trinity test, they had no idea what would really happen. There was a strong current of opinion within the Los Alamos team that the bomb might ignite the Earth's atmosphere and turn the planet into an airless cinder. But hey, then the war would be over and they would've accomplished their mission.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It was my understanding that this actually was during the hydrogen bomb tests and not the atomic bomb tests/uses of the 40s. Scary part was (for me anyway) that there was no war (except the Cold War of course) when they thought that the hydrogen bomb might, just possibly destroy the entire planet. But they went ahead and did it anyway. ------------------ Please note: The above is solely the opinion of 'The Grumbling Grognard' and reflects no one else's views but his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Clinton: It was my understanding that this actually was during the hydrogen bomb tests and not the atomic bomb tests/uses of the 40s. Scary part was (for me anyway) that there was no war (except the Cold War of course) when they thought that the hydrogen bomb might, just possibly destroy the entire planet. But they went ahead and did it anyway. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'm pretty sure this fear goes all the way back to Trinity, but I don't have a source to hand. By the time the H-bomb tests were going on, physicists had a much better understanding of the physics of nuclear explosions. I'll see if I can find a source... ------------------ Ethan ----------- Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark IV Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GreasyPig: I know what "heavy water" is (atomicly). I believe it was used in the purification process of urainium. Is this correct? If so can anyone tell me why? How did this aid in refinement?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Dear Mr. Pig: Heavy water, or deuterium, is used as a moderator in controlled chain reactions. It slows down neutrons in the chain reaction preventing a runaway condition, and because it's water can also be used as a coolant. Unlike regular "light" water it does not absorb the valuable neutrons. http://www.heavywaterboard.org/docs/moderator.htm I cannot say enough good about the High Energy Weapons Archive http://www.fas.org/nuke/hew/ as a resource for understanding, building, and properly caring for nuclear weapons. If the radiance of a thousand suns Were to burst at once into the sky, That would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, The shatterer of Worlds. The Bhagavad-Gita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havermeyer Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 I studied under a professor who worked with Heisenberg. He was typically cagey when it came to his involvement with the German effort to develop the bomb. Plus he has gotten crazier over the years... but on more than one occasion he intimated that Heisenberg worked to thwart the Nazi effort to develop the bomb. This could be revisionist wishful thinking on his part. I've read elsewhere that Heisenberg seriously doubted the feasibility of developing the bomb (I believe I picked this up from Richard Rhodes book, The Making of the Atomic Bomb). I STRONGLY RECOMMEND picking up The Making of the Atomic Bomb for those interested. It reads easily, and when it comes to dropping the bomb it is very sobering. As an American you root for the scientists and pilots, but the devastating effects of the bomb immediately sober your exuberance. Rhodes, I believe, purposely buries you in survivor accounts to counter any euphoria you may experience... ------------------ "Two World Wars and One World Cup, do da, do da!" --British Hooligan, sung to Camptown Races Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PzKpfw 1 Posted July 17, 2000 Share Posted July 17, 2000 Originally posted by PraetorianXXI: yeah cause they knew they could never win a war with out the god damned thing They beat the Germans without an A-bomb 8P. i saw a documentary by a group a historians thats 6 volumes long about WW2, it says the germans had a nuke bomb ready to go, but someone miss placed the guidance missle systems "MWAHAHA wasnt me" anyway they couldnt use em so they (all 62 missiles)left them there!! Then those 'historians' have a real problem because Germany wasn't even close to haveing a bomb. Germany chose the wrong path, despite leading the feild in 1939. The Army who funded the research when presented both proposals,chose Enhanced uranium & the Heavy water(D20)process,over the more eficent & effective electro magnetic method. To slow the process further, their was only 1 plant capable of producing it Europe, the Norsk Hydro plant in Vermork Norway, as we know the plant was wrecked in Febuary 1943 by the Norwegian resistance. At the end of the war Germany had 2.5 tons of heavy water, this was half of what was needed to even begin production of fissle material. As the research was funded by the Army, until the Army decided the Bomb would not be ready in time to effect the outcome of the war, then the Education ministry assumed funding, and ordered the scientists, to work on more tangeible projects. The main reason behind the German failure to create an bomb was 2 fold 1 reason was because Hitler had no use for it, he was scared of the whole concept to the point that he believed that the explosions would be uncrontrolable & burn up the atmosphere. This & the fact Hitler thought the whole proposal & research *"a spawn of Jewish pseudo-science". meant neither the funding nor the resources would ever be made available, as for the Germans to have produced an bomb required the full approval & support of the Nazi Party, something that never would have occured as the Party scientists, considered the whole concept as "non Aryan, Jewish physichs", which as we see above Hitler agreed with, even Speer could not get Hitler to support increasing resources to the project. Research was allowed to continue with a low priority tag, and German Scientists working on the project knew about US progress, yet in their arrogence believed they were well ahead of their Allied counterparts. Anyway....lalala ive proven my point lalala.. That would depend on what point you thought you were proveing 8P, because it certinly wasn't anything to do with the Atomic bomb one. *See: Overy Richard, "Why the Alliues Won" p. 236 Regards, John Waters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dNorwood Posted July 18, 2000 Share Posted July 18, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Clinton: It was my understanding that this actually was during the hydrogen bomb tests and not the atomic bomb tests/uses of the 40s. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Not true. Several of the scientists working on the bomb had the idea occur to them. After calculating the mean free path, most decided that "igniting" the atmosphere was unlikely. (NOTE: Here, igniting the atmosphere amounts to starting a fusion reaction in the atmosphere, as happens in a fusion bomb). <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Scott Clinton: Scary part was (for me anyway) that there was no war (except the Cold War of course) when they thought that the hydrogen bomb might, just possibly destroy the entire planet. But they went ahead and did it anyway. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> This is the circumstance at the Trinity test - nobody knew for sure until after the test that if was safe to pop nukes in the atmosphere. [This message has been edited by dNorwood (edited 07-17-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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