4 ms·

They also wanted to keep it from the Germans. Before war, much of the foundations of atomic physics were developed by people in the Axis countries. It was pla

They also wanted to keep it from the Germans. Before war, much of the foundations of atomic physics were developed by people in the Axis countries. It was plausible that Germany had a nuclear program as big as the American one. Denying them fuel was important. See the sabotage of Norwegian heavy water: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_heavy_water_sabotage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_heavy_water_sabotage

ben7799 6y ago
"The Winter Fortress" is a fantastic book about the Norwegian sabotage of the heavy water plant... really highly recommended.
sandworm101 6y ago
>> It was plausible that Germany had a nuclear program as big as the American one. Plausible only for those without knowledge of the extent of the US program. Even among those involved, few had perspective on exactly how much of the US economy was being funnelled into the nuclear program. The Manhattan Project famously at some points used roughly 10% of the electricity available in the united states, a country with an infrastructure relatively untouched by war. There is absolutely no way that WWII Germany could have sustained anything close to a similar effort. They had to brains to understand the physics, but not the raw industrial power necessary to turn that into a practical weapon.
- cryptonector 6y ago
  The Manhattan project studied four different Uranium enrichment solutions (none of being centrifuges'; ultimately settled on diffusion) and pursued two completely different bomb designs. The uranium bomb required a high degree of enrichment, while the plutonium bomb required a reactor. I don't have the figures, but I imagine a great deal of the electric power consumed by the Manhattan project was for making heavy water and enriching uranium. The Japanese had two different atomic bomb projects, as usual, one for the navy and one for the army. As I understand it, one of the (the navy's) got pretty close. But details of the Japanese effort are hard to find. A much more focused project that consumed a smaller portion of Europe's industrial capacity was somewhat plausible, at least up until the scuttling of Norway's heavy water. A serious German bomb effort could have done the minimum uranium enrichment (using centrifuges, perhaps) needed to breed plutonium in a reactor, and then yielded plutonium bombs, at much lower cost than the Manhattan project. Necessity being the mother of invention, and with all the energetic and industrial constraints they had it's not too farfetched to suppose they would have landed an idea like that. Still, once they lost access to Norway's heavy water, it would have cost them a great deal of electric power to make more, so there's that.
- selectionbias 6y ago
  If you haven't seen it already, the Farm Hall transcripts provide a fascinating insight into the failure of the Nazi nuclear effort: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1992/08/13/the-farm-hall-transcripts-the-german-scientists-an/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1992/08/13/the-farm-hall-tr...
- aerostable_slug 6y ago
  >> Even among those involved, few had perspective on exactly how much of the US economy was being funnelled into the nuclear program. Which also serves to highlight the incredible cost of the B-29 project — $1.9 billion for the Manhattan project, $3 billion for the B-29.

ben7799 6y ago

"The Winter Fortress" is a fantastic book about the Norwegian sabotage of the heavy water plant... really highly recommended.

sandworm101 6y ago

>> It was plausible that Germany had a nuclear program as big as the American one. Plausible only for those without knowledge of the extent of the US program. Even among those involved, few had perspective on exactly how much of the US economy was being funnelled into the nuclear program. The Manhattan Project famously at some points used roughly 10% of the electricity available in the united states, a country with an infrastructure relatively untouched by war. There is absolutely no way that WWII Germany could have sustained anything close to a similar effort. They had to brains to understand the physics, but not the raw industrial power necessary to turn that into a practical weapon.

cryptonector 6y ago
The Manhattan project studied four different Uranium enrichment solutions (none of being centrifuges'; ultimately settled on diffusion) and pursued two completely different bomb designs. The uranium bomb required a high degree of enrichment, while the plutonium bomb required a reactor. I don't have the figures, but I imagine a great deal of the electric power consumed by the Manhattan project was for making heavy water and enriching uranium. The Japanese had two different atomic bomb projects, as usual, one for the navy and one for the army. As I understand it, one of the (the navy's) got pretty close. But details of the Japanese effort are hard to find. A much more focused project that consumed a smaller portion of Europe's industrial capacity was somewhat plausible, at least up until the scuttling of Norway's heavy water. A serious German bomb effort could have done the minimum uranium enrichment (using centrifuges, perhaps) needed to breed plutonium in a reactor, and then yielded plutonium bombs, at much lower cost than the Manhattan project. Necessity being the mother of invention, and with all the energetic and industrial constraints they had it's not too farfetched to suppose they would have landed an idea like that. Still, once they lost access to Norway's heavy water, it would have cost them a great deal of electric power to make more, so there's that.
selectionbias 6y ago
If you haven't seen it already, the Farm Hall transcripts provide a fascinating insight into the failure of the Nazi nuclear effort: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1992/08/13/the-farm-hall-transcripts-the-german-scientists-an/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1992/08/13/the-farm-hall-tr...
aerostable_slug 6y ago
>> Even among those involved, few had perspective on exactly how much of the US economy was being funnelled into the nuclear program. Which also serves to highlight the incredible cost of the B-29 project — $1.9 billion for the Manhattan project, $3 billion for the B-29.