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08 February 2012

Answer to Question #4279 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Historical Issues/Applications

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

In the early 90s, I read an article in the Health Physics Society Newsletter that described how the United States acquired fissile material from Germany at the close of World War II. The article described how a German U-boat surrendered its radioactive contents to the United States. The submarine was later docked in New England and some or all of the fissile material was used in the second A-bomb. Who could I contact to locate the details of this story?

The article you refer to can be found at http://www.orau.org/ptp/articlesstories/u234.htm.

As indicated there, the reference that I used was "Japan's Secret War" by Wilcox. Since that story was written, more information has become available. To find it, go to the Amazon website and do a search on "U-234." You will locate a book and even a DVD.

I did not say that the uranium was used in the A-bomb. There is speculation that the captured uranium being transported in ²³⁴U was processed and that it made its way into the bomb, but that is a guess. I suspect that some people would like that to have been the case and are, therefore, more inclined to believe it.

Paul Frame, CHP, PhD

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