Uranium cubes reveal why the German nuclear project failed
Summary
A new study says Germany’s B8 reactor experiment could not have reached a sustained nuclear reaction with its design because the team lacked enough uranium and heavy water. The reactor, built by Werner Heisenberg’s group near the end of World War II, used 664 uranium cubes submerged in heavy water.Key Facts
- The study appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus.
- Heisenberg led the German team that built the B8 reactor in a cave beneath a castle in Haigerloch.
- The reactor used 664 uranium cubes strung together with aircraft cable and placed in a tank of heavy water.
- Heisenberg said the experiment failed because it had too little uranium, but believed a slight increase in its size could have started energy production.
- A 2013 gift of a uranium cube to University of Maryland physicist Timothy Koeth prompted research into the cubes’ history.
- Only 14 German uranium cubes are known to exist today.
- As Allied forces advanced in 1944, Heisenberg’s team dismantled the reactor and buried the cubes in a field.
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