Heavy Water and the Wartime Race for Nuclear Energy
Heavy water (deuterium oxide) played a sinister role in the race for nuclear energy during the World War II. It was a key factor in Germany's bid to harness atomic energy primarily as a source of electric power; its acute shortage was a factor in Japan's decision not to pursue seriously nuclear weaponry; its very existence was a nagging thorn in the side of the Allied powers. Books and films have dwelt on the Allies' efforts to deny the Germans heavy water by military means; however, a...
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Heavy water (deuterium oxide) played a sinister role in the race for nuclear energy during the World War II. It was a key factor in Germany's bid to harness atomic energy primarily as a source of electric power; its acute shortage was a factor in Japan's decision not to pursue seriously nuclear weaponry; its very existence was a nagging thorn in the side of the Allied powers. Books and films have dwelt on the Allies' efforts to deny the Germans heavy water by military means; however, a history of heavy water has yet to be written.Filling this gap, Heavy Water and the Wartime Race for Nuclear Energy concentrates on the circumstances whereby Norway became the preeminent producer of heavy water and on the scientific role the rare isotope of hydrogen played in the wartime efforts by the Axis and Allied powers alike. Instead of a purely technical treatise on heavy water, the book describes the social history of the subject.The book covers the discovery and early uses of deuterium before World War II and its large-scale production by Norsk Hydro in Norway, especially under German control. It also discusses the French-German race for the Norwegian heavy-water stocks in 1940 and heavy water's importance for the subsequent German uranium project, including the Allied sabotage and bombing of the Norwegian plants, as well as its lesser role in Allied projects, especially in the United States and Canada. The book concludes with an overall assessment of the importance and the perceived importance of heavy water for the German program, which alone staked everything on heavy water in its quest for a nuclear chain reaction. CERN Courier Dahl manages to combine scientific accuracy with a compelling storyline that keeps the pages turning...It is a remarkable read.
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsList of illustrations1Prologue11.1Fornebu airport, 12 March 194012Manchester and Paris, 191932.1Manchester: how it began32.2Paris, and the Joliot-Curies73The Neutron113.1Prelude to 1932: Chadwick and Bothe on the hunt113.2A discovery narrowly missed, and the neutron at last174Heavy Water224.1Deuterium: a comedy of errors224.2Gilbert Lewis and Leif Tronstad: the promise of deuterium274.3Birkeland and his gun; Eyde and Birkeland334.4Tronstad and Norsk Hydro: an auspicious union415Artificial Radioactivity495.1Another French miss, and triumph at last495.2Rome: another discovery, and a discovery missed575.3Meanwhile, back in Paris635.4Escape, in the nick of time666Nuclear Fission736.1Berlin: December 1938736.2More neutrons?786.3Prospects for a chain reaction on the eve of war896.4A moderator of choice997Heavy Water Revisited1047.1The Allier mission1047.2Attack on Norway1107.3The battle for Rjukan; Tronstad goes into action1138The British Initiative1188.1Maud1188.2Broompark1239German Army Ordnance Takes Charge1309.1The Uranium Club; a tritium episode1309.2A serious error1389.3Joliot's guests14310Heavy Water Takes Center Stage14710.1Pressure on Norsk Hydro mounts14710.2SIS, SOE, and the Galtesund affair15610.3Mild sabotage; frank talk15810.4Exit Jomar Brun16511America Joins the Quest17011.1Stirrings in the new world17011.2'Graphite versus deuterium' once more17311.3North American heavy water in abundance17812Action Vemork18612.1Germany's uranium machines: off to a promising start18612.2Freshman: an unqualified disaster19212.3Gunnerside: a qualified success19713Neutrons Despite Bombs20613.1Aftermath at Vemork; neutrons in Berlin-Gottow20613.2The Americans strike21114Wavering Outlook for Heavy Water21914.1Penultimate pile experiments21914.2The ferry22414.3Prospects for heavy-water production in Germany23315Canada Enters the Race23915.1ZEEP23916Fears and Facts on the Continent24716.1Alsos24716.2In the Haigerloch cave25317Swabian Jura and Upper Telemark: Final Events25917.1The rush for Haigerloch25917.2Interrupted Sunshine26418Hiroshima Revealed; Further Contestants for Nuclear Energy27118.1Farm Hall: Operation Epsilon27118.2Belated entries: Russia and Japan27519Epilogue28219.1Whither heavy water; what if?28219.2A few of the personalities287App. ASome Properties of Heavy Water (D[subscript 2]O) Compared to Water (H[subscript 2]O)293App. BA Chronology of Heavy Water294Abbreviations300Notes303Select bibliography359Name index365Subject index385
\ Physics Today...Dahl has writen an outstanding, fascinating account...one that specialists and the general public alike will find intriguing.\ \ \ \ \ CERN CourierDahl manages to combine scientific accuracy with a compelling storyline that keeps the pages turning...It is a remarkable read.\ \ \ Neutron NewsThis is a superbly researched book ... and an excellent read. Even someone with little knowledge of those turbulent times will enjoy it.\ \
