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Nazi uranium was routed to two researchers at the University of Maryland in the United States in 2013, 68 years after the end of World War II. This cube of fissile material of perfect shape and surprisingly heavy is only one of the 659 cubes of uranium formerly belonging to the Nazis. The researchers are now asking where the remaining 658 surrendered after the Allied forces retrieved them from Germany in 1945. Professor Timothy Koeth, who had found the uranium cube on his desk six years ago , was astonished to discover the Nazi relic of the Second World War.
He said, "I was stunned. I did not have words. But once I overcame the fear of that, the pesky physics issues began to arise.
"How do we know it's real, where did it come from and what path did it take to get here?"
The cube arrived in Professor Koeth's office with a mysterious note, which read: "Taken from the reactor that Hitler tried to build. Gift of Ninninger. "
To solve this riddle, Professor Koeth used the help of doctoral candidate Miriam Hiebert.
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Ms. Hiebert said, "Tim has this strange ability to draw people into his world filled with books and glowing.
"He spoke to me about this project, so I started to help him a bit on the side and it got worse."
In 1945, a special mission led by the Allied forces recovered 659 cubes of uranium in a field near the German city of Haigerloch.
Nuclear reactor fuel returned to New York City in the United States the same year, but all traces of it disappeared over time.
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According to Professor Koeth, the uranium cubes were part of a failed program of German nuclear reactors.
Despite its failure, the program would prompt the US Manhattan project to take giant steps in nuclear research, which eventually led to the creation of the atomic bomb.
The scientist said, "This cube represents the motivation for the entire Manhattan project, the entire atomic era and everything we've had to live with since then."
To verify the authenticity of the cube, Professor Koeth analyzed the uranium block using a high resolution gamma ray spectrometer.
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The machine identified the cube for signs of radioactive isotopes, which would be emitted in a "natural abundance" by true fissile uranium.
A fake block would probably have been depleted uranium, which is a byproduct of nuclear fission and is easier to acquire.
Professor Koeth's analysis shows that the Nazi cube has never been used in a nuclear reactor, which proves that it is indeed the reality.
Miss Hiebert said, "This gave us the assurance that the cube is probably real and that no one has done everything in its power to simulate it."
So what happened to the other cubes of uranium recovered from the Nazis at the end of the war?
Professor Koeth and his fellow researchers traced their cube up to Robert D Nininger of Rockville, Maryland, who had previously worked on the Manhattan Project at the Murray Hill area engineering office, where the cubes would have been at one point.
The two researchers are now looking for more clues about the location of the other 658 cubes.
Miss Hiebert said, "The cubes have a story to tell about why the German nuclear program did not work and the Manhattan Project.
"I am also interested in the people who have had these cubes. There is this strange club which they do not know that they are part of, and we want to get some of these stories. "
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