Erich Rudolf Bagge (30 May 1912, in Neustadt bei Coburg – 5 June 1996, in Kiel) was a German scientist. Bagge, a student of

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematis ...

for his doctorate and Habilitation, was engaged in German Atomic Energy research and the

German nuclear energy project The Uranverein ( en, "Uranium Club") or Uranprojekt ( en, "Uranium Project") was the name given to the project in Germany to research nuclear technology, including nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors, during World War II. It went through seve ...

during the Second World War. He worked as an Assistant at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik in Berlin. Bagge, who became associated professor at the University of Hamburg in 1948, was in particular involved in the usage of nuclear power for trading vessels, and he was one of the founders of the Society for the Usage of Nuclear Energy in Ship-Building and Seafare. The first German nuclear vessel, the " NS Otto Hahn", was launched in 1962. A research reactor was installed in Geesthacht near Hamburg at about the same time which has over the years formed into a center for materials research with neutrons.

Uranium enrichment

Dr. Bagge developed a gaseous uranium enrichment device (''Isotopenschleuse'' or ''isotope sluice'')'German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power, 1939-49', se
pp.133-135
by Mark Walker, published by Cambridge University Press, 1992. for enriching the U-235 isotope content of uranium in 1944, using three methods; centrifugal force, electromagnetism and thermal diffusion. It was built by BAMAG-MEGUIN under the direction of

Kurt Diebner Kurt Diebner (13 May 1905 – 13 July 1964) was a German nuclear physicist who is well known for directing and administrating the German nuclear energy project, a secretive program aiming to build nuclear weapons for Nazi Germany during World War ...

. Yellow cake uranium oxide powder was reacted with

hydrofluoric acid Hydrofluoric acid is a solution of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in water. Solutions of HF are colourless, acidic and highly corrosive. It is used to make most fluorine-containing compounds; examples include the commonly used pharmaceutical antidepress ...

to form gaseous uranium hexafluoride. It was pumped into the sluice, which consisted of a centrifuge and spun at great speeds to fling heavier non-fissile ²³⁸U to the periphery.

Electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic field which is concentrated in the ...

s helped to keep ²³⁵U nearer the core of the centrifuge. Slight heating near the bottom of the "bowl" helped ²³⁸U to migrate to the bottom whilst ²³⁵U bubbled to the top of the chamber. Uranium hexafluoride gas with an enriched content of ²³⁵U was then sluiced off the top layers. Bagge got a patent in 1955 for the isotope sluice but it never achieved any economic importance.

Post-war activity

From June to December 1945, Bagge was (together with

, Walther Gerlach,

Otto Hahn Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and father of nuclear fission. Hahn and Lise Meitner ...

Paul Harteck Paul Karl Maria Harteck (20 July 190222 January 1985) was an Austrian physical chemist. In 1945 under Operation Epsilon in "the big sweep" throughout Germany, Harteck was arrested by the allied British and American Armed Forces for suspicion o ...

, Horst Korsching, Max von Laue,

Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker (; 28 June 1912 – 28 April 2007) was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under W ...

, and

Karl Wirtz Karl Eugen Julius Wirtz (24 April 1910 – 12 February 1994) was a German nuclear physicist, born in Cologne. He was arrested by the allied British and American Armed Forces and incarcerated at Farm Hall for six months in 1945 under Operation ...

) detained at Farm Hall near

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge becam ...

, England. After the war, Bagge became Professor in Hamburg, later Professor and Head of the Department of Physics at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded ...

, Germany. He was also Head of the Gesellschaft für Kernenergieverwertung in Schiffbau und Schiffahrt (GKSS) near Hamburg.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagge, Erich Rudolf 1912 births 1996 deaths 20th-century German physicists Nuclear program of Nazi Germany Nazi Party members Operation Epsilon Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German nuclear physicists Academic staff of the University of Hamburg

Uranium enrichment

Post-war activity

See also

Notes