Rise of Australia

Chapter 540 Purchasing Uranium Ore

If he had to choose the next most important weapons research project, Arthur would choose nuclear weapons without hesitation.

There is no way, the deterrent effect of nuclear weapons on a country is too great, far exceeding the influence that other conventional weapons can bring to other countries.

In later generations, there is also a huge difference between a nuclear country and a non-nuclear country.Those with nuclear weapons are not necessarily superpowers, but superpowers must have nuclear weapons.

The United States was the first country in history to manufacture and use nuclear weapons, and it was also the only country in human history to have used nuclear weapons against other countries.

The U.S. nuclear weapons research program was named the Manhattan Project, and what supported the success of the Manhattan Project was actually uranium mines from the Congo region.

Speaking of uranium ore, this is a mineral resource that has been discovered long ago and is distributed in many countries.

But until now, uranium ore has been rarely used in human life, so it is also called a useless ore, and only a small amount of development has been carried out.

The only purpose of people developing uranium mines is not to develop nuclear weapons like the Americans, but to find the radium element hidden in the uranium mines.

Yes, it was the radium element discovered by the famous Marie Curie.

It was not until after nuclear fission was discovered that people discovered the role and value of uranium ore, and the history of large-scale uranium mining began.

When the Americans carried out the Manhattan Project, they did not choose uranium mines in Colorado and Canada, but chose uranium mines in the Congo thousands of miles away. There is actually a reason for this.

Compared with uranium ore in the United States and Canada, which has a purity of only 0.03%, Congo’s uranium ore has a purity of 65%. Even tailings that were later deemed too poor to be worth processing have a purity of 20%.

Such a huge difference in purity is the real reason why Americans gave up uranium mines in the Americas and traveled thousands of miles to mine uranium mines in the Congo.

This actually represents an important piece of news, that is, Congo's high-quality uranium mines play a vital role in the development of nuclear weapons.

This is good news for both Arthur and Australasia, because uranium ore is now almost worthless and almost no one will mine it except in the hope of discovering radium.

Before the news of nuclear fission was announced, it was entirely possible to exploit or even hollow out Congo's uranium mines.

As long as they monopolize Congo's high-quality uranium mines, other countries' progress in developing nuclear weapons will be at least several years slower than in history.

Even though Australasia is leading in the beginning, it can also rely on this batch of high-quality uranium ore to achieve a substantial lead in the research and development of nuclear weapons.

Thinking of this, Arthur no longer hesitated and directly notified the Australasian diplomatic ambassador in Belgium to inquire about purchasing uranium mines in the Congo.

It is worth mentioning that the current Congo no longer belongs to the private property of the King of Belgium, but is under the rule of the Belgian government and has been officially renamed the Belgian Congo.

Although Congo's uranium mines are useless ores without any value for the time being, the Belgian government is also very curious about the news that Australasia wants to buy the right mine, and even tests Australasia's intentions in every possible way.

It's a pity that such a temptation is naturally easy for diplomats to deal with.Even though the Belgian government tried every possible means, there was no answer in the end.

In order to make the Belgians willingly dedicate all the uranium mines, Arthur also spent a lot of money to purchase all the uranium mines in the Congo in a private name for 500 million Australian dollars and a batch of weapons and equipment.

After being involved in World War I, the Belgians understood the importance of their own defense.After the war, the major fortresses were reinforced and equipped with more powerful weapons.

After learning that the purchase of uranium mines was only Arthur's personal behavior, the Belgian government breathed a sigh of relief and was happy to have struck a deal with Arthur.

After all, if all the uranium mines in Congo were mined, it might not be possible to earn 500 million Australian dollars.

What's more, there is also a batch of weapons and equipment. From the current perspective, the Belgian government will definitely make a profit from this transaction.

Of course, the British also played a part in enabling Australasia to successfully obtain these uranium mines.

Although Congo is a colony of Belgium, the great powers also have related interests in Belgium, especially the most powerful British Empire.

More than [-]% of the shares of the Belgian Consolidated Mining Company, which is responsible for mining minerals in the Congo, belong to the British, which is enough to show the influence of the British in this land.

After the outbreak of the Irish War of Independence, the British urgently needed Australasia's support at the international level, which is why the British agreed to Australasia's purchase of all uranium mines in the Congo without a second thought.

For the British, this batch of uranium mines is naturally not as important as their own stability.Anyway, the Congo is not the only uranium mine in the world. Australasia cannot monopolize the world's uranium mines, so the British Empire naturally does not need to worry.

After obtaining dual licenses from the British Empire and Belgium, Arthur was relieved and established the Royal Mining Company, which was responsible for the mining and transportation of uranium ore in the Congo.

Of course, because uranium is known to be a radioactive mineral, the people responsible for mining it are naturally the native Congolese, or the natives specially raised in Australasia. It is impossible for the Australasians to mine it themselves.

This is exactly the purpose of keeping these natives in captivity, to make due contributions to the Australasian government in this relatively dangerous environment.

Arthur is very much looking forward to the mining of uranium mines in Congo, so after obtaining licenses from the United Kingdom and Belgium, he has launched a uranium mining plan in Congo.

In order to maintain local order and protect the safe mining and transportation of this batch of uranium ore into the country, Arthur decided to dispatch an army to station in the mining area to protect the safety near the mining area with the consent of the Belgians.

Of course, the transport ship responsible for transporting uranium ore is also customized. Although it is not large in scale, it will take two or three months to complete the construction, which is just enough to allow the mining area to be exploited for a period of time.

With authorization from the British and Belgian governments, all uranium mines in Congo belong to Arthur privately. This is a fact that no one can change.

But in order to avoid accidents, Arthur decided to mine as much as possible and transport Congo's high-quality uranium ore to Australasia.

On the one hand, it can facilitate Australasia's nuclear weapons research, and on the other hand, it can also hinder the progress of other countries' nuclear weapons research and development as much as possible.

Of course, now Arthur's worries are unfounded.Before nuclear fission has been researched and other countries have not yet begun their nuclear weapons research and development, there is naturally no possibility of other countries overtaking them in a corner.

September 1920, 9, New Kolobwe Mine, Belgian Congo.

This uranium mine, which became famous in later generations, had changed its owner at this time, and the Australasian army was stationed there.

Due to the rush of time, other construction of the mine has not yet started, and even the mining equipment has not been transported.However, because Arthur's order was to carry out mining as soon as possible, the head of the Royal Mining Company decided to organize local indigenous people to carry out mining as soon as possible.

Anyway, there is no need to care about the life and death of these indigenous people. With a little food and funds, it is easy to obtain the services of hundreds of indigenous people, and the mining of uranium mines has officially begun.

Considering the radioactivity of uranium mines, no Australasians will come close to the entire uranium mining process, and the local indigenous people are basically responsible.

Of course, the preliminary work is also very simple, just dig the mine and pile the excavated ore into the designated place.

When the corresponding mining equipment arrives, the mine railway will be built, more advanced transportation equipment will be established, and so on.

On the third day, Arthur received good news, that is, throughout the day on September 9, a total of 1 tons of uranium ore was mined at the New Kolobwe mine, and the mining work went very smoothly.

Arthur was very satisfied after receiving this news. He praised the hastily established Royal Mining Company and asked the mining company to increase production as much as possible. The corresponding mining and transportation equipment will soon arrive in Congo.

Important raw materials for the development of nuclear weapons have made progress, and Arthur can't help but focus on the development of nuclear weapons.

Of course, it is not the research and development of nuclear weapons at present, but the research and exploration of nuclear theory.

The research on nuclear weapons did not happen overnight. From the initial discovery of electrons and X-rays to the discovery of nuclear fission and the birth of nuclear weapons, it took decades in history.

Numerous scientific theories have laid a solid foundation for nuclear weapons, which is also the real reason for the birth of nuclear weapons.

This also means that if you want to study nuclear weapons, you must verify the complete nuclear theory before you can develop nuclear weapons based on this theory.

The good news is that previous scientists have laid a solid foundation for this theory, including the discovery and proposal of electrons, X-rays, the natural radioactivity of polonium, radium and uranium, the special theory of relativity and the formulas related to mass and energy, quantum mechanics and atomic models. , creating a new stage in the development of atomic theory.

There is no exact timetable for the development of nuclear weapons because existing theories do not support the development of nuclear weapons in Australasia.

Without a complete theory, scientists don't even know what nuclear weapons are, so naturally they can't give an exact timetable.

The research on any weapon must be based on theory. Before the theory is explored, the weapon does not exist.

Even if nuclear fission was discovered in history, it took more than ten years for nuclear weapons to be produced, let alone now when nuclear fission has not even been discovered.

In order to have Australasia develop nuclear weapons as soon as possible, Arthur racked his brains and recalled the milestones of future nuclear weapons development progress.

The earliest nuclear weapon was the atomic bomb, and the study of atomic bombs is certainly inseparable from atoms.

If Arthur remembers correctly, with the discovery of neutrons, scientists came up with the hypothesis that the nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons, and then advanced related research.

A very simple sentence in later physics books, in reality, requires many demonstrations and a solid theoretical basis to confirm it.

Although it is just a simple sentence, a large number of scientists have devoted their lives to it, which cannot be mentioned in physics books.

Although technology 100 years later will indeed be very developed and advanced, without the efforts of many scientists a hundred years ago, the pyramids would not have been built, and advanced technology would have no theoretical basis.

Although Arthur has a certain understanding of the theory of nuclear weapons, it has been too long and he has forgotten many of them.

In addition to the theory that the atomic nucleus is composed of neutrons and protons, Arthur also remembered nuclear fission and the famous uranium-235.

Of course, there are also chain reactions and the like, which were provided by Arthur to the Institute of Physics headed by Einstein to help them conduct research on nuclear theory.

The research on nuclear theory is related to Australasia's strategic interests. Arthur has already ordered in advance that no one is allowed to leak any research results, otherwise it will be regarded as a betrayal of Australasia.

Of course, in order to compensate these scientists, Arthur said that he would increase their research funds and encourage them to conduct research in other areas.

It's obvious that scientists still value their research funding.After Arthur added a large amount of research funds, these physicists agreed to temporarily conceal research related to theory.

With a lot of information provided by Arthur, I believe that the Institute of Physics will be very busy in the near future. After all, the exploration of various hypotheses cannot be realized in a short time.

Of course, the information provided by Arthur has basically been verified by later generations, which can also help Australasia's nuclear theory research avoid some detours.

With the help of high-quality uranium mines in the Congo, Arthur was still very confident that he would develop nuclear weapons earlier than history, and even used nuclear weapons in the middle of World War II.

After all, no matter how the world situation develops, nuclear weapons will always be the last trump card of each country in 100 years, and there will not be many opportunities to use them.

World War II was the most appropriate opportunity to use nuclear weapons. Before other countries developed nuclear weapons, this was equivalent to a unilateral strike.

Especially after the use of nuclear weapons, other countries will see the powerful power of nuclear weapons, and they will naturally invest in the research of nuclear weapons at all costs.

This wave of research is simply unstoppable. No matter how large Australasia's lead is, it cannot prevent other countries from developing nuclear weapons.

This also means that apart from World War II, which was the most suitable time for the use of nuclear weapons, when World War II ends, if you want to use nuclear weapons, you have to look at the faces of other countries.

First of all, the blind use of nuclear weapons will damage the country's reputation. Secondly, we must also consider whether other countries have developed nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons after World War II were used more for deterrence. They may not be used, but they must be present. This is probably what it means.

For various reasons, Arthur still wanted to use nuclear weapons in World War II.After all, the famous Mount Fuji has not erupted for a long time. For no reason, Arthur just wanted to see what a volcanic eruption would look like.

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(End of this chapter)