Platapus
06-16-15, 06:34 PM
In memoriam,
Edgar Sengier, died 26 July 1963
Who was Edgar Sengier?
I don’t think I am writing with hyperbole when I write that the actions of Edgar Sengier as an individual, made it possible for the United States to end World War II when it did.
Well, that’s some claim, I better back that up!
Edgar Sengier, like many Belgians was born in Belgian. 9 Oct 1879 to be exact. In 1903, he graduated from the University of Leuven after studying mining engineering. He was hired by Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK) which was a Belgian mining company, once operating in Katanga, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There he rose to a directorship overseeing the copper mines in Katanga and the Shinkolobwe mine specifically.
But first, we need to talk about another unknown person — Robert Rich Sharp who had the advantage of not being born in Belgian, but was born in England on 25 Sep 1881 where he eventually graduated from Oxford with studies in mineralogy and surveying. From 1904 until 1921, Sharp worked for the Tanganyika Concessions Ltd, an English mining company, in Katanga. Specifically working on the Shinkolobwe Coper Mine. Get the connection?
Well to keep a long story shorter, on 10 April 1915, Robert discovered Uranium in the Shinkolobwe mine. However since there was no use for Uranium, it was treated as a waste product in favor of the more useful and valuable Radium. Sharp left the company in 1921 to be forgotten in history. Except for the Belgians. After the war, the Belgians honored Sharp for his discovery, but being honored by the Belgians ranks somewhere close to Employee of the Month at Arby’s. So enough of Robert Sharp.
Edgar Sengier, in 1939, was now the director of the UMHK and its holding company and he was still looking at piles of this Uranium wondering what to do with it.
The answer came from some British scientists who told Sengier that Uranium was a valuable material and that it probably would not be a good idea to allow the Axis nations to have access to it. So in September, 1940, Sengier made the decision to ship about half the Uranium ore that had been sitting around since 1921 to a warehouse in Staten Island New York, which is in the United States. The shipments arrived between 10 Nov and 19 Dec 1940. All 1,250 tons of the highest purity Uranium ore in the entire world with an assay of 65% Uranium!
As part of the Manhattan Program, the US was desperately looking for supplies of Uranium. You need a lot of Uranium ore to extract the Uranium Oxide necessary for enrichment. Tons of it. And the lower the purity the more tons you need. The Uranium Ore from Canada was assessing at 2%. What was needed was a lotta tons of high purity Uranium ore. If only one could find it.
Enter into the scene, Colonel Kenneth David Nichols, USA who was the District Engineer for the Manhattan District (Army component of the Manhattan Project) and was responsible for the Uranium enrichment plants at Oak Ridge and Plutonium production plant at Hanford.
Col Nichols, had been tipped off that Sengier’s mines had Uranium ore. He met with Sengier in September 1942 to ask if his country could supply some Uranium to the US. Singer was quoted as saying You can have the ore now. It is in New York, a thousand tons of it. I was waiting for your visit.” Throughout the war, the US purchased over 30,000 tons of this high quality Uranium Ore.
The “discovery” of Uranium Ore in that warehouse in New York, provided the raw material that allowed the Manhattan Project to produce enough enriched Uranium and the materials to produce Plutonium in time to end the war with Japan. Without Sengier’s forethought in having already shipped the Uranium to the US the production of the atomic bombs would have been delayed, resulting in a prolonging of the war in the Pacific.
On 9 Apr 1946, Sengier was the first non-US citizen to be awarded the Medal for Merit. At this time, it was the highest civilian decoration of the United States and was approved by the President.
Due to security, the Sengier’s citation mentioned "services in supplying material”.
The mineral Sengierite {Cu2(UO2)2(VO4)2 · 6H2O] is named after him.
Edgar Sengier, died 26 July 1963
Who was Edgar Sengier?
I don’t think I am writing with hyperbole when I write that the actions of Edgar Sengier as an individual, made it possible for the United States to end World War II when it did.
Well, that’s some claim, I better back that up!
Edgar Sengier, like many Belgians was born in Belgian. 9 Oct 1879 to be exact. In 1903, he graduated from the University of Leuven after studying mining engineering. He was hired by Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK) which was a Belgian mining company, once operating in Katanga, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There he rose to a directorship overseeing the copper mines in Katanga and the Shinkolobwe mine specifically.
But first, we need to talk about another unknown person — Robert Rich Sharp who had the advantage of not being born in Belgian, but was born in England on 25 Sep 1881 where he eventually graduated from Oxford with studies in mineralogy and surveying. From 1904 until 1921, Sharp worked for the Tanganyika Concessions Ltd, an English mining company, in Katanga. Specifically working on the Shinkolobwe Coper Mine. Get the connection?
Well to keep a long story shorter, on 10 April 1915, Robert discovered Uranium in the Shinkolobwe mine. However since there was no use for Uranium, it was treated as a waste product in favor of the more useful and valuable Radium. Sharp left the company in 1921 to be forgotten in history. Except for the Belgians. After the war, the Belgians honored Sharp for his discovery, but being honored by the Belgians ranks somewhere close to Employee of the Month at Arby’s. So enough of Robert Sharp.
Edgar Sengier, in 1939, was now the director of the UMHK and its holding company and he was still looking at piles of this Uranium wondering what to do with it.
The answer came from some British scientists who told Sengier that Uranium was a valuable material and that it probably would not be a good idea to allow the Axis nations to have access to it. So in September, 1940, Sengier made the decision to ship about half the Uranium ore that had been sitting around since 1921 to a warehouse in Staten Island New York, which is in the United States. The shipments arrived between 10 Nov and 19 Dec 1940. All 1,250 tons of the highest purity Uranium ore in the entire world with an assay of 65% Uranium!
As part of the Manhattan Program, the US was desperately looking for supplies of Uranium. You need a lot of Uranium ore to extract the Uranium Oxide necessary for enrichment. Tons of it. And the lower the purity the more tons you need. The Uranium Ore from Canada was assessing at 2%. What was needed was a lotta tons of high purity Uranium ore. If only one could find it.
Enter into the scene, Colonel Kenneth David Nichols, USA who was the District Engineer for the Manhattan District (Army component of the Manhattan Project) and was responsible for the Uranium enrichment plants at Oak Ridge and Plutonium production plant at Hanford.
Col Nichols, had been tipped off that Sengier’s mines had Uranium ore. He met with Sengier in September 1942 to ask if his country could supply some Uranium to the US. Singer was quoted as saying You can have the ore now. It is in New York, a thousand tons of it. I was waiting for your visit.” Throughout the war, the US purchased over 30,000 tons of this high quality Uranium Ore.
The “discovery” of Uranium Ore in that warehouse in New York, provided the raw material that allowed the Manhattan Project to produce enough enriched Uranium and the materials to produce Plutonium in time to end the war with Japan. Without Sengier’s forethought in having already shipped the Uranium to the US the production of the atomic bombs would have been delayed, resulting in a prolonging of the war in the Pacific.
On 9 Apr 1946, Sengier was the first non-US citizen to be awarded the Medal for Merit. At this time, it was the highest civilian decoration of the United States and was approved by the President.
Due to security, the Sengier’s citation mentioned "services in supplying material”.
The mineral Sengierite {Cu2(UO2)2(VO4)2 · 6H2O] is named after him.