Logistical Problems The Soviets Faced
The single largest problem during the early Soviet project was the procurement of uranium ore, as the USSR had no known domestic sources at the beginning of the project. The Soviet F-1 reactor, which began operation in December 1946, was fueled using uranium confiscated from the remains of the German atomic bomb project. This uranium had been mined in the Belgian Congo, and had fallen into the hands of the Germans after their invasion and occupation of Belgium in 1940. Further sources of uranium in the early years of the program were mines in East Germany (SAG Wismut), Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania (near Stei) and Poland. Eventually large domestic sources were discovered.
The uranium for the Soviet nuclear weapons program came from the following countries in the years 1945 to 1950 (mine production only):
- 1945: Soviet Union: 14.6 t
- 1946: Soviet Union: 50.0 t; Germany: 15 t; Czechoslovakia: 18 t; Bulgaria: 26.6 t
- 1947: Soviet Union: 129.3 t; Germany: 150 t; Czechoslovakia: 49.1 t; Bulgaria: 7.6 t; Poland: 2.3 t
- 1948: Soviet Union: 182.5 t; Germany: 321.2 t; Czechoslovakia: 103.2 t; Bulgaria: 18.2 t; Poland: 9.3 t
- 1949: Soviet Union: 278.6 t; Germany: 767.8 t; Czechoslovakia: 147.3 t; Bulgaria: 30.3 t; Poland: 43.3 t
- 1950: Soviet Union: 416.9 t; Germany: 1,224 t; Czechoslovakia: 281.4 t; Bulgaria: 70.9 t; Poland: 63.6 t
Read more about this topic: Soviet Atomic Bomb Project
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