Stealing the Fire

Sunday, November 24th: Stealing the fire, seen in the cinema at the IDFA (95 min.)
This was a very interesting documentary about a German named Karl-Heinz Schaab who sold plans of a device called a centrifuge to Iraque. With this device you can produce the fuel necessary to build an atomic bomb. Plans for making an atomic bomb are readily available on the internet, the only hard-to-get element is the fuel which has to be very pure.

As it turns out, German companies have been doing business with Iraque fully aware that they were supporting the Iraque nuclear program, but moreover, that these companies, as well as the original centrifuge, originate from the Third Reich.

Schaab claims that he has played a minor role and that the real villains stay behind the scenes. A fact is, he is the first person to be convicted for nuclear espionage in fifty years, yet he was released and sentenced with only a small fine, far less than he has made with his deals. It seems the authorities did not want to attract much attention, by giving him a minor sentence they deny that the matter was of great importance, in this they succeeded, the issue got very little press coverage.
LINK: Official website

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