Red Mercury and the potential of a "non-nuclear" atomic weapon

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5176382.stm
This is an article from the BBC back in 2006.

The germans during WWII were researching something using "xerum 525." This was used in the "the bell" - a device with two spinning chambers going in different directions. The material was eerily similar to Red Mercury.

What the bell was to do, no-one knows for sure, the entire project was secretive to the point where the leadership may not have known. The germans had an expert working on wonderweapons who hitler gave carte blanche to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.

The bell has been discussed a few times over the years, but everyone that was exposed to its operations (which were done within a chamber lined with 1' lead) would eventually turn into (for lack of a better word) black goo... Animals, plants, etc. all had the same issues.
http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/DIE%20GLOCKE.htm

Some believe that it was to be a "nuclear" weapon which does not require the same type of A-bomb tech to create the massive blast. IE you don't need to bring U235 to critcal mass to create the explosion. Just spin some 525...