Much of the discussion during the meeting focused on a previously unknown Russian document obtained by the Schecters, which raised the question as to whether Robert Oppenheimer, one of the leading scientists of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb, had been a Soviet spy.
letter by Merkulov to Lavrenti Beria, the head of the Soviet atomic project, 2 October 1944
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/was-oppenheimer-soviet-spy-roundtable-discussion
I doubt Oppenheimer had the cojones to send any useful information to the USSR during WW2. Plus security was very, very, very tight around the A-Bomb project.
After the war was another matter. This is when the USSR/Russians got supreme nuclear bomb information from their American spies such as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Klaus Fuchs.
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Oct. 18, 1945: Red Spy Steals U.S. Atom Bomb Secrets | WIRED
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WebOct 18, 2011 · Oct. 18, 1945: Red Spy Steals U.S. Atom Bomb Secrets Physicist Klaus Fuchs, first-rate scientist and loyal communist, begins …
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Klaus Fuchs
Dubbed the most important atomic spy in history, Klaus Fuchs was a primary physicist on the Manhattan Project and a lead scientist at Britain’s nuclear facility by 1949. Just weeks after the Soviets exploded their atomic bomb in August 1949, a Venona decryption of a 1944 message revealed that information describing important scientific processes related to construction of the A-bomb had been sent from the United Sates to Moscow. FBI agents identified Klaus Fuchs as the author.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spies-who-spilled-atomic-bomb-secrets-127922660/
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8 Spies Who Leaked Atomic Bomb Intelligence to the …
Global web icon https://www.history.com/news/atomic-bomb-soviet-spies
John Cairncross. Cairncross worked as private secretary to Sir Maurice …
Melita Norwood. The Soviet Union’s longest-serving spy in Britain, Norwood …
Klaus Fuchs. Fuchs, a German-born physicist, fled to England amid the rise …
David Greenglass. Scroll to Continue. Recommended for you. 7 Trailblazing …
See full list on history.com
The spies who gave the USSR our atomic bomb secrets, due to their communist leanings, is fascinating. I am going to read up on this tonight.
It is interesting how these very smart/ highly edumumacted people had such great sympathies with communist USSR. Enough to give them our atomic bomb secrets, without being paid or being paid minimally. But then look what we have today, with the highly educated voting Democrat. They believe, have faith in, global warming, Cov19 vaccinations, global warming. The Russia hoax with Trump too.
By William J. Broad
Jan. 27, 2020
Last fall, a pair of historians revealed that yet another Soviet spy, code named Godsend, had infiltrated the Los Alamos laboratory where the world’s first atom bomb was built. But they were unable to discern the secrets he gave Moscow or the nature of his work.
However, the lab recently declassified and released documents detailing the spy’s highly specialized employment and likely atomic thefts, potentially recasting a mundane espionage case as one of history’s most damaging.
It turns out that the spy, whose real name was Oscar Seborer, had an intimate understanding of the bomb’s inner workings. His knowledge most likely surpassed that of the three previously known Soviet spies at Los Alamos, and played a crucial role in Moscow’s ability to quickly replicate the complex device. In 1949, four years after the Americans tested the bomb, the Soviets detonated a knockoff, abruptly ending Washington’s monopoly on nuclear weapons.
“It’s fascinating,” Harvey Klehr, an author of the original paper, said in an interview. “We had no idea he was that important.”
The documents from Los Alamos show that Mr. Seborer helped devise the bomb’s explosive trigger — in particular, the firing circuits for its detonators. The successful development of the daunting technology let Los Alamos significantly reduce the amount of costly fuel needed for atomic bombs and began a long trend of weapon miniaturization. The technology dominated the nuclear age, especially the design of small, lightweight missile warheads of enormous power.
Mr. Seborer’s inner knowledge stands in contrast to the known espionage. The first Los Alamos spy gave the Soviets a bomb overview. So did the second and third.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/science/manhattan-project-nuclear-spy.html