The actual accusation -- if you read further down -- is that not only was Oppenheimer a spy, but so were Fermi and Szilard and Bohr. The evidence for this comes from a Russian ex-spy who was imprisoned in the Soviet Union and tried to cash in during the 90s on these accusations. You can get the fact check if you dig around enough, I won't bother here.
Based on some Googling, it seems these unfounded accusations have been a popular theme for some decades. Makes me wonder what all four of those scientists have in common, that would inspire such reactions.
Nutty article. After the US exploded the first atomic bomb, every other country that had been working on one knew it could be done, and that was the last "secret" of the bomb.
The reason the US did it first was due to its industrial capacity and commitment to doing so. None of the technology involved was particularly unknown or difficult, the only "hard part" was for each nation interested in the weapon to determine how to obtain the materials for one in a reasonable amount of time and without destroying their economy to do so.
Even Nazi Germany had an atomic bomb program, they just had no hope of completing it before the country with the largest industrial base in the world.
There weren't any "secrets" to share with the USSR in the 1940s about the bomb. Hiroshima announced to the entire world that it was possible to do, and the bits and pieces of the program that couldn't be hidden (the methods used to produce materials) told them the rest. At that point, it was just a race to be the second nation with the Bomb, and that race was won by a large industrialized nation with a command economy that wasn't completely in ruins from the war.... which is no surprise at all.
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[ 2.6 ms ] story [ 30.5 ms ] threadThe comments section has to be seen to be believed. "Russia will be the last refuge of the white race"?
Based on some Googling, it seems these unfounded accusations have been a popular theme for some decades. Makes me wonder what all four of those scientists have in common, that would inspire such reactions.
The reason the US did it first was due to its industrial capacity and commitment to doing so. None of the technology involved was particularly unknown or difficult, the only "hard part" was for each nation interested in the weapon to determine how to obtain the materials for one in a reasonable amount of time and without destroying their economy to do so.
Even Nazi Germany had an atomic bomb program, they just had no hope of completing it before the country with the largest industrial base in the world.
There weren't any "secrets" to share with the USSR in the 1940s about the bomb. Hiroshima announced to the entire world that it was possible to do, and the bits and pieces of the program that couldn't be hidden (the methods used to produce materials) told them the rest. At that point, it was just a race to be the second nation with the Bomb, and that race was won by a large industrialized nation with a command economy that wasn't completely in ruins from the war.... which is no surprise at all.