Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)

E171541

The Soviet atomic bomb project was the clandestine program through which the USSR rapidly developed its first nuclear weapons, heavily aided by intelligence gathered from Western atomic research during and after World War II.

All labels observed (7)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf espionage-supported scientific project
nuclear weapons development program
alsoKnownAs Soviet atomic project (intelligence component)
Soviet nuclear weapons program (espionage dimension)
coordinatedBy Lavrentiy Beria
country Soviet Union
culminatedIn RDS-1 test
Soviet Union becoming a nuclear power
espionageFocus bomb assembly details
industrial-scale plutonium production
plutonium implosion design
reactor design and operation
uranium enrichment techniques
weaponization of nuclear materials
espionageRole accelerated Soviet understanding of nuclear weapon design
provided detailed information on Western atomic research
reduced time and cost of Soviet nuclear development
historicalImpact ended U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons
intensified the Cold War arms race
influencedBy Manhattan Project design choices
intelligenceAgencyInvolved KGB (successor organization)
linked to: KGB

MGB
NKVD
intelligenceSources British atomic research
Canadian atomic research
Manhattan Project
keySpyNetwork Soviet atomic espionage network in Canada
Soviet atomic espionage network in the United Kingdom
linked to: Cambridge Spies

Soviet atomic espionage network in the United States
notableSpy Allan Nunn May
Bruno Pontecorvo
David Greenglass
Ethel Rosenberg
Julius Rosenberg
Klaus Fuchs
Lona Cohen
Morris Cohen
Theodore Hall
partOf Soviet atomic bomb project
politicalLeader Joseph Stalin
primaryMethod foreign intelligence gathering
industrial mobilization
scientific research
resultedIn strategic nuclear parity race with the United States
significantEvent development of the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1
startDate 1941
testDateOfFirstBomb 1949-08-29
testSiteOfFirstBomb Semipalatinsk Test Site
timePeriod World War II
early Cold War

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Klaus Fuchs participantIn Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)
Lavrentiy Beria participantIn Soviet atomic bomb program
linked to: Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)
Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage) alsoKnownAs Soviet nuclear weapons program (espionage dimension)
linked to: Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)
Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage) alsoKnownAs Soviet atomic project (intelligence component)
linked to: Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)
Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage) partOf Soviet atomic bomb project
linked to: Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)
Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage) keySpyNetwork Soviet atomic espionage network in Canada
linked to: Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)
Igor Kurchatov notableWork Soviet atomic bomb project
linked to: Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)
Red Joan portrays Soviet atomic program
linked to: Soviet atomic bomb project (indirectly, via espionage)