Editing Soviet atomic bomb project (section)

===Soviet atomic ring===
{{Main|Nuclear espionage|Atomic spies}}
[[File:Cross-section Sketch of Atomic Bomb - NARA - 278753.jpg|thumb|right|250px|{{small|The 1945 sketch of circular shaped implosion-type passed by the American spies for the Soviet Union. This schematic was part of the development of [[RDS-1]], test fired in [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakhstan]] in [[:Category:1949 in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|1949]].}}]]The [[Nuclear espionage|nuclear]] and [[Industrial espionage|industrial]] [[espionage]]s in the [[United States]] by American sympathisers of communism who were controlled by their ''[[rezident]]'' Russian officials in [[North America]] greatly aided the speed of the Soviet nuclear program from [[History of the United States (1945–64)|1942–54]].<ref name="Harvard University press">{{cite journal|last1=Schwartz|first1=Michael I.|title=The Russian–A(merican) Bomb: The Role of Espionage in the Soviet Atomic Bomb Project|journal=J. Undgrad.Sci|date=1996|volume=3|page=108|url=http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~jus/0302/schwartz.pdf|access-date=20 June 2017|publisher=Harvard University press|location=Harvard University|language=en|quote={{small|''There was no "Russian" atomic bomb. There only was an American one, masterfully discovered by Soviet spies."''}}|archive-date=29 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029164858/http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~jus/0302/schwartz.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|105–106}}<ref name="Yale University Press, Haynes">{{cite book|last1=Haynes|first1=John Earl|title=Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America|date=2000|publisher=Yale University Press|location=|isbn=978-0300129878|page=400|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M8p00bTFvRkC&q=Soviet+nuclear+espionage|access-date=20 June 2017|ref=Yale University Press, Haynes|language=en|chapter-format=googlebooks|chapter=Industrial and Atomic Espionage}}</ref>{{rp|287–305}} The willingness in sharing classified information to the Soviet Union by recruited American communist sympathizers increased when the [[USSR|Soviet Union]] faced possible defeat during the [[German invasion of Russia|German invasion]] in [[World War II]].<ref name="Yale University Press, Haynes"/>{{rp|287–289}} The Russian intelligence network in the [[United Kingdom]] also played a vital role in setting up the spy rings in the United States when the [[State Defense Committee]] approved resolution 2352<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Moscow |first=Kremlin |date=28 September 1942 |title=Decree No. 2352 cc of Ukrainian State Committee of Defence |url=https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/decree-no-2352-cc-ukrainian-state-committee-defence |access-date=9 May 2024 |website=wilsoncenter.org}}</ref> in September 1942.<ref name="Harvard University press"/>{{rp|105–106}} This resolution instructed the Academy of Sciences of [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] to renew research efforts on nuclear energy and uranium nuclear fission and also directed the academy to report on the possibilities of a bomb or fuel source by April 1 of the following year.<ref name=":1" />

For this purpose, the spy [[Harry Gold]], controlled by [[Semyon Semyonov]], was used for a wide range of espionage that included industrial espionage in the American [[chemical industry]] and obtaining sensitive atomic information that was handed over to him by the British physicist [[Klaus Fuchs]].<ref name="Yale University Press, Haynes"/>{{rp|289–290}} Knowledge and further technical information that were passed by the American [[Theodore Hall]], a theoretical physicist, and Klaus Fuchs had a significant impact on the direction of Russian development of nuclear weapons.<ref name="Harvard University press"/>{{rp|105}}

[[Leonid Kvasnikov]], a Russian engineer turned [[KGB]] officer, was assigned for this special purpose and moved to [[New York City]] to coordinate such activities.<ref name="Regnery Publishing, Romerstein">{{cite book|last1=Romerstein|first1=Herbert|last2=Breindel|first2=Eric|title=The Venona secrets exposing Soviet espionage and America's traitors|date=2000|publisher=Regnery Pub.|location=Washington, DC|isbn=978-1596987326|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TrlRaHFHspsC&q=soviet+espionage|access-date=21 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Anatoli Yatskov|Anatoli Yatzkov]], another NKVD official in New York, was also involved in obtaining sensitive information gathered by [[Sergey Nikolaevich Kurnakov|Sergei Kournakov]] from [[Saville Sax]].<ref name="Regnery Publishing, Romerstein"/>

The existence of Russian spies was exposed by the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]'s secretive [[Venona project]] in 1943.<ref name="Yale University Press, Powers">{{cite book|last1=Powers|first1=Daniel Patrick Moynihan|editor1-last=Gid|editor1-first=Richard|title=Secrecy : the American experience.|date=1999|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0300080797|edition=New preface|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/secrecyamericane00moyn}}</ref>{{rp|54}}

In 1943, Molotov shared with Kurchatov the intelligence data accumulated through NKVD espionage. Kurchatov told Molotov, "The materials are magnificent. They add exactly what we have been missing." According to [[Richard Rhodes]], "...Kurchatov learned enough, to transform the Soviet program...information that would accelerate the Soviet program by a full two years." This included an alternative to the problem of uranium isotope separation in making a bomb. Instead, [[Plutonium-239]] could be used, which could be produced in a uranium-graphite pile through the absorption of neutrons by [[Uranium-238]]. Additionally, according to Kurchatov, the espionage material "made us include [[gaseous diffusion|diffusion]] experiments in our plans along with centrifuge."<ref name="rr">{{cite book |last1=Rhodes |first1=Richard |title=Dark Sun |date=2005 |publisher=Simon & Schuster Paperbacks |location=New York |isbn=9780684824147 |pages=71–82}}</ref>