Nuclear espionage
Under atomic espionage refers to the illegal gathering and dissemination of information about the technology of making a nuclear bomb to the political or military opposite side. Nuclear espionage peaked in the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s and took place primarily between the United States and the Soviet Union . Since the US had some head start, the Soviet Union tried to catch up in its nuclear program through nuclear espionage, which it did quite well. Nuclear spies for the Soviet Union include George Koval , Ruth Werner , Theodore Alvin Hall , Harry Gold , David Greenglass , Melita Norwood , Klaus Fuchs and Oscar Seborer .
In recent times, nuclear espionage has regained importance. The public was particularly aware of the fact that sensitive nuclear technology was passed on to so-called rogue states by the Pakistani engineer Abdul Kadir Khan , the "father of the Pakistani atomic bomb". Khan also acquired part of his knowledge through espionage while working in a Dutch nuclear laboratory. In 1975 the US secret service CIA asked the government of the Netherlands to stop investigating Khan on suspicion of nuclear theft. Presumably, the nuclear armament of Pakistan, which is closely linked to the USA, should not be hindered.
Individual evidence
- ↑ George Koval: Atomic Spy Unmasked , smithoninan magazine, May 2009
- ↑ MICHAEL I. SCHWARTZ: The Russian-A (merican) Bomb: The Role of Espionage in the Soviet Atomic Bomb Project . In: J. Undergrad. Sci. tape 3 , 1996, p. 105 ff . ( harvard.edu [PDF]).
- ↑ Rich Tenorio: "Historians uncover fourth Soviet spy who stole US atomic secrets in WWII" .timesofisrael.com dated December 2, 2019
- ↑ The Netherlands ran nuclear spies. The suspicion has been confirmed by the highest authorities: The Netherlands did not arrest the nuclear spy Qadir Khan because the CIA wanted it to. Ruud Lubbers, formerly Prime Minister of Holland, now revealed what had long been denied. In: The time. August 10, 2005, accessed April 23, 2018 .