The behavior of Soviet scientists was quite different. There is no evidence that they tried to alert their government to the possible implications of nuclear fission before the summer of 1940, and no special organization was created before then to coordinate research on fission.52 Soviet scientists continued to publish freely on fission in 1940; no effort was made, by the government or by the scientists themselves, to restrict publication. The contrast with the response of scientists in other countries is striking and reflects the strategic and political position of the Soviet Union. Unlike
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