Stalin and the Bomb

by David Holloway

Although he showed characteristic suspicion of the scientists, Molotov believed at the end of May 1945 that it would be possible to send physicists to the United States for research in nuclear physics. Molotov’s recommendation appears to reflect the attitude of the Soviet leaders to nuclear research in the summer of 1945. The Soviet project had made slow progress during the war. Kurchatov’s letter to Beria had not produced the desired effect; there is no evidence of any response to it. The problem of uranium supply was still being tackled slowly, and the project was not reorganized. It is true that research was expanding. A new institute, NII–9 (Nauchno-issledovatel’skii institut No. 9: Research Institute No. 9) was set up before the end of the war to work on the metallurgy of uranium and plutonium.131 The occupation of Germany brought new equipment, uranium, and scientists. But the Soviet leadership did not treat the project as an urgent priority.