Nuclear carelessness of the West

The West has a habit of blaming Asian countries, particularly Pakistan, for the spread of nuclear technology and frequently criticises Islamabad as an irresponsible nuclear power. The reality however is rather different. As far as historical facts are concerned, credit should be given to the US and Western states for the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It is the result of their irresponsible behaviour that the world was compelled into starting an arms race.

The US has been in constant efforts to establish its technological, strategic and economic hegemony throughout the world. It has been able to use its advantageous geographic location to turn other countries into battlegrounds by initiating unnecessary wars ever since it developed its nuclear arsenal. It started when US intelligence reported that German scientists were working on developing nuclear weapons that Adolf Hitler was ready to use. An environment of fear was created which prompted President Franklin D Roosevelt to initiate the Manhattan Project.

Roosevelt initially established the Advisory Committee on Uranium, a group of scientists and military leaders entrusted with investigating uranium’s potential as a weapon. Based on the committee’s recommendations, the US government began sponsoring research on uranium separation at Columbia University. When the US took its first step in nuclear research, British scientific activity was well ahead. Therefore, the US had no choice but to use British expertise to fulfil its objective of becoming the first nuclear power in the world. In August 1941, President Roosevelt wrote to Churchill proposing a collaboration. Churchill declined, wanting to keep their more advanced Tube Alloys project separate. The British believed that the US, which had not yet entered the war, may be a liability.

By 1942, the attitude of both countries towards scientific progress had shifted entirely. But the US was in a much stronger position than before. Churchill therefore had no other option but to agree to combine British and American initiatives to build a diffusion plant in the US. He recommended a five-point collaborative agenda: free exchange of information between the two nations; an agreement to not use nuclear weapons against each other; an agreement to not use nuclear weapons against other nations without consent; an agreement not to share information with other parties without consent; and an agreement that the US could have full use of British commercial and industrial capacities.

On August 19, 1943, the two parties signed the Quebec Agreement after the US decided to endorse majority of Churchill’s five-point plan. Many notable British scientists were quickly assigned to the Manhattan Project including Chadwick, Peierls, Fuchs, and William Penney. Nonetheless, General Leslie Groves, who was not pleased with British inclusion, assigned limited responsibilities to these British scientists in order to restrict US access to British nuclear knowledge.

Despite these commitment, Roosevelt’s death in 1945 signaled the end of war-time cooperation. The next President, Harry S Truman, refused to sign the second agreement with the British, and the US Atomic Energy Act, 1946 effectively classified US nuclear research. The US then dropped a uranium bomb on Hiroshima killing nearly 140,000 people in a matter of months. Many more would later succumb to radiation-related ailments. Over Nagasaki, the US explodes a plutonium bomb. By the end of 1945, an estimated 74,000 individuals had died. The consequences of this strike were so severe that it has impacted world politics ever since.

Following this tragedy, the entire world appeared to have silently accepted US hegemony. Both the allied powers as well as the axis powers were stunned by the heinous US actions. It was now turn to restore the balance of power. This could be done if allied powers: i) urged the US to put an end to such hostility by surrendering nuclear weapons; or ii) developed their own nuclear capabilities as a deterrence measure. Naturally, the allied powers could not put pressure on the US and were therefore determined to develop their own nuclear capability for their own national interests. Leading British scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project returned with information. However, General Groves’ efforts to limit British participation meant that no British scientist had a complete picture of the Manhattan Project. As a result, one of the first steps that Bill Penney, a shrewd and intelligent British spy and scientist, took was to compile a document titled ‘Plutonium Weapon – General Description’ which detailed the combined notes of all British experts involved in the project. The British bomb was designed after the US plutonium implosion bomb.

After the devastating Hiroshima and Nagasaki incidents, the USSR too found itself in a precarious situation. The power imbalance rendered its position insecure around the world. As a result of atomic espionage, Soviet scientists were well on their way to developing their own weapons as well. Igor Kurchatov was the Soviet nuclear physicist in charge of the Soviet atomic bomb project. Kurchatov named Yuli Khariton as the programme’s lead scientist. He was in charge of supervising atomic research, development, design and weapon assembly. Soviet spies were already involved in gathering data and pertinent material from across the world, particularly from the scientists of the Manhattan project. Among those spies was Fuchs.

Fuchs, who was born in Germany in 1911, joined the Communist Party as a student and escaped to England when Nazism rose to power in 1933. He excelled in physics while attending Bristol University and Edinburgh University respectively. He was first detained for several months in Canada because of his German nationality before being released and cleared to work on atomic research in England. By the time he became a British citizen in 1942, he had already contacted the Soviet Embassy in London and offered his services as a spy. He worked in Birmingham with another German scientist Rudolf Peierls, who was involved in a clandestine operation to develop an atomic bomb. Fuchs soon began providing technical knowledge to the Soviets, passing over data in secret meetings. In 1943, he was assigned to the Manhattan Project. Authorities did not go too far into his past as he was a tremendous need because of his scientific skills. He met a Soviet agent in New York and subsequently in Los Alamos to provide him comprehensive information, including the design scheme for ‘the Gadget’, a plutonium weapon.

There are numerous such stories about nuclear knowledge leaks caused by deception. Every state has its unique reason for obtaining nuclear state status. The Russians wanted to reinforce their security based on ideology; the British wanted to maintain the balance of power; and the French saw themselves as being duped by the powers. As a result, each state worked to develop the capability for its own national interest. Now is the time to impose restrictions and raise awareness about nuclear responsibility.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2022.

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