Published: 25 July, 2009, 17:37
Edited: 25 July, 2009, 17:37
Records of the development of Soviet nuclear bombs and the evolution of atomic defenses in the USSR have been unveiled in an exhibition marking the 60th jubilee of Russia’s nuclear legacy.
The historical exhibition “USSR Atomic Project” covering the period of March 1938 to August 1949 has opened in Moscow. This major display includes a wide spectrum of historical documents from federal archives and museums, nuclear research institutes, the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Federal Security Service, personal funds of the scientists involved in the project, and even items from the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in the US. A number of exhibited documents have been declassified specially for this project.
Here one can find not only documents, photographs and schematics, but also a documentary depicting the explosion of the first Soviet bomb on August 29, 1949. The film was shot and edited in top secret conditions especially for Josef Stalin. For the following 45 years it was not available for viewing.
In addition, original documents on America’s own super-bomb project, courtesy of soviet spies, and the reports by the head of the Soviet nuclear project Lavrenty Beria to Josef Stalin, can now be seen and carefully read by visitors.
Also, the previously unknown details connected with the participation of German scientists and Gulag labor camp prisoners in nuke creation are now available for public scrutiny.
Finally, the exposition tells the stories of the Soviet scientists, such as Igor Kurchatov and Pyotr Kapitsa, who were involved in the atomic project.
The “USSR Atomic Project” exhibition is on in Moscow’s Federal archives exhibition hall through to September 20.