Elemental Germans Elemental Germans Klaus Fuchs, Rudolf Peierls and the Making of British Nuclear Culture 1939–59 Christoph Laucht Lecturer in 20th Century British History, University of Leeds © Christoph Laucht 2012 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-35487-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-34667-7 ISBN 978-1-137-02833-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137028334 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 In memory of Dr med Reinhard Laucht (1943–2010) Table of Contents List of Figures viii Preface ix List of Abbreviations xii Introduction 1 1 Difficult Beginnings: Social Integration between Survival and Internment 12 2 Almost Accidental Beginnings: Professional Integration between Marginalization and British–American Nuclear Cooperation 31 3 American Interlude: The Manhattan Project, the Atom Bomb and the Emergence of a New Approach to Nuclear Research 56 4 A Nation Betrayed? The Klaus Fuchs Atomic Espionage Case Reconsidered 82 5 Subject to Suspicion: Rudolf Peierls and the Klaus Fuchs Espionage Case 110 6 The Responsible Scientist: Rudolf Peierls and the Formation of the Atomic Scientists’ Association 125 7 The ‘Unpolitical’ Scientist: Rudolf Peierls, the Concept of ‘Objective’ Science and the End of the Atomic Scientists’ Association 151 Conclusions and Afterthoughts 172 Notes and References 178 Bibliography 237 Index 257 vii List of Figures 1.1 Genia and Rudolf Peierls, date unknown. Photograph by Francis Simon, Source: American Institute of Physics (AIP) Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Francis Simon Collection, Peierls Rudolf G 1 14 2.1 Rudolf Peierls (centre) at the University of Leipzig, 1931, Source: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Rudolf Peierls Collection, Peierls Rudolf D 5 35 3.1 The Los Alamos Trading Post, October 1945, Source: Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom, The Papers and Correspondence of Egon Bretscher, BRER A.62.a/0418. Courtesy of the Bretscher Family. Reprinted with kind permission 59 4.1 Klaus Fuchs, 1960, DEFA-Photo, German Democratic Republic, Source: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection, Fuchs Klaus B 1 104 6.1 Rudolf Peierls, Sir James Chadwick and Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, Cambridge, date unknown, Source: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Gift of Dr Andrew Brown, Peierls Rudolf C 10 133 7.1 Peierls on a visit to the West German capital of Bonn in 1979, Source: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Rudolf Peierls Collection, Weizsäcker Carl D 3 155 viii Preface The famed physicist and so- called father of the atom bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, once wrote to a friend that he was extremely fond of physics and the arid wilderness of the American Southwest, but doubted whether he would ever be able to bring them together. In 1943, he was able to combine them when he became the scientific director of the Manhattan Project’s central Los Alamos laboratory in the state of New Mexico. While my mathematical skills are far from enabling me to even remotely share Oppenheimer’s fondness of physics, I have developed a considerable interest in the history of nuclear physics over the years, and share his love for the American Southwest. For it was during a visit to Los Alamos in September 2001 that I started my investigation of the histories of nuclear culture and the Land of Enchantment, as the state of New Mexico is also known. And, to a large extent, this book is the product of these interests. A large project like this book requires the help of many people from various phases of my academic life. At the University of Kiel, Dr J ens- Peter Becker introduced me to American cultural history. During a one- year exchange programme at the University of Arizona in 1998–9, Professor Michael Schaller subsequently sharpened my awareness of Cold War – and in particular nuclear – history. After my return to Germany, Professor Brigitte Fleischmann supervised my first investigation of American atomic culture and established contact with the University of New Mexico (UNM) where I continued with my examination of the topic as part of an MA course in German Studies. At UNM, I am enormously indebted to a number of people who sup- ported me on my voyage into the world of nuclear culture, in particular Dr A nne- Marie Werner- Smith, Professors Emeriti Warren Smith and Peter Pabisch as well as the late Professors Ferenc Szasz and Timothy Moy who offered very useful advice in the early stages of my research but sadly passed away before this book was finished. The focus of my research then changed in 2005 when I started my Ph.D. degree in the University of Liverpool’s School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies. I am extremely grateful to my doctoral supervisor Professor Eve Rosenhaft for her help, support and encour- agement, and my second supervisor Professor David Seed for valuable advice. My Ph.D. examiners Professor Martin Daunton and Dr Will ix