9. “Summary: Russian Situation,” n.d., “Recently Declassified Extracts,” MED/NARA.
10. Fidler to Lawrence, July 11, 1944, folder 10, carton 10, EOL.
11. Fidler interview (1992).
12. “I still want to do something about the war besides having a son in it … but so far nobody will have me.” Chevalier to Edouard, Feb. 20, 1945, “Correspondence, 1944–45,” Chevalier papers.
13. The wartime personal correspondence of Jackie and Frank Oppenheimer is in an unmarked folder in the Frank Oppenheimer papers, Bancroft Library.
14. Perhaps the best evidence that Oppie was not a spy surfaced in 1999: in a February 1944 cable reportedly sent to Moscow Center from New York, the NKVD was still evidently hopeful of recruiting Oppenheimer, possibly with the assistance of his brother. The message also identified Robert Oppenheimer as a “secret member of the Compatriot organization,” or Communist Party. However, there is no independent collaboration of the authenticity of this cable as of this writing. Weinstein and Vassiliev (1999), 183–84.
15. An electronic device found in Oppie’s overcoat occasioned some excitement until the G-men realized that it was a dry-cell battery.
16. During his Berkeley visit, Oppie had discussed with Lawrence whether Bernard Peters should be dismissed from the Rad Lab staff. Stern (1969), 43.
17. Jones (1985) 265; U.S. Congress, HUAC, Testimony of James Sterling Murray and Edward Tiers Manning (1949 HUAC hearings), 81st Congress, 1st sess., Aug. 14 and Oct. 5, 1949, 877–78.
18. Titus to Groves, Feb. 20, 1946, file 132.2, entry 5, MED/NARA.
19. Lyall Johnson interview (1996).
20. Peters was a German-born Communist and anti-Nazi activist who had escaped from Dachau and come to America in 1934, later becoming a naturalized citizen. His wife, Hannah—another German refugee and a friend of Oppie’s and Jean Tatlock’s—was a physician at a San Francisco hospital and a party member close to Steve Nelson. Oppenheimer was probably aware that the army and FBI were already investigating the couple, since Bernard was prominent in FAECT. Bernard Peters’s name had been on a list of four that DeSilva showed to Oppenheimer; the list also included Weinberg’s name. DeSilva to Calvert, Jan. 6, 1944, box 1, AEC/JRO. Peters: Childs (1968), 353; ITMOJRO, 120–21, 150–51; Bernard Peters MID file, Aug. 6, 1943, entry 8, box 100, MED/NARA.
21. In Jan. 1944, army agents monitoring the bug in Weinberg’s home overheard Joe tell his wife about Lomanitz: “They would not have sprung a trap on [Rossi] if they did not have reason to believe that something was wrong with [Rossi’s?] activities. They’re wrong but they have reason to believe.” Weinberg also said that he and Bohm were in “complete cahoots.” Summary report, Jan. 31, 1947, 19–21, CINRAD file, FBI.
22. Summary report, Apr. 22, 1947, 57, COMRAP file, FBI; Albright and Kunstel (1997), 104–5.
23. Lansdale, “Military Service,” 44–45.
24. Rhodes (1986), 654.
25. Frank’s meager responsibilities at the lab included drafting a list of safety “dos and don’ts” for the upcoming bomb test. “Safety Precautions,” n.d., no. 90339, Coordination and Information Center, U.S. Department of Energy, Las Vegas, Nev. (CIC/DOE).
26. Frank Oppenheimer interview, box 2, Child papers; Childs (1968), 354.
27. Lansdale to R. Oppenheimer, n.d., Lansdale folder, JRO. Soviet atomic espionage: “Issues in the History of the Science and Technology” (translation of Russian title), 3/1992, St. Petersburg, Russia, 128; Holloway (1994), 222–23; Rhodes (1995), 244–46. A copy of the journal article, withdrawn from Russian libraries shortly after publication, was obtained from the Hoover Library at Stanford.
28. Lawrence to Conant, May 31, 1944, OSRD/NARA; Oppenheimer to Lawrence, May 24, 1944, Los Alamos file, box 7, Underhill papers, LANL; Hewlett and Anderson (1990), 166.
29. The first hybrid racetrack—using the magnet and vacuum tanks of the Alpha I but Alpha II’s higher voltage four-beam source—began its inaugural run on June 3, 1944. Hopes for the improved Calutron faded immediately, however, when insulators broke down under the greater load and the new machine sputtered to a halt. Improved heat shielding and better insulators solved the problem. Brown and MacDonald (1977), 170; Hewlett and Anderson (1990), 155.
30. Author interview with Herbert York, La Jolla, Calif., Mar. 14, 1997; Jones (1985), 145.
31. Jones (1985), 143.
32. Serber (1998), 104.
33. Conant, “Report on Visit to Los Alamos,” Aug. 17, 1944, no. 86, Bush-Conant file, OSRD/NARA.
34. Brown and MacDonald (1977), 171; Rhodes (1986), 600.
35. Hewlett and Anderson (1990), 168–73.
36. Ibid., 300.
37. Nov. 13, 1944, Groves diary, Groves/NARA.
38. Childs (1968), 357.
39. Tolman’s committee: Groves to Tolman, Aug. 29, 1944, file 334, series 5, MED/NARA; Hewlett and Anderson (1990), 324–25; Jones (1985), 556–58.
40. Tolman to Lawrence, Sept. 16, 1944, file 334, series 5, MED/NARA.
41. Oppenheimer to Tolman, Sept. 20, 1944, file 334, series 5, MED/NARA; Rhodes (1986), 563.
42. Untitled memo, Oct. 1944, folder 37, carton 29, EOL.
43. Notes, Nov. 8, 1944, box 9, Tolman file, OSRD/NARA.
44. ITMOJRO, 956.
45. Nov. 8 and Nov. 23, 1944, Groves diary, Groves/NARA; transcript of telephone conversation, Jan. 19, 1945, book 6, box 1, Rad Lab records.
46. Nonetheless, Lawrence telegraphed Groves on January 6 to badger him again for “a continuing construction program to the end of the war.”
47. Dec. 27, 1944, Groves diary, Groves/NARA.
48. “Report of Committee on Postwar Policy,” Dec. 28, 1944, file 3, pt. 2, series 1, MED/NARA.
49. Ernest was still not willing to admit defeat. Lawrence to Groves, Jan. 6, 1945, folder 37, carton 28, EOL.
50. Transcript of telephone conversation, Jan. 19, 1945, book 6, box 1, Rad Lab records; Jan. 20, 1945, Groves diary, Groves/NARA.
51. Transcript of telephone conversation, Feb. 27, 1945, book 6, box 1, Rad Lab records; Feb. 27, 1945, Groves diary, Groves/NARA.
52. Jones (1985), 510.
53. Hoddeson et al. (1993), 335–49.
54. Tatlock’s death: Jenkins (1991), 24–25; Schwartz (1998), 378–79.
55. Brown and MacDonald (1977), 171; Jones (1985), 148.
56. Workforce reductions at Y-12 and Rad Lab: Entries for Apr.–May 1945, Cooksey diary, folder 23, carton 4, EOL; transcripts of telephone conversations, book 7, box 1, Rad Lab records; May 3, 1945, Groves diary, Groves/NARA.
57. Oppenheimer continued to foil Underhill’s efforts to find out about the project. Transcript of interview, box 2, Underhill papers, Bancroft Library.
58. In addition to
