It is well known that the Chalk River laboratories were established under a cloak of secrecy dictated by WW II and the beginnings of the nuclear age. The word most often associated with secret projects is spies and the Chalk River case is no exception. The question that remains to be answered is how many spies.
An earlier article by the Nuclear Heritage Group (NRT Nov 8, 2021) discussed a high-level laboratory meeting at the Montreal Lab that was attended by Alun Nunn May and Bruno Pontecorvo. Shortly after his return to the United Kingdom (U.K.) after his stint in Canada, Nunn May was convicted as a Soviet spy and served time in prison.
It has never been established that Bruno Pontecorvo, a brilliant physicist who played an important role in the start-up of NRX, was a Soviet spy. His defection to Russia after work in Canada and the U.K. has led to much speculation and numerous books as to the reasons behind his defection. Pontecorvo’s personal response to the question is perhaps best covered by his statement late in life – “I want to die as a great scientist, not as your f****** spy”.
During research on a recent trove of early Chalk River artifacts donated by the family of Bob MacLanders, Jim Ungrin (Artifacts Chair for the Society for the Preservation of Canada’s Nuclear Heritage Inc or SPCNHI) discovered some information indicating there may have been a third Soviet spy involved with Chalk River work.
Wilfrid Basil Mann was an English scientist who was offered a position at Chalk River by lab head John Cockcroft to make accurate measurements on radioactivity. Mann spent several years here working with Hugh Carmichael developing and using electroscopes, several of which were part of the MacLanders family donation. Bob rescued them from materials destined for the landfill.
Mann later moved to the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Washington, DC, taking with him two of the highly-accurate, NRC – built, “beta electroscopes.” Up to this point Mann’s life appears quite innocent. However, we now learn that in Washington his immediate superior was none other than Kim Philby, another member of the Soviet spy network.
At this point, the story gets a bit more complicated. There had been a lot of speculation in the U.K. press as to the size of the Soviet spy network. There were reports of a fifth and possibly sixth member to go with the “big four” U.K. ring of Donald Maclean, Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, and Anthony Blunt. There were also reports of a code name of “Basil” (Mann’s middle name!) for one more member of the ring. Readers are encouraged to explore the internet for further details of this mystery.
An interesting side-bar to this story of intrigue is the story of the two Chalk River electroscopes that Mann took with him to the NBS. During the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Mann was still based in Washington and became concerned that the NBS might be destroyed in an atomic attack. To preserve the NBS capability to make radioactivity measurements, Mann calibrated the Chalk River electroscopes against the NBS primary radioactivity standards. The electroscopes were then sent to the NBS facility in Colorado for safekeeping.
While the SPCNHI has little in the way of artifacts it can directly trace to Nunn May, Pontecorvo or Mann, we do have an excellent display of early electroscopes and other artifacts courtesy of the generosity of the MacLanders family. Contact info@nuclearheritage.com or any Board member for a tour and/or enjoy the virtual tour on the website www.nuclearheritage.com.
