Did the USSR origionally get nuclear technology from the USA ?

Answer 1

No. The Russians began their own pursuit of atomic fission weapons; what they did do was use their spies and sympathisers in the US and UK physics communities to keep tabs on both nations' efforts, employing those on the inside of the Manhattan Project (f.e., Klaus Fuchs) to crosscheck and refine their work based on the successes and failures of the Americans. Stalin's muted--indeed, unsurprised--response to Truman's revelation at Potsdam of the successful test of the new weapon at the Trinity site was not because he was playing close to the vest but because he had been aware of its existence all along.

Answer 2

The Soviets got the complete details of how the Americans had constructed a nuclear weapons program from the spy ring of which the Rosenbergs were a part.

Answer 3

Soviets had high scale spying on USA work and had everything they may need. Meanwhile, they had their own good scientists and did additional job.
This is why they got hydrogen nuke ahead of USA.

On the other hand they prefer to test their 1st nuke as a 100% copy from USA bomb because they were afraid of possible repressions in case of failure.

Answer 4

Via spys, yes.

They originally got what they needed to finish thier own bombs spys associated with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who had worked in association with original scientists and others (Klaus Fuchs and David Greenglass) to furnish information on the Manhattan Project.

That's a real short answer to a question that deserves a long answer. See the link below.

Answer 5

Yes; Soviet documents establish the fact that the "trigger" device was stolen by spies and copied for use in the first Soviet bomb. Their first bomb was a copy of the first US bomb.Further, intelligence that the US was working on nuclear weapons was the reason the Soviets started their own program.. Lastly, Soviet nuclear weapons experts confirm that a key leader in the program was L. Beria, Stalin's chief spymaster, head of the NKVD.
Of course Russian scientists would have succeeded on their own in solving the many issues of making nuclear weapons. The post-Stalin successes in weapons development proves their abilities beyond any doubt. But the rapidity of their first success is due directly to their intelligence penetration, most especially in the critical engineering work essential to building a bomb.

Answer 6

The Russians could have gotten it from multiple sources.

They captured some of the German scientists that had been working on the German a-bomb. They also did have spies in our own program.

Answer 7

After WW II, everyone started taking German Scientist for the space race and Nukes. The usa might of have the atomic, but then might of got german scientist to fix it to the hydrogen bomb. also germans are working for NASA

Answer 8

No