LETTER: Norwood bomb myth

Sir: Where does this extraordinary idea come from that Melita Norwood "helped the Soviet Union develop its own atomic bomb five years ahead of schedule" ("The spy who came in from the past escapes prosecution", 21 December)?

So much has not been claimed even for Klaus Fuchs, once the jewel in the KGB's crown.

The commercial research association for which Mrs Norwood worked had no connection with atomic bomb design.

It had contracts for research on some specific details of reactor technology. Some of the information could perhaps have been marginally useful to the Soviet programme, but could not have been critically important.

LORNA ARNOLD

Oxford