Alexei Kojevnikov has estimated, based on newly released Soviet documents, that the primary way in which the espionage may have sped up the Soviet project was that it allowed Khariton to avoid dangerous tests to determine the size of the critical mass: "tickling the dragon's tail," as it was called in the U.S., consumed a good deal of time and claimed at least two lives; see Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotin.
Alexei Kojevnikov memperkirakan, berdasarkan dokumen Soviet yang baru dirilis, bahwa bagaimana utamanya spionase mungkin telah mempercepat proyek Soviet adalah Khariton dapat menghindari tes-tes berbahaya untuk menentukan ukuran massa kritis: "tickling the dragon's tail," ("menggelitik ekor si naga") seperti yang disebut di AS, mengonsumsi banyak waktu dan mereggut setidaknya dua nyawa; lihat Harry Daghlian dan Louis Slotin.