It sounds like it might be an interesting show, but if you’re post is representative of the program, then it sounds like pseudoscience and pseudo history, and its entertainment would be comical. I get the idea you are misinterpreting the docudrama or the show is garbage.

If the bomb would’ve ignited the atmosphere, it would’ve not just killed the observers, mankind would have perished. So to imply that their intent was to give some sort of advantage to an enemy by igniting the atmosphere doesn’t make sense.

The spies motives seem to have been; that they didn’t think it was safe to have so much power just with one nation. I somewhat agree that it is unwise for just one nation to have so much power; however that still does not excuse their act of criminality. Their reason to leak the plans was improper, the Soviets and other nations would have obtained fission bombs anyway, it would have just took them longer, and that doesn’t seem like it would have been a bad thing in my opinion. The spies did level the playing field, but at a cost of inflaming and accelerating the Cold War.