ATOMIC ENERGY CONTROL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 29, 14 November 1949, Page 5

ATOMIC ENERGY CONTROL

RUSSIA’S OFFER OF CO-OPERATION

NEW YORK, Nov. 12.

Russia was prepared to open wide its doors to international atomic control and inspection, said the Soviet Foreign Minister (Mr Vyshinsky) at a meeting of the Second Political Committee of the United Nations today.

Mr Vyshinsky said that under the Russian plan, the proposed international control commission could •‘come into our house, and smell, feel and touch’’ atomic materials. Russia, however, would never hand over to the commission the ownership of any of its land. This, Mr Vyshinsky claimed, was required under the United States’ plan for atomic control.

Mr Vyshinsky said there was no justification for charges that Russia was trying to evade atomic control. Referring to ’ a previous by him that Russia was using atomic energy to “raze mountains,” Mr Vyshinsky said: “What I referred to is this: There is large-scale explosive work taking place, and these projects, which require explosive activity, are carried out with the help of atomic energy.”

Mr Vyshinsky -declared that the United States had used atomic explosions to kill scores of thousands of people “without any military need from the point of view of prosecuting a war, or from the point of view of anybody’s war aims.” He added: “We are blowing up rocks. We are not just going to shake the air, because that would be economically unprofitable.”