ATOM SECURITY IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27131, 29 August 1953, Page 7

ATOM SECURITY IN BRITAIN

(Rec. 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, August 27. The “Daily Express” says another atom scientist with relatives behind the Iron Curtain will be sent away from Harwell by an order from the Cabinet.

Like Dr. Doris Davison, the Rus-sian-born mathematician who was recently compulsorily transferred from Harwell to Birmingham University on a year’s leave of absence, the scientist, too, is rated as a security risk, the newspaper says. It does not give the scientist’s name.

It is feared that communist agents might blackmail atom secrets from the scientist by threatening to harm his relatives, says the newspaper. He will now be barred from further access to secret information. The man, a former refugee from Hitler’s persecution, has distinguished himself in a specialised branch of chemistry, with a salary of £4O a week. He will leave Harwell as soon as an alternative post, which does not involve secret work, can be found for him. says the newspaper. Security men have found no evidence that he has ever been disloyal. It has now been ruled that men with relatives in communist countries must be rated as “security risks.”