BOMB TEST AREA

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28425, 4 November 1957, Page 11

BOMB TEST AREA

Japan Relays Warning

(Rec. 9 p.m.) TOKYO, Nov. 2. The Japanese Foreign Ministry today announced that the British Government had informed Japan that the Christmas Island danger zone will be in full operation from November 3. *

A Maritime Safety Board spokesman said that radio warnings were being broadcast to all Japanese shipping to stay clear of the area.

The Foreign Ministry said that the British Government said that it “will take full precautions against incident or injury to human life or to property within the danger area.”

The Note said, however, that hazards outside the danger zone could not be anticipated. An early warning will be issued should it become necessary to extend the limits of the area.

A spokesman for the Japan Tuna Fisheries Association said that many fleets had arrived in or near the Christmas Island danger zone. The area was considered one of the richest tuna fishing grounds in the world.

The Japan Council for the Prohibition of Nuclear Tests went into immediate session after the Foreign Ministry’s announcement. A member of the Kochi chapter, Southern Japan, said: "This time we will send a protest vessel into the zone.”

The Foreign Office spokesman said that the area was much smaller than that from which shipping was barred by Britain during the first series of British nuclear test explosions. The new area described by Britain was of some 63.000 nautical square miles, only about one tenth of the previous area.