RUSSIANS HAVE BOMB

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 September 1949, Page 5

RUSSIANS HAVE BOMB

WESTERN CAPITALS RELEASE NEWS OF ATOMIC EXPLOSION

NEW YORK, September 23 (Rec 11 a.m.). —THE UNITED STATES BRITISH AND CANADIAN GOVERNMENTS ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT AN ATOMIC EXPLOSION HAD OCCURRED IN RUSSIA “WITHIN RECENT WEEKS.” CORRESPONDENTS INTERPRET THIS TO MEAN THAT RUSSIA HAS THE ATOMIC BOMB. President Truman, in a statement issued in Washington today, announced the explosion, and simultaneously announcements were made in London and Ottawa. The editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in Chicago said that if there was an atomic explosion in Russia “that explosion was caused by an atomic bomb. Releasing the Washington announcement, President Truman said: “I believe that the American people, to the fullest extent consistent with national security, are entitled to be informed of all developments in the field of atomic energy. That is my reason for making public the following information: “We have evidence that within recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in Russia. Since atomic energy was first released by man, the eventual development of this new force by other nations was to be expected. This probability has always been taken into account by us. “Nearly four years ago I pointed out: ‘Scientific opinion appears to be practically unanimous that the essential theoretical knowledge on which the discovery is based is already widely known. There is also substantial agreement that foreign research can come abreast of our present theoretical knowledge in time.

“In a three-nation declaration of the President of the United States and the Prime Ministers ol the United Kingdom and Canada, dated November 15, 1948.’’ President Truman continued, “it was emphasised that no single nation could, in fact, have a monopoly of atomic weapons. “This recent development emphasises once again, if indeed such emphasis is heeded, the necessity for that truly effective and enforceable international control of atomic energy which this Government and the large majority of the United Nations members support.” The United States Defence Secretary, Mr Louis Johnson, refused to answer reporters’ questions about exactly when and where the Russian explosion occurred. “Cabinet Knows Everything’ 1 ' Asked if the Cabinet had more details than were contained in Mr Truman’s announcement, Air Johnson replied: “The Cabinet, knows everything about it.” Senator B. McMahon, chairman of the Senate Atomic Energy Commission, called the Joint House and Senate Committee to a secret session today after President Truman had told him about the explosion. He added that as far as he could see the news would not make it necessary for Congress at the present session to consider changes in the atomic law. “Our whole programme has been based on the expectation that another nation would produce the bomb,” he said. A military expert said the Russians were probably “at the Los Almos stage,” referring to July 16, 1945, when the United States test

bomb was exploded in the New Mexico desert three weeks before the first bomb was dropped at Hiroshima. A statement from No. 10 Downing Street announcing the explosion in Russia, emphasised the importance with which the three Governments regarded the international control of atomic energy. The Paris evening newspapers issued special editions printing the statement by the three nations on the atom explosion under huge headlines on their front pages. French -Story Recalled The French newspaper story, saying that the Russians had exploded an atom bomb, was recalled in Paris tonight. The weekly magazine, Samedi-Soir, asserted on July 25 that Russia had exploded its first successful atom bomb on July 10. The paper said the explosion took place somewhere in Siberia near' longitude 46 north, latitude 53 east. The United Press correspondent in Washington, referring to the means whereby the United States had apparently learned of the explosion, said this is a closely-guarded secret, but it is known that the United States has perfected highly-refined seimic instruments, like those used to detect earthquakes, which can record powerful explosions at great distances. The United States is believed to have several detection stations on the rim of Russia. How Bomb Explodes Eugene Rabinowitch, editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, explaining his statement that the bomb had caused the explosion, said that no atomic explosion could be made on a small scale. Any explosion would be of a magnitude of those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. . The reason was that a certain critical amount of enriched uranium or plutonium was assembled before it would explode, he added. When the critical amount was obtained, it was, in ecect, an atomic bomb.