ATOM BOMBS CHEAPER

Grey River Argus, 19 November 1946, Page 5

ATOM BOMBS CHEAPER

SAYS U.S. SCIENTISTS

Must be Outlawed (Rec. 9.5) NEW YORK, Nov. 18. Atom bombs can be made cheaply in large numbers, and will become mere destructive This was announced by an emergency committee of atomic scientists who are launching a campaign for 1,000,000 dollars to educate the public to this fact, and to five other facts including the fact there is no military defae’nee, against the atomic bomb and also that preparedness against atomic war will ruin the structure of the social order; also that there is no solution to this problem, except the international control of Atomic energy, and, ultimately, the elimination of war.

Professor Albert Einstein, is the president of this committee, consisting of leading scientists.' Mr Harold Urey, the vice-presi-dent says: “Atomic bombs now cost from one to two million dollars each. This, in view .of the great destructiveness makes them cheaper than any other form of explosive. It is generally accepted among scientists that the destructiveness of the bomb will increase.

Britain Without Atom Bomb LONDON, November 17. Diplomatic moves to borrow atom bombs from America have failed, says the Daily Express’s scientific correspondent. Britain is not making any and has now immediate plans to make them.

Military strategists discount the possibility of there being an appreciable number of atomic weapons in Britain within the next five years. A factor which is holding up British development of atomic energy for military purposes is the complete secrecy maintained by the United States on the method of making plutonium in the factory. British experts consider that they would require two years’ research to produce plutonium, and a further two years would be needed to create a. plant for its production. Britain possesses full details of the manufacture of uranium 235, which was not used for the Hiroshima bomb, but her industrial capacity could not stand the strain of building the huge plant needed for this process. If the United Nations fails, Britain will almost certainly arrange an over-all Empire scheme of atomic defence.