HOW LONG HAS SOVIET HAD ATOM BOMB?

Grey River Argus, 27 September 1949, Page 5

HOW LONG HAS SOVIET HAD ATOM BOMB?

Americans Doubt , 1947 Claim

(Rec. 9.5) WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 Authoritative sources here cast grave doubts on Russia’s claim that she had- the atomic bomb in 1947, and they speculated that this statement may have been fop propaganda purposes. At the same time, U.S. State Department officials expressed “interest” in the Soviet call fur atomic energy control, but they did not think that it meant any change in the Kremlin’s stubborn opposition to the complete international regulation that has been demanded by the United States and by other nations. There is no official comment on the Russian claim that the Kremlin knew the secret of the atomic bomb by November 1947, and that it “had this weapon at its disposal.” But the best-informed quarters in Washington said that it was unlikely that the Russians could have had the atomic bomb without testing it, and that, if they had exploded one earlier, the United States almost certainly would have known about it. The officials said, emphatically, that the delicate American instruments would have detected an . explosion if one had occurred lyDiplomatic quarters believe that Russia has made her claim to bolster her international bargaining position, and to strengthen her propaganda position in Europe.