RUSSIA’S USE OF ATOMIC ENERGY UNDER SUSPICION

Grey River Argus, 14 November 1949, Page 5

RUSSIA’S USE OF ATOMIC ENERGY UNDER SUSPICION

LONDON, November 12. Mr M. Stewart, Under-Secretary of State at the War Office, told the House of Commons that Russia’s possession of the atom bomb was being taken into account in the current review of Britain’s defence forces. He said.—ln the cold war, Britain has to face one awkward- situation after another at points dotted all round the globe. I hope that if we can make it clear we can meet a situation of this kind, and neither be cajoled nor brow-beaten out ot facing those responsible, we will greatly reduce the chance of a more serious conflict arising.” Russia was not using atomic energy for civil engineering purposes said the Minister of Defence (Mr A. V. Alexander). The propaganda to this effect was false, he said “The Western democratic Powers Xq aouj aq; puunSajus Of snoixtm o.n? banning the bomb. It does not seem too much for us to say in the United Nations Assembly that the ban must be accompanied by enough supervision to enable each nation to satisfy itself that others are not behind the bars making the' atom bomb.” WASHINGTON, Nov 12. The claim bv the Soviet Foreign Minister (M. Vyshinsky) that Russia was using atomic energy to raze mountains, was rejected by Mr William Laurence, America's foremost lav writer on atomic matters. Mr Laurence noted that M. Vyshinsky’s statement repeated practically verbatim, a report on November 5, in the Russian-licensed German newspaper “Nacht Express.” The report states that the Russians had used atomic energy to blow up mountains, and reverse the direction of two Siberian rivers. The blast was said to have opened the wav for a man-made river “bigger than the English Channel.” Mr Laurence said that to blow up a mountain of any size would take hundreds of atom bombs. It was plainly impossible that Russia had had the time to produce more than a handful at the most. It would require plants with a capacity one hundredfold those of the United States to make sufficient atomic bombs to raze a mountain. Furthermore, such plants woulc require quantities of uranium ol staggering dimensions that woula take'years to concentrate. Mr Laurence added: “To explode an atomic bomb is child’s play, co y ■pared with the harnessing o< its vast energy for the running of ndustrial Diants. The distance between the two processes is analogous to the distance that separated the first Wright Brothers’ aeropl? from commercial air transport of today.”