Knowledge of Bomb Can Be Acquired in Five Years

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 191, 14 August 1945, Page 5

Knowledge of Bomb Can Be Acquired in Five Years

Received Monday, 7.50 p.m. WASHINGTON, August 12. Sir James Chadwick, chief of the British scientists concerned In the atomic bomb experiment, declared that any nation possessing a reasonable amount of industrial facilities and access to the required materials could develop the atomic bomb within five years and the necessary knowledge to provide the nations, at present uninformed with production, could be acquired within two months without assistance from Britain and America. Referring to the danger of Germany or Japan bringing out an atomic bomb later, Sir James Chadwick said: “Perhaps we can control their industrial facilities and materials sufficiently to prevent it.” He confirmed a former statement that the explosion of a bomb above the ground causes radio activity to be dispersed by cloud. “Britain,” he said “realised first of ail the potentialities of this weapon and our convictions initiated and sped the bomb project. We were ahead of everybody else.” Professor Chadwick lauded the enormous vigour with which the United States took over the project.