ATOMIC BOMB’S POSSIBILITIES

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 22682, 9 August 1945, Page 4

ATOMIC BOMB’S POSSIBILITIES

No single event in recent history has so stirred the public imagination as the announcement of the atomic bomb. The probability is that much more is expected of the discovery than will ever be achieved, or rather than will be achieved in the course of a few short years. As a war weapon atomic power may be strictly limited by the sheer scarcity of the materials and by the staggering cost of production. If, for instance, atomic force is as difficult to assemble as radium, not many effective bombs can be dropped upon Japan. This, of course, does not alter the fact that the discovery is revolutionary and fraught with tremendous possibilities. But until the whole truth is known it would be unwise to expect the atomic bomb alone to subdue the enemies of the United Nations. Commentators are referring glibly to a “rain of atomic bombs on Japan.” They may be unduly optimistic. Beside their spacious imagining is the fact that only one atomic bomb has been dropped on Japan, with results that have yet to be fully investigated. The most encouraging aspect of the matter is that the scientists largely responsible for the discovery have expressed themselves in terms of confidence. Generally, scientists of the first calibre are extremely cautious. The layman’s imagination usually runs far ahead of practical possibilities in such cases. It will have been observed that Britain and the United States officially have neglected none of the orthodox means of winning the war in anticipation of a new weapon bringing quick victory. The story of atomic research, as far as it has been made known, points to the fact that the concentration of the substances containing the power is an enormous undertaking in which microscopic quantities emerge from cumbersome natural materials. Madame Curie was faced with that problem in her radium researches. It is possible, of course, that entirely new methods have revolutionised the concentration of the power-giving atoms, but until the contrary is demonstrated it might be wise to exclude the possibility of atomic bombs becoming as common as those charged with T.N.T. Only a fraction of the number would be required to produce an equal result—say one compared with 2000. The method of employment having been mastered, the allimportant factors for immediate purposes are the quantities of the concentrated force available and the effect of the explosion. Reconnaissance of Hiroshima, has shown that four square miles of the city have been devastated. According to the Japanese radio the bomb was dropped by parachute and exploded in mid-air. It will be a matter for discussion whether the explosion was premature or whether it was designed deliberately to increase the range of the blast. It was necessary, of course, to provide a period between the discharge from the aircraft and the explosion to allow the aeroplane to race beyond effective range, the parachute thus taking the place of delayedaction apparatus.