Evening star., 1945-08-06
The Development of the Atomic Bomb

of the Combined Policy Committee,
The United States members have had
as their scientific adviser DR.. Richard
C. Tolman, the British member, Sh
James Chadwick, and the Canadian
member, Dean c. j. Mackenzie.
1t was early recognized that in order
to make certain that this tremendous
weapon would not fall into the hands Of
the enemy prompt gction should bt
taken to control patents in the field and
to secure control over the ore which ID
indispensable to the process. Substantial
patent control has been accomplished in
the United States, the United Kingdom
and Canada.
In each country all personnel engaged
in the work, both scientific and indus
trial, are required to assign their entire
rights to any inventions in this field to
their respective governments Arrange
ments have been made for appropriate
patent exchange in instances where in
ventiops are made by nationals of one
country working in the territory of an
other. Such patent rights, interests and
titles as are exchanged, however, are
held in fiduciary sense subject to settle-
ment at a later date on mutually salts
factory terms. All patent actions taken
are surrounded by all safeguards neces-
sary for the security Of the project. At
the present stage of development of the
science of atomic fission, uranium is the
ore essential to the production of the
weapon. Steps have been taken, and
continue to be taken, to assure us Of
adequate supplies of this mineral.
V.
Atomic fission holds great promise for
sweeping developments by which ouI
civilization may be enriched when peace
comes, but the overriding necessities OF
war have precluded the full exploration
OF peacetime applications of this new
knowledge. With the evidence presently
at hand, however, it appears inevitable
that many useful contributions to the
well-being of mankind will ultimately
flow from these discoveries when the
world situation makes it possible for
science and industry to concentrate on
these aspects.
The fact that atomic energy can now
be released on a large scale in an atomic
bomb raises the question of the pros
pect of using this energy for peaceful
industrial purposes. Already in the
course of producing one of the elements
much energy is being released, not ex-
plosively but in regulated amounts This
energy, however, is in the form of heat
at temperature too low to make prac-
tlcable the operation of conventional
power plant. 1t will be a matter OF
much further research and development
to design machines for the conversion
of atomic energy into useful power.
How long this will take no one can pre-
dict, but it will certainly be period of
many years. Furthermore, there are
| many economic considerations to be
| taken into account before we can say
to what extent atomic energy will sup
plement coal oil, and water as funda-
mental sources of power in industry in
this or any other country. We are at
the threshold of new Industrials art
which will take many years and much
expenditure OF money to develop.
Because OF the widespread knowledge
and interest in this subject even before
the war, there is no possibility of avoid
ing the risks inherent in this knowledge
by any long-term policy of secrecy.
Mindful of these considerations as well
as the grave problems that arise con-
cerning the control of the weapon and
the implications of this science for the
peace of the world, the Secretary of
War, with the approval of the Presi-
dent, has appointed an Interim Com
mlttee to consider these matters. Mem
bershlp OF the committee is as fol-
lows: The Secretary of War, chairman;
the Hon. James F. Byrnes, now Secre-
tary OF State; the Hon. Ralph A. Bard,
former Undersecretary of the Navy; the
Hon. William L. Clayton, Assistant Sec
retary of State; DR.. Vannevar Bush, di-
rector of the Office of Scientific Research
and Development and President of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington; DR..
James B. Conant, chairman of the Ma
tional Defense Research Committee and
President of Harvard University; DR..
Karl T. Compton, chief of the Office of
Field Service in the Office of Scientific
Research and Development and Presi-
dent of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology; and Mr.. George L. Harrison,
Special Consultant to the Secretary of
War and President of the New York Life
Insurance Co. Mr.. Harrison is alternate
chairman of the committee.
The committee is charged with the
responsibility OF formulating recon-
mendationS to sthe President concern
ing the postwar organization that
should be established to direct and con-
troll the future course of the United
States in this field both with regard to
the research and developmental as
poets of the entire field and to its mill
tary applications. 1t will make recon-
mendations with regard to the prob
lens of both national and international
control. In its consideration of these
questions, the committee has had the
benefit of the views of the scientists
who have participated in the project.
These views have been brought to the
attention of the committee by an ad-
visory group selected from the leading
physicists of the country who have been
most active on this subject This group
is composed of DR.. j. r. Oppenheimer,
DR.. E. o. Lawrence, DR.. A. H. Compton
and DR.. Enrico Fermi. The Interim
Committee has also consulted the rep
resentatives of those industries which
have been most closely connected with
the multitude of problems that have
been faced in the production phases of
the project. Every effort is being bent
toward assuring that this weapon and
the new field of science that stands be-
hind it will be employed wisely in the
interests of the security of peace-loving
nations and the well-being of the world.
Corond R;aneek pIuaI.