Evening star., 1946-01-28
islanders Evacuated
From Bomb Test Area
For Safety From Rays

Planners of the atomic bomb shin
tests are evacuating islanders from
areas near Bikini Atoll as a pre-
caution against radioactive water or
clouds following explosions which
they expect to create 1,0O0-mile
winds, 100-foot waves and steel
fusing temperatures.
The two atomic bombs used in
Japan were exploded in the air
emitting huge quantities of radia-
ton. These radium-like waves killed
: inhabitants of Hiroshima and Naga-
saki who were directly under the
bomb, affecting the blood forming
tissues and causing the blood to seep
out through apparently unchanged
skin and also to drain into internal
cavities.
In the tests against the fleet of
enemy ships and old United States
vessels one atomic bomb is to be
detonated at the surface of the
sea. Scientists estimate that bomb
used on the surface can deposit an
enormous amount of radioactivity
equivalent to tons of radium. The
combs exploded in mid-air over
Japan dissipated their rays too much
70 have residual effect.
Have Extensive Information.
Navy and Army experts preparing
for the joint tests have available
extensive information cleaned from
the studies made of the three bombs
so far exploded-the initial test In
New Mexico and the two attacks on
Japan.
Here are some of the factors the
naval, military and scientific experts
have observed or anticipated:
1. Following in the wake of the
initial pressure blast of hundreds OF
thousands of pounds per square inch
at the core of the explosion is true
wind running up from 500 to 1000
miles an hour-a wind of short dura-
tion but great intensity.
2. In the second test, where the
bomb is detonated at the surface
of the sea, it is expected a wave
measuring as much as 100 feet from
trough to crest may race outward.
Generates Intense Heat.
3. In the very center of the So
called ball of fire." hot mass
measuring about a third of a mile
across, scientists believe heat up to
100,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit may
develop. This temperature, of course,
drops sharply as heat waves pro-
gress outward from the core, but
still remains highly destructive. At
Hiroshima, American scientists have
reported, virtually all persons with
in about mile of the bomb who
were not killed by mechanical
causes were burned fatally or seri-
ously.
Most scientists are confident that
there is not even remote prospect
of chain reaction from the bomb
which would spread outward either
through the air or the sea, and
affect far-away areas.
Indications are that in the first
test, where the bomb will be ex-
ploded several hundred feet in the
air, the initial effect against the
anchored target may be a ham
mer-like blow downward. In the
Japanese cities, walls or some
buildings directly under the basst
were left intact when the pressure
blew straight down, but the roofs
and floors were crushed into the
ground. e $
Steel Structures Collapsed. x
Some clewsas to the effect on steel
structures was obtained at Nagasaki.
There the steel frame structures of
the Mitsubishi torpedo works were
collapsed by the pressure wave.
Those in charge of the test decline
to give the exact pattern for an
choring the target fleet in the lagoon.
They have said, however, that some
capital ships will be located in the
center, near the bomb burst point.
Because it is desired to make
studies of effects ranging all the
way from complete destruction to
comparatively minor damage, the
fleet will be spread out over a wide
area from Bikini Atoll, with record
ing instruments to show what hap
mems