Evening star., 1947-08-03

kumOTeQ FdI more
Powerful Than First
The atomic bombs dropped or
Japan and Bikini were childreni
f1recrackers, 1t is said, compared K
the wrath to come.
There are dismal whisperings oi
the horrors being concocted in the
secret laboratories at Los Alamos
and Oak Ridge. Whatever is being
done to increase the efficacy of the
atomic explosion for destruction
is necessarily guarded with the ut.
most secrecy.
It Is probably true that the first
atomic bombs were only two OF
three per cent efficient, considering
the total energy locked up in the
plutonium masses. 1t is reason
able to suppose that they have beer
somewhat improved and that the
outbreak Of another war might see
bombs twice as devastating. But
that there have been very sensa-
tional changes may be questioned
seriously for one simple reason
The atomic bomb was the product
Of the combined brains Of the most
brilliant physicists in the United
States or, for that matter, in the
world. The same brains would be
required for any very far-reaching
change.
Few In Sympathy. ~
Most of these men now are back
in private life. Few of them are
in sympathy with producing more
effective means of devastation
Some of them are decidedly at odds
with Army brass over it. They
appear at all sorts of meetings and
talk freely. 1t is the most natural
assumption, although perhaps a
completely erroneous onef that secret
work going on at present is con-
cerned with mechanical perfection
of details and involves no startling
new principles. 4
Second, there are very great tech
nical difficulties to be overcome be-
fore there will be much better
bomb. The explosion is automatic
when two masses of plutonium are
brought together. These masses
must be of almost precisely the right
size. If they are too small the neu-
irons responsible for the chain re-
action will escape through the
graphite matrix In which the plu-
tonium Is contained and go to waste
in space. If they are too large the
explosion will be smothered. This
critical size is one of the most closely
guarded secrets. The way to bigger
bombs, If not closed, will be very
difficult to traverse.
Pure Research Job.
Obtaining a more efficient ex-
plosive reaction depends on further
advances in an extraordinarily diff
ficult field-the nature of the atomic
nucleus and of the forces that hold
its protons and neutrons together
in such a compact mass. This is a
job for the pure research scientist,
not concerned with an immediate
practical objective. In the next few
years there will be more and more
in the news about that mysterious
element particle, the meson. now
known chiefly from its presence in
cosmic radiation reaching the earth
from outer space. It was first dis
covered, by the way, in Japan about
eight years ago. The Japs con-
tributed more than their scientific
share to the instrument d their de-
struction. In some way or other,
which only nuclear physicists can
hope to understand, a better COM
prehension of the meson is essential
to better comprehension of the in
ternal forces Of the nucleus.
Says the Atomic Energy Commis-
sion in its report to Congress: "The
properties of the elementary parti-
cles composing the nucleus are still
nearly as little known as in 1910.
The forces that hold the elementary
particles together in the nucleus, the
processes that occur when a nucleus
changes its energy content or elec-
trical charge, the nature OF the fis-
sion event itself, are still largely
mysteries. To reach a satisfactory
understanding of the atomic nucleus
is perhaps the foremost task now
facing the science of physics. 1t
calls for theoretical work of the
highest order of difficulty, and for
experimental work of great inge-
nuity. 1t involves, at some points,
the construction of large and ex-
pensive special equipment.
Only Immediate Goal.
THE only immediate goal of this
rese arch on fundamental nuclear
processes is increase of knowledge. 1t
is not now a necessary step toward
the building of an atomic bomb or
a controlled nuclear chain reactor.
These have passed from the research
stage into the development stage.
But from the activity of funda-
mental nuclear research may come
the new findings and the new ideas
which will make present nuclear
technology obsolete"
There Is every reason to believe
that this is an honest statement. 1t
is safe to assume that most secrets"
at present involve technical details
rather than any fundamental new
principles. OF course long flights OF
fancy into the future are possible
and some of them lead to the pros
pect of wild and terrible things
but perhaps no more beyond reason
than was the atomic bomb itself