Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-10
Fear and Rodioisotopes

Questions of law and common sense are
involved in the policy of making radioiso-
topes available to foreign scientists. Four
members Of the Atomic Energy Commission
are in favor Of the policy. But the fifth
member-former Rear Admiral Lewis L.
STRAUSS against 1t, and that fact,
coupled with the recent shipment of a
millicurie of iron-59 to Norway has led
Senator Hickenlooper to make an issue of
the subject
For his own part, Mr.. Strauss has been
at pains to emphasize to the Senate House
Atomic Committee that there Is no per-
sonal friction between him and his col
leagues and that he has no doubt whatever
as to their devotion, loyalty and integrity"
There is, however, an honest divergence of
opinion. his solitary dissenting view being
based on his belief % that the Acc has
exceeded its statutory authority in dis
tributing radioisotopes, and (2) that such
shipments, In these days of the cold war,
may initiate against the Nations security.
AS far as the law itself is concerned, it
declares at one point that until Congress
passes resolution. affirming the existence
of effective world control of the atom,
there shall be no exchange of information
with other nations with respect to the use
of atomic energy for industrial purposes"
dtalics supplied) Since no such resolution
has as yet been enacted, Mr.. Strauss feels
that the commission has gone beyond its
legal power. But the four member ma
jority holds that kaleidoscope is neither
information nor atomic energy and that
therefore Mr.. Strauss is wrong.
After all, what are these radioisotopes?
They are substances that have the same
chemical properties as stable. common ele-
ments like carbon, iron or silver, but they
have a different atomic weight and are
radioactive, the change being effected by
subjecting the common elements to
bombardment of neutrons in a nuclear
reactor. In and of themselves, according
to the Acc majority, they are not ideas or
contrivances, but simply inanimate mate
rails that do not constitute information"
Nor are they atomic energy" except In
the sense that all matter may be said to
be complex Of atoms in varying states
of activity or inactivity.
OF course, apart from the legal and
scientific argument about what they are
and how they should be handled, radioiso-
TOPICS are primarily research tools. Any
nation with cyclotronS can manufacture
them In minute quantities at great cost,
and Britain, Canada, France and all other
countries now equipped with nuclear re-
actors, or atomic piles, can turn them out
on fairly large scale at considerably less
cost. But at the moment the United States
is in class by itself in its ability-with its
numerous reactors-to mass produce them
at little or no cost. The development from
the standpoint of pure science, is probably
the most revolutionary since the advent of
the microscope. In terms of experiment
in medicine. biology agriculture and in
dustry, it has opened up a bright new
world of exploration and discovery for the
health and happiness of mankind.
Like nearly everything else connected
with the atom, however radioisotopes-
though nonfssionable and of no value in
relation to the A-bomb-have made some
men fearful Mr.. Strauss, for example,
with obvious sincerity and not without
measure Of FEASIBILITY, suggests that
metallurgical research with our tiny MILL
curie of iron-59 may enable Norwegian
scientists to develop better steel for Jet
engines and that somehow the Russians
may get hold of the secret. That is quite
possible. 1t is also quite possible that much
the same thing can come of the shipment
of nuts and bolts, or coal, or engine parts,
or thousand different other items OF
indirect military value.
Actually. there are few things under the
sun that do not have such value. Should
mankind therefore stop trading in them?
And what would have happened If the
microscope had never left the land of its
origin? Surely, halt must be called
somewhere to our atomic fears, and good
place to begin is with radioisotopes. As
matters stand, they are not going behind
the Iron Curtain. Russia. In fact. may
even now be manufacturing them on It's
own, and certainly we are not likely to
increase our safety by DENYING them to
Norway, an Atlantic Pact member. On the
contrary, II we hold on too tight to our
mythical secrets. we ourselves can do real
harm to our national security.