Evening star., 1950-08-14
Pathological Weapons?

Among the numerous significant passages in
the new report on '"The Effects of Atomic Weap
onS" is the one bearing upon the possibility of
Pathological warfare Though relatively brief, it
constitutes the fullest official statement yet made
on this subject, and its general tenor strongly
suggests that the field is full of theoretical
potentialties that may eventually be translated
into military realities.
Ever since the publication of the celebrated
Smyth report in 1945 it has been known that
the process of manufacturing A-bombs leaves a
residue of radioactive byproducts. These by
products are of no value for an atomic explosion,
but they are still so lethal in their emission of
gamma and other rays that if they could be
delivered effectively to target area, they would
render that area uninhabitable. The new report
enlarges upon this point by saying that it is
possible to make them available for military
purposes in either of two expensive ways: Cd BY
a technique of chemical separation to single out
the ones with half lives of sufficient duration for
q weapon, or (2) by Subjecting certain stable
elements to neutron bombardments in nuclear
reactors-a step that would involve some reduc-
tion in the output of fashionable material for the
bomb.
However, although the wherewithal for radi-
illogical warfare thus is within reach, the report
indicates that number of extremely difficult
problems will have to be solved before there can
be such warfare. The chief of these problems
has to do with working out methods for the
delivery of the radioactive SubStanceS-tech-
niQues and mechaniSmS capable of spreading the
deadly radiation Tin the form of spray, mist
or dust) evenly and effectively throughout the
target area. The reports authors refrain from
making any predictions, but they leave little
room for doubt that if the delivering means can
be developed, there will be available a non-ex-
hot for habitation, forcing mass evacuation for
periods whose length would depend on the half
lives of the gamma emitting materials s-periods
that conceivably could range anywhere from
weeks or months to years or even centuries.
In sense, assuming that it can be developed,
such q weapon might prove to be more or less
humane both in terms of avoiding the infliction
of large-Scale casualties and eliminating the vast
physical destruction caused by an atomic explo-
sion. Thus although the spray mist or dust
could not be detected directly by the human
senses, a city struck by it would know soon
enough, through mechanical devices, of its peril
Gus contamination. Then, unless the immediate
dosage of radiation were extraordinarily intense,
the population would have ample time-as much
as several days-to evacuate before absorbing
lethal amount of gamma rays. The factories and
homes of the place, though uninhabitable for
a certain period, would still remain intact. From
the standpoint of the attacker, all this would be
as good as a devastating knockout by bombs,
while the attacked themselves would find it
comparatively merciful.
In any case although they seem to have
many doubts about the feasibility of Pathological
warfare and about whether or not it would be
relatively humane, the authors of the latest A
weapon report warn of the need to understand
and be prepared for such warfare. In their
the consequences likely to be as serious as the
destruction caused by an atomic bomb"
The rule for 1850 is as always BY the time
you get around to wondering If the stuff is
poison ivy, it was. =