Evening star., 1952-02-05
Life Processes and the Atom

In its 11th Senlannual report to Congress-
the Atomic RneIsg Conn sion has sbeen ats
pains to Dc as INN torma possible about
practically everything except research and ex-
,perinentation hearing upon slife processes IA
man. animals ana plants Bat work 81 this
neld, even though It may soulld less exciting,
d not necessarily second IN Importance to work
In the field of nuclear arrnaments Actually, as
far as the long-range future is concerned, 1t may
be far more meaningful-in q beneficial way
than all the atoms military potentialities
OF course, given the present state of the
world, it is the military potentialites that mat
ter most right now. That Is why the Acc
which has been expanding its facilities and oper-
ations ever since 1949, and which is preparing
to expand still further, on vast scale-has been
concentrating by far its major effort on the de-
sign, development and production OF A-weapons.
Quite UNDERSTANDABLE, because OF the security
risks involved, Chairman Gordon Dean and his
colleagues have given out no new information
or significant additional details regarding that
phase of our atomic program. In effect their
report, covering the last half Of 1851, merely
summarizes in one place what they have here
tofore announced in piecemeal fashion.
The summary, however, serves Is . useful
1enainder-a reassuring reminder-that the
Nation Is not dragging its feet in the nuclear
ornaments race. The supply OF raw materials
has been keeping pace with greatly expanded
production demands. The output Of uranium
235 and plutonium continues to increase In vol
ume and decrease in unit costs. Encouraging
gains have been made with reactors including
those planned for the propulsion OF submarines
gains that point the way to the same kind
of propulsion for surface vessels and aircraft.
Finally, in addition to throwing light on the
problem of civil defense and other challenges
raised by the possibility Of atomic warfare, the
October-November Nevada tests have helped to
promote significant advances" and marked
progress" in the development Of A7weapons,
which could mean many revolutionary things,
not excepting even the hydrogen bomb
Apart from this review of what has been
made known before, the Aces latest report
which includes a financial statement and some
common sense proposals to amend legislation
covering security operations -devotes most OF It's
space to what might be called the smiling face
Of the atom. Thus wholly aside from references
to progress toward the goal OF harnessing nuclear
energy for peacetime industrial power and to-
ward such gains as q synthetic substitute for
blood plasma the report has number OF inter-
estinc new things to say about studies and tests
in the field Of plant life Although the studies
and tests are still far from conclusive, they
suggest that agricultural developments OF the
greatest world importance may be In the making,
slowly but surely.
The report reveals, for one thing, that recent
research with tagged" atoms, although strongly
discouraging past hopes that mildly radioactive
fertilizers might be Of great value, has shown
that conventional fertilizers can be used much
more efnciently and economically than ct pres
ent. Further the work being done in this field
has been productive enough TO raise the possi-
bility Of important advances In the output OF
antibiotics and to promise that agriculture may
eventually be able to develop far better pest
controls and new plant strains offering bigger
.per-acre crop yields Above al, new knowledge
has been gained regarding the mysterious proc
ess Of photosynthesis one of natures most vital
secrets whose full revelation to man could open
the way to vast increase In food for the worlds
fast-multiplying population.
When It deals with non-militafy prospects
Of this sort-the slife processes instead OF the