Evening star., 1952-11-17


------
also spoke of possible prosecu-
ton for those who have written
letters home about seeing what
they described as the worlds first
H-bomb blast.
DR.. Harold c. Urey. Nobel prize
winning scientist who was a key
figure in the development of the
atom bomb. said in Chicago he
believed the Acc announcement
meant the United States has sue
cessfully exploded it's first H
bomb.
DR.. Urey said the technically
worded statement sounds like Of
fetal language for a successful
H-bomb."
j, Robert Oppenheimer, who di-
rected the Los Alamos IN. Mex.)
laboratory which perfected the
atom bomb. said he could only
echo the official Acc disclosure.
At his Princeton IN. J) home
DR.. Oppenheimer. now director of
the Institute of Advanced Study,
said there has been a fine Job of
technical work going on-a very
impressive piece of work techni-
cally."
1882 Tests Concluded.
Chairman Durham of the Joint
Congressional Committee on
Atomic Research commented on
the Acc announcement only by
saying the "thermonuclear weap-
ons research" at Eniwetok came
off on schedule" He would not
refer to the tests as hydrogen
bomb experiments. However,
"thermonuclear weapon research"
is the scientists way of designat-
ing work on an H-bomb.
In a formal announcement, ACC
Chairman Gordon Dean said only
that the 1852 series of atomic
weapons development tests had
been concluded at Eniwetok atoll:
that the program included eek.
perimel1ts contributing to ther-
monuclear weapons research, /"
and that the scientists expressed
satisfaction"
But what. reporters asked, about
the swelling volume Of letters
coming back from ship crew men,
bers and others attached to the
joint AEC-military task force
which conducted the 1852 pro-
gram?
Dean Answers Questions.
The letters. widely published ir
the United States, described an
explosion on November / which,
to them, seemed to transcend any
previous man-made detonation.
They told of a mile-wide island
melting away under the blast
and heat, Of a cloud column
climbing twice as high as any
known conventional atomic cloud,
of damage to a building Is miles
away.
In a written answer to ques-
tions which had been accumulat-
ing on his desk, Mr.. Dean said:
l. Information would be lin
tied to that contained in the
formal announcement because
any amplification might give aid
to potential enemies" No further
announcements will be made.
2. The commission is con-
cerned" over the letters, and
3. investigations are under way
leading to possible disciplinary
action or prosecution for violation
of task force regulations or the
law"
Text Of Acc Announcement.
The text Of the Aces formal
announcement:
Joint Task Force 1872. operat-
ing for the Department of De-
tense and the United States Atomic
Energy Commission. has concluded
the third series of weapons de-
velopment tests at Eniwetok atoll
in the Marshall Islands. Like
the Greenhouse" series 1851, it
was designed to further the de-
velopment Of various types of
weapons. In furtherance of the
Presidents announcement of
January 81, 1850, the test program
included experiments contributing
to thermonuclear weapons re-
search.
Scientific executives for the
tests have expressed satisfaction
with the results. The leaders and
of the military and
civilian components of the task
force have accomplished a re-
markable feat of precision in plan
Continued on Page A-20, Col. 81