Evening star., 1953-01-30
Our Atomic Progress

4ue keynOCe OF Lne Atomic Energy COM
missions 18th semiannual report to Congress
is that the United States is continuing to make
Signicant progress, at an ever-accelerating
pace, in all fields of nuclear science nom
military as well as military.
In fact, there is some reason to believe
that the six months covered by the report have
been among the most fruitful since this Nation
lin concert with Britain and Canada, and in
an atmosphere OF StricteSt Secrecy-firSt sue
ceeded in Harvesting the atom, and thus usher
Ing In new age, in December of 1912 AS the
Acc has put it: I'm more than a symbolic sense,
this latest half year has witnessed the crystalli-
zation of important lines of exploration, re-
search, and development that began earlier in
the decade"
Among other things, the commission in it's
latest report has made point of emphasizing
the high and somber significance" of the
results of last NovemberS tests at the Pacific
Proving Ground around Eniwetok in the Mar
shall Islands. Although the language is guarded
and nonspecific, this is as close as the Acc
has yet come to confirming the popular assump-
tion that the United States has already
produced, or is on the verge of producing, the
indescribably destructive hydrogen bomb
AS for ordinary" A-weaponS, the commits
sion's report-which includes great deal of
fascinating information about the Nevada
testing site and about the precautions taken
to protect the public from the hazards of ex-
perimental detonations or the small chance"
OF possible disaster at the Hanford plutonium
plant in WaShington-leaves no room for doubt
that the Nation has been forging steadily ahead.
The progress involved here undoubtedly means
that our American arsenal now includes a
wide and constantly improving variety of
nuclear ornaments of differing degrees of power
for both tactical and strategical military use.
But the progress has not been limited to
weapons alone. AS made clear in the Acc
report the worlds first two atomic powered
submarines U. S. S. Nautilus and the
U. S. S. Sea WoJ-are in the process of be-
coming revolutionary realities. In addition,
steady advances are being achieved in harness.
ing nuclear energy to drive big surface vessels
like aircraft carriers, and notable gains have
been scored in doing the same thing for giant
bomber planeS-a prospect whose impact on the
nature and speed of transportation, whether
for military or peacetime purposes, can hardly
be exaggerated. 8,
In a strictly peacetime sense, these and
similar advances-which include progress in
basic physical research and in fields bearing
on human health-open up, above all, new
viStas of industrial atomic power that can have
an enormously beneficial economic and social
effect on the future not only of our own
country but of the entire world. Judging from
the Acc report, such power is closer to the
reach of man than seemed possible few years
ago. and it may well become reality in
relatively short time if answers can be found
to the numerous and complex questions of
public policy-and public safety-involved in it.
1t is necessary to read the full text of the
Acc report-one of the most informative in
the past two years-to appreciate the sweep of
our American atomic project. Even in broad
summation however, the report shows that
our progress in this field-whether for good or
ill-has been, and still is, thing of utmost
significance and portentousneSs.