Evening star., 1953-06-27
Mr.. Dean on Atomic Secrecy

Mr.. De0n on Atomic secrecy
In his farewell press conference as chair
man Of the Atomic Energy Commission. Gordon
Dean has been at pains to emphasize, sonberly
and with special force his belief that the time
has come to reveal a number of still-secret facts
bearing upon our country's A-weapons stock
pile and our present and prospective position
in the race for world supremacy in this field.
Mr.. Deans views are essentially the same
as those that have been voiced lately by an
ever-growing group of top atomic experts. To
begin with, he would frankly and openly inform
the Russians of the approximate deadlinesS of
our A-Weapons arsenal. Although they almost
certainly have fairly accurate idea of this
already he would let them know about it pub
licly in order to be sure that they do not
underestimate U.S. In any case, as he sees the
situation, it would be "a great pity If they were
to start war on the assumption that 1--WE didn't
have the power to retaliate to the point of
destruction"
Secondly, in addition to giving nations
that supply us with uranium appropriate in
formation enabling them to develop industrial
atomic power, Mr.. Dean would let our allies
abroad know a good deal more than they do
about the size shape, weight and destructive
force of our wide variety of nuclear ornaments,
which now apparently include the hydrogen
bomb He would do this because of the vital
Importance of those weapons in joint planning
for the common defense of the free world or
for massive retaliatory action in case Of Com
munist aggression planning of a sort that is
ruled out at present by the strict security
restrictions of our existing law.
Finally, and most important of ALL Mr..
Dean would declassify much of our now-secret
official information in order to open the eyes
of the American people not merely to their
own countrys atomic strength but also to the
approximate and near-future size of RuSSia'S
A-weaponS Stockpile-a Stockplle whose actual
and potential power is well known to our Gov
ernment He would lift the curtain here to
show why our current great superiority does
not Justify complacency and to end the public's
apathy toward undertaking simple but vital
measures of civilian defense that conceivably
could reduce casualties by so to Is per cent
in the event of an atomic attack.
Actually, in Mr.. Deans view "our entire
concept of what war is' should be changed by
recent developments in the field of atomic
weapons. Further, our present lead in the grim
race is offset by this fact: ut does us no good
to reach the point where we would be able
to wipe out an enemy2O times over if he reaches
the point where he can wipe us out just once
Something else is needed here. The question Is:
What is it? What else should we be doing in
addition to our normal effort to bring peace to
the world? The need for an answer is becoming
increasingly more urgent, and the need for
information upon which to base an answer Is
becoming increasingly more obvious"
That is why Mr.. Dean, together with numer-
Gus other eminent authorities, has come out in
favor of being less secretive about our A-weapons
In his judgment, although it has been necessary
to surround the subject with "a wall of Sc
curity," the time is at hand for opening up that
wall "a crack or two" This is imperative, as
he has said, if we are to develop IAN informed
public opinion about atomic weapons, which is
the only realistic base upon which our defense
and foreign policies can be built in an age
when the American people can i'll afford to
be content with remaining in the dark and
leaving everything to the experts.
In effect, without saying so directly, Mr..
Dean has thus recommended that the ad-
ministration and Congress get together on
special study of present restrictions as prelude
to reducing secrecy along the lines he has sug-
gested. The recommendation should have care
full and sympathetic attention with the least
possible delay. Certainly, it is in the public
interest to reveal any atomic information that
can be revealed without harming the security
Of the Nation.