Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-16
Atom Scientist Tells Of Doubts
] on Oppenheimer Security

N
lie. the Atomic Energy COM
mission said it was doing so. in
a departure from custom in
security cases, because Dr.. OPP
penheimer's attorneys had re-
leased some documents and
because it thought the action
will "best serve the public in
terest."
The commission noted that
only "unclassified" non secret
testimony was being made
public. It did not say how much
was withheld, but there were
many indications of deletions in
the 992 pages of fine print.
This release is made in adj
vance Of the time-later this
month-when the commission
will reach its decision" the Acc
announcement said.
This was the first Official word
that the final ruling would be
forthcoming before the end Of
the month, as DR.. Oppenheimer's
attorneys had urged.
Release Of the testimony fol-
lowed closely the action of DR..
Oppenheimer's attorneys in
making public q brief in which
they asked the full Acc to re-
verse the findings of the special
board. In a brief filed June z.
they said the scientist is "un-
queStionably loyal" and has
rendered great public service"
Documents Use Protested.
Attorney Lloyd K. Garrison,
another document showed.
wrote Acc General Manager K.
D. Nichols on June 9 protesting
against use at the Security
Board hearing of some docu-
ments DR.. Oppenheimer and his
attorney had not been permitted
to see in advance.
Mr.. Garrison also urged re-
considerations of Aces rejec-
ton of a request that DR.. OPP
penheimer's attorneys be per-
mitted to make oral arguments
before the commission.
The Acc had stipulated that
the hearing testimony was for
use at noon today. Wire services
and individual newspapers, how
ever, went ahead with accounts
Of it after Radio Commentator
Fulton Lewis, jr. quoted some
parts of it on his MBS broadcast
last night.
Mr.. Lewis said he was "delib-
erately violating" the release
stipulation. and he said:
"Dr. Oppenheimer's attorneys
have released their own prop
uganda statement, in an attempt
to condition the public mind =.
in another of these trick plays
which have marked this case"
Witness Assured of Secrecy.
Virtually every witness at the
hearings before the three-man
Security Board was assured that
his testimony would not be made
public. The ACC did not say
whether they had later been told
that the testimony would be re-
leased, and Security Board Chair
man Gordon Gray could not be
reached for comment.
DR.. Gray, president Of the Uni
versity of North Carolina, and
Thomas A. Morgan, former pres
ident of Sperry Gyroscope Corp,
voted to continue the denial to
atomic secrets imposed on DR..
Oppenheimer by order of Presi-
dent Eisenhower last fall. The
dissent was recorded by DR.. Ward
v. Evans, retired chemistry pro-
fessor at Loyola University, Chi
cago.
DR.. Teller was born in Buda-
pest and studied there. at Mu-
Mich and at Leipzig, where he
took his electorate in physics. He
did research at Goettingen and
Copenhagen and taught at Lon
don.
He said he came to the United
States in 1885, taught at George
Washington University here and
at Columbia in New York City.
then went to the Los Alamos
atomic bomb project under DR..
Oppenheimer. After the war he
taught at the University of Chi
cago and at California and
worked on other top atomic and
hydrogen projects.
His Discovery Not Detailed.
While there were many refer
enceS in the scientists testimony
as to his contribution to develop
ment of the H-bomb, the printed
record-carefully edited for Sc
crets-contained no hint as to
what his discovery was.
There has been unofficial spec
ulation that the United States,
at some point in its work on the
H-bomb. discovered a way to en-
ploy a hydrogen-containing COM
pound of lithium-a relatively
cheap and very abundant ma
terial-in the bomb.
This speculation has it that
lithium would be combined with
tritium and deuterium, two
forms Of heavy" hydrogen. The
line of thought was that tritium
and deuterium in their uncom-
bined forms would require ex-
tensive refrigeration-thus max
ing for a bomb that might be
difficult or impossible to deliver.
The testimony referred re-
peatedly to low temperature"
experiments, without elabora-
ton.
Oppenheimer Support in 1851.
One of the counts against DR..
Oppenheimer is that his reluc-
lance and lack of enthusiasm de-
layed the H-bomb's development.
DR.. Teller testified that he first
got support for the H-bomb prof.
ect from DR.. Oppenheimer in
June, 1881. He quoted DR.. OPP