Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-17
U.s.. Knew Of Atomic Leaks
n1o43, Before First Blast


two men most credited with sue
cessful production Of the H
bomb are in nat disagreement
as to DR.. Oppenheimer's contri-Y
button toward that achievement.
DR.. Norris E. Bradbury. pres
ent director Of Los Alamos.
backed DR.. Oppenheimer calling
him extremely helpful and CO.
operative"
On the other hand. DR.. Ed
ward Teller, whose research re-
portedly provided a direct key
to H-bomb production. advised
the committee not to grant DR..
Oppenheimer security clearance.
He commended DR.. Openheimer's
reluctance to see the H-bomb
built might have set back the
operation as much as four years.
The security board held that
DR.. Oppenheimer failed to CO.
operate enthusiastically with the
effort to produce the super bomb.
Sees Him Completely Loyal.
DR.. Bradbury. in his testimony.
said DR.. Oppenheimer was "com-
pletely and unequivocally loyal
to the best interests of the
country" He did not believe, he
added, that DR.. Oppenheimer
had used his influence to dimin-
ish the H-bomb effort.
DR.. Bradbury said there had
been no delay in the hydrogen
program. 81 cannot see how we
could have reached our objective
in a more rapid fashion," he
said.
DIR. Teller did not question DR..
Oppenheimer'S loyalty, but rather
his wisdom and Judgment" He
complained that DR.. Open
heimer gave mot the slightest
help" in recruiting scientists
for the H-bomb project.
BY all odds the sharpest anti
Oppenheimer testimony given by
any of the 10 witnesses in the
hearing was that of William L.
Borden, former aide to the late
Senator Mcmahon, Democrat. of
Connecticut, and executive di-
rector of the Joint Congressional
Committee on Atomic Energy
from January. 1949, to october,
1853.
He introduced a letter he had
written to FIJI Director j. Edgar
Hoover last November, shortly
after he left the Joint Commit
tee to join the Westinghouse
Corp. In it he said it was his
opinion, after an exhaustive,
long-term study of the record,
that more probably than not"
DR.. Oppenheimer was an agent
OF the Soviet Union.
It has been reported that this
letter actually touched of the
present security risk case pro-
ceedingS against DR.. Open
heimer. The FBI forwarded the
letter to the Acc and Chairman
Lewis L. Strauss took it up with
President Eisenhower and other
h h administration officials.
The President ordered the revo-
cation of DR.. Oppenheimer's
S security clearance and the
physicist was notified of the
action and the charges against
him in December.
BOrden's Charges.
In his letter, Mr.. Borden as
serted:
1.-THE central problem is not
whether j. Robert Oppenheimer
was ever a Communist; for the
existing evidence makes abund-
antly clear that he was. Even
an Atomic Energy Commission
analysis prepared in early 1947
reflects this conclusion. although
some of the most significant
derogatory data had yet to be-
come available.
"The central problem is assess
ing the degree of likelihood that
he, in fact, did what a Commu-
mist in his circumstances, at
Berkeley, would logically have
done during the crucial 1882
1912 period-that is, whether he
became an actual espionage and
policy instrument of the Soviets.
Thus, as to this central problem,
my opinion is that. more prob
ably than not, the worst is in
fact the truth.
Mr.. Borden charged that DR..
Oppenheimer personally urged
every senior individual working
in the thermonuclear field to
desist and that he worked tire
leSSly" to retard the H-bomb
program after President Truman
called for an about effort.
DR.. Oppenheimer has denied
such charges and Chairman
Gordon Gray, former Army Sec
retary, said that the special
Board would consider
Mr.. Borden's testimony to in
volve only his own conclusions
and that there is no evidence
before it with respect to these
matters"