Evening star., 1954-03-31

dent looked on with interest
The Acc chairman said the
hydrogen bomb developments
mean that the United States
soon should be"able to give more
attention to developments of
atomic power for peaceful uses.
The nature of the H-bonlb IS
such, Mr.. Strauss said, that in
effect it can be made as large
as military requirements de-
mand-large enough to take out
any city.
Asked if that meant that one
H-bomb could destroy the whole
City of New York. Mr.. Strauss
replied yes, as concerns the met
ropolitan area.
Statement Clarified.
After the news conference Mr..
Strauss explained that in saying
an H-bomb could be made big
enough to take out a city he
meant to put a city out of COM
misSion-not to level it."
He refused to give any precise
estimates on the power of the
two H-bombS exploded in the
United States tests in the mid
Pacific during the past month.
But he declared that "the first
shot On March l was a Stupen-
dous blast in the megaton range"
He said the March and March
26 tests had added enormous
potential to this country's mill
tary posture.
"One important result of these
hydrogen bomb developments"
Mr.. Strauss added, has been
the enhancement Of our mill
tary capability to the point where
We should soon be more free
to increase our emphasis on the
peaceful uses of atomic power
at home and abroad"
Asked if he meant to imply
that the weapon phase of the
Aces work was nearing COM
pletion. he said that of course
military requirements take prece- |
dence in atomic development. |
But he said the hydrogen tests
have put the Acc in sight of
the day where military require
ments can be met and more
attention and material given to
development of peaceful uses of
atomic power. 4
Never Out Of Control.
The Acc chairman asserted
that "at no time was the testing
out of control" in the Pacific
hydrogen test. This was in refer
ence to reports that it had gone
out of control.
He conceded that in the March
explosion "the yield was about
double that of the calculated
estimate-a margin of error not
incompatible with a totally new
weapon"
He explained how winds failed
to follow predictions after the
March l explosion, causing
'fall-out" of radioactive mater
ialS from clouds over three little
islands and a japanese fishing
trawler.
TWenty-three crew members on
the japanese ship, % American
personnel manning weather
stations on the little islands, and
the 236 natives on these islands
were within the area of the
fallout. Mr.. Strauss said. He said /,
the weather personnekhav re-
covered from any bad effects
they suffered and the natives
also appeared we'll and happy
when he saw them last week.
Asked if it was possible for an
H-bomb test to get out of con-
troll, Mr.. Strauss said he was
informed it was impossible.
Gen. Eisenhower opened his
news conference by saying he
was trying an innovation by
bringing in Mr.. Strauss to answer
questions about H-bomb develop
ments that the President him
self had put off at his last two
meetings with reporters.
Gen. Eisenhower dealt with
only one question in the atomic
field. He said this Government
is trying to keep in position to
meet Russia half way in any
honest atomic negotiations, men
tioning particularly his proposal
for an international pool of
atomic materials for peaceful