Evening star., 1958-07-13

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In an exclusive interview
dealing with some Of the major
achievements. problems and
controversies Of his five years
as chairman Of the Atomic
Energy Commission -and look
ing ahead-Mr. Strauss said:
No other country approaches
the record Of the United States
in the design. construction and
operation Of power reactor ex-
periments so essential to major
advances toward economic nu-
clear power.
Surpass Russians
The United States nuclear
power program probably is
moving much more rapidly and
along broader lines than the
Russians.
Recent polls reveal that the
majority of the American peo-
pie believe the United States
should not cease to develop and
test atomic weapons until there
has been an effective safe
guarded nuclear disarmament. |
The assumption that If we
stop testing and If the Rus
slams stop testing we will have
achieved a balance in terms of |
our security is false and
dangerous assumption, as we
are just beginning to develop
atomic weapons for defense.
Here in question and answer
form are the views Of Mr.. |
Strauss on vital atomic matters. |
@. With so many people
taking the position that the
United States should cease
testing atomic weapons, why
do we continue to test? Is
it not true that we now have
everything we need in our
atomic arsenal?
A. The majority of the Ameri- |
can people according to polls |
recently taken believe that the
United States should not cease
to develop and test atomic |
weapons until there has been |
effective, safeguarded nuclear |
disarmament. The assumption |
that if we stop testing and if
the Russians stop testing we
will nave achieved a balance in |
the terms of our security is a
false and dangerous assump-
ton.
AS a democracy, we cede to
relationships the role of ag-
gressors. We are cast in the
role of defenders. Our weapons
of defense must be more So
phisticated, more numerous,
and, since they will be deton-
ated over our own territory OF
the territory of our friends TO
bring down attacking enemy
oombers and missiles, our weap-
ons must be as free of RADIO
active debris as possible. We
are just at the beginning of the
development of such weapons.
Deterrent to War
The threat to our future and
to our freedom lies not in the ,
consequences of testing weap-
ons but in the danger of an
atomic world war. That is the
danger we must avoid. Our
possession of nuclear weapon
superiority has deferred war.
The suspension or the abandon
ment of nuclear testing does
not remove the threat of nu-
clear war. Indeed, test suspen- "
sion could promote a sense of
relief and security which would
be beguilingly false.
Whatever risks may be in
CURED in the testing of nuclear
weapons, particularly in view
of the rigidly controlled man.
ner in which we conduct our
tests, there is no question but
that those risks are essentially
negligible compared with the
consequences of an all-out
nuclear war which would be
devastating beyond description.
We must continue to try to
make this clear to our friends.
Our recent tests have placed
heavy stress on the develop
ment of defensive weapons. In
perfecting these new types. the
size and explosive yield of the
devices have been considerably
smaller than those tested prior
to 1855 and the radioactive
fallout of some types has been
draStically reduced.
@. What good is it to us
that we have clean weapons
and our potential enemies do
not?
A. First of all, we regard it
as our responsibility to our own
people and to humanity to do
everything within our power to
conflne the effects of nuclear
weapons to the military objec-
tive and to protect innocent by
ISLANDERS.
In the second place, there are
many tactical reasons for the
development of weapons with
very little radioactive fallout.
For instance. such weapons
would be of distinct advantage
to our ground forces who may
be called upon to occupy terri
tory over which nuclear wea-
ponS had been employed.
And. in the event of an attack
on our cities and industrial CEN
ters our defense could spare our
own people from fallout if our
defensive weapons we're "clean."
@. In spite of the fact that
there are number of atomic
power plants in operation in
the United States and others
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