Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-03-16
They Can Be Good for Man

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Anybody who believes that nuclear
tests are evil per Sc, and that they ought
therefore to be banned totally and for
ever, should find it instructive to read
DR.. Willard F. Libby's recent testimony
before the disarmament subcommittee
of the Senate Foreign Relations Com
mittee. For the testimony makes the
tainly be against the best interests of
all humanity, including humanity in the
Soviet Union.
DR.. Libby has expressed this view
as a scientist in his own right and as
acting chairman of our Atomic Energy
Commission. He has done so in answer
to searching questions regarding the
nuclear explosion set of last year, on
September 10, in a tunnel chamber some
900 feet under rock mesa at the
Nevada test site. The defamation un-
leaShed energy equivalent to 1,7O0 tons
of exploding TINT. It sent no radio
activity into the open air, no fire, no
heat, no blast. And because of its
unique characteristics in that respect, it
has cast doubt-a big, debate breeding
doubt-on the possibility of detecting
various types of underground A-teStS.
Speaking for himself, DR.. Libby be-
lieves that reasonably effective detec-
ton system-though it would be difficult
to operate and would offer no foolproof
guarantees against violations-may be
possible in connection with an interna-
tional ban on A and H testing. But he
would place strict limits on the scope of
any such ban. AS he has put it, "You
see, as people develop nuclear tech
nology, we realize there is so much to
be learned by further tests that there
is great danger that we will be losing
great deal, and the human race would
be losing a great deal, if it is fatty
agreed that work in this direction is to
be stopped. Therefore, I hope that
whatever the agreements be, the nom
military use of nuclear explosions would
be carried on under the disarmament
authority or whatever body was con-
trolling it. :. really believe that the
nonmilitary applications of atomic ex-
ploSionS, nuclear explosions, are going
to be of great benefit to mankind. =.
think it would be extremely unwise of
the world to forever ban all nuclear
explosions"
Actually, as the Acc has explained
in formal statement, and as DR.. Libby
has told the Senate subcommittee, last
SeptemberS tunnel defamation (called
"Rainier") has opened up highly sig
nif1cant new vistas of nonmilitary de-
velopment. It has shown, for one thing,
that shots with much larger yields-ap-
preaching perhaps as much as million
tons Of TNT-"could be fired in deep
underground chambers with little or no
resulting air contamination and with no
seismic hazard" More specifically, it
has been of immense help to project
Plowshare," which is being carried out
by the University of California Radia-
ton Laboratory in an effort to deter
mine how nuclear explosions can be used
for peaceful purposes. Rainier" has
already indicated the following posi-
bilitieS, among others:
~ The inexpensive crushing of
massive ore bodies in mining operations;
(2) the swift and economical moving of
huge quantities of earth in major con-
struction projects; (3) the creation of
great Subterranean reservoirs of water;
~ the opening up of new mineral sup
plies; (5) the unleashing of subSurface
heat to form steam for the production
of power; and (6) the freeing of vast
sources of oil trapped in certain rock
formations. Indeed, these and kindred
possibilities now seem so real that the
Acc is thinking seriously of setting off
several underground nuclear explosions
in its next series of Nevada experiments.
Certainly all this constitutes strong
evidence that such tests, regardless of
their military or political implications,
have potentially very great bearing on
benef1cent atomic development. Hence,
total ban on them might we'll have the
effect of retarding peaceful progress for
the material betterment of. men and
nations everywhere. DR.. Libby, at any
rate, has argued so persuasively on that
score that even the Russians themselves
may yet echo him.
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