Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-08-17
We Must Live With II

or conclusive in the scholarly report Just
released by the United Nations Scien-
tif1c Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation. In general, however, 1t con-
stitutes an important confirmation of
the June, 1856, findings Of our own
National Academy Of Sciences findings
making clear that mankind faces a
highly challenging task in learning how
to live safely with nuclear energy.
Thus, in line with the MAS study,
the American, Russian and other scien-
lists making up the 15-nation U. N. COM
mittee have unanimously agreed that
even small doses Of radiation-whether
from mans natural environment, from
medical and dental X-rays or from fall
out caused by nuclear testing-can have
harmful long-range genetic effects. The
group has agreed, too, that any growth
of such radiation may tend to shorten
life and increase the incidence of dis
eases like cancer.
Yet the committees report has
been qualified in number of signifi-
cant ways. 1t has emphasized, for ex-
ample, that human knowledge in this
field is still much too limited to warrant
dogmatic conclusions and that there
fore any current attempt to evaluate
the effects of radiation "can produce
only tentative estimates with wide mar
gins of uncertainty" Further, the report
has made a point of observing that
radioactivity resulting from continued
testing Of nuclear weapons-at the rate
that has occurred so far-iS quite small
and relatively inconsequential in terms
Of adding to the hazard already exist
ing in our natural surroundings, not to
mention our widespread use of X-rays.
1t is noteworthy. moreover, that the
U. N. committee, despite an appeal by its
chief Soviet member, has declined to
include in its report a recommendation
for immediate cessation" of atomic
hydrogen testing. The refusal has been
based primarily on the fact that the
committee, as purely scientific body,
has had no authority to advocate polit-
ical proposal. Beyond that, as result of
its two-and-a-half-year study, it appears
to have found no urgent need for such a
ban-at least not in the form of total
or unlimited prohibition that would rule
out the possibility of conducting inter-
nationally supervised nuclear explo-
sions designed to add to human knowl-
edge and promote economic progress.
Actually, like the 1855 MAS study,
the U. N. report suggests that the ever
increasing nonmilitary exploitation of
nuclear power involves a far greater
potential hazard than the mere testing
of A or H weapons But at the same
time, as our Atomic Energy Commission
has noted, the 15-nation committee has
stressed that man, with every new tech
biological advance, must and can learn
to live with the fact that the advance
involves risks as we'll as benefits. Locked
at in that light and given international
cooperation, the atoms peaceful devel-
opment probably entails much less dan
ger to life and limb than the danger
people face daily when they go out driv-
ing their automobiles in traffic where the
accident toll, in our own country alone,
totals around 10000 deaths annually.
Still, although it thus seems to be
much more lethal than nuclear expert
mentation, people have learned to live
with this traffic and take it for granted.
These people include those who say they
are enormously frightened by the pres
ent relatively safe rate of A and H tests.
Clearly, as indicated by the new U. N.
report and by the earlier MAS report
as well, this is a matter that calls for
better sense of perspective.