Albert L. Latter

“ How much harm is being done by the atomic tests? Some scientists have claimed that from past tests alone about 50,000 persons throughout the world will die prematurely. There is no general agreement on this point. Some think the number should be smaller. It is possible that radioactivity produces some effects which prolong life rather than shorten it. But even if all the biological consequences of radiation were known many questions would still demand answers. Can tests be justified if they actually shorten some human lives? Even the possibility of a health hazard must be taken most seriously. ”

“ The beauty of science is due to the fact that the correct answers to our most interesting questions have turned out to be surprising by their simplicity.
In order to understand an atom one must consider the distribution of electrons around one nucleus. In order to understand a molecule one has to consider the distribution of electrons around two or more nuclei. The chemical behavior of an atom is the manner in which it interacts with other atoms, and that means the precise way in which the electrons rearrange themselves when two or more atoms approach each other. ”

“ The main purpose of a war is not to destroy the enemy’s civilian centers but rather to defeat his armed forces, and for this purpose we need flexible refined weapons of all kinds and sizes. We also need weapons with which to defend our own cities. We need weapons with which to defend our allies and in particular we need weapons which will do their job against an aggressor and will do the least possible damage to the innocent bystander. ”

“ Fear of what we do not know or do not understand has been with us in all ages. Man, knowing that his life will end, has often been prey to an even more terrible nightmare—the end of his whole world. In a scientific age most of the past terrors have turned out to be senseless chimeras. ”

“ The greatest difficulty in discussing the radiation hazards arises because the working of living organisms is involved. Basically, we are in the dark about the question how such an organism works. We are equally in the dark about the question how such an organism is affected by radiation. It would therefore seem that we must remain in doubt whether or not radioactivity is dangerous, except for those cases where obvious damage has been done. Since the immediate effects of radioactivity are not perceived by our senses, we are faced with the thought of an invisible menace of unknown extent. ”

“ No matter how long the nucleus has lived, its chance of disintegrating in the next second is always the same. It is as if a game of roulette were being played. The wheel spins, and if its number comes up, the nucleus disintegrates in the first second. If not, the wheel spins again. Each time the wheel spins there is some probability of its number coming up. The precise value of this probability is a characteristic of each particular radioactive species. The higher the probability, the more rapidly the nucleus may be expected to disintegrate. ”

“ If we find—and others also find—that clean weapons are the most desirable, the total strontium contamination is not likely to become more than perhaps two to four times the present value. We believe that all reasons—respect for human life, military considerations and simple sanity—lead to one conclusion. In the development of nuclear explosives we must endeavor to make them clean. But the real reason for this does not lie in the small contamination due to tests. The real reason is that war could turn contamination into a danger to countless people. ”

“ We are developing clean weapons which are effective by their blast and their heat, but which produce little radioactivity. Of course, blast and heat will do damage only near the point of detonation. Radioactivity may be carried by the winds and escape the control of man to a considerable extent.
It is clear that war is and always has been terrible. We refuse to believe that wars will always be with us but we cannot disregard the danger of war as long as the world is half free and half slave. ”

“ But the general direction in which we should go is not to consider atomic explosives and radioactivity as the inventions of the devil. On the contrary, we must more fully explore all the consequences and possibilities that lie in nature, even when these possibilities seem frightening at first. In the end this is the way toward a better life. It may sound unusually optimistic in the atomic age, but we believe that the human race is tough and in the long run the human race is reasonable. ”

“ If a unit charge is accelerated through a potential difference of one volt, it acquires an energy of one electron-volt. The energies required for nuclear bombardment are of the order of several million electron-volts, which can be provided by atom-smashing machines such as the cyclotron.
Even at such high energies very few of the nuclear projectiles actually find their way to a target nucleus. Most of them are slowed down by the electrons, wasting their energy in heating up the target material. Perhaps one particle out of a million will be lucky enough to induce a nuclear reaction. ”

“ Nuclear fuel even today is no more expensive than conventional fuel in many parts of the United States. Nuclear fuel is neither heavy nor bulky and can be therefore transported easily. In those parts of the world where ordinary fuel is expensive, nuclear energy will soon become of great importance. Furthermore, we shall learn to use most of the energy in uranium rather than just the part contained in its rare and valuable isotope, U235. ”

“ If we renounce nuclear weapons, we open the door to aggression. If we fail to develop clean explosives, we expose people to disaster from radioactive fallout in any serious military conflict. To our way of thinking these are weighty arguments in favor of continued experimentation and development of nuclear weapons. ”

“ We believe that the role of nuclear weapons in a future war is by no means the killing of millions of civilians. It is rather to stop the armed forces of an aggressor. This is not easy to do because it requires not only nuclear weapons, but very special kinds of nuclear weapons which are hard to develop and harder to perfect. But with proper experimentation and proper planning the defensive use of nuclear weapons is possible.
The idea of tactical nuclear weapons is not new. The possibility of using nuclear explosives in small wars has been frequently discussed. ”

“ Any charged particle, irrespective of its energy, moving in any medium—air, water, soil, or living tissue—creates ion pairs at the rate of about one per 32 electron-volts. A one-million-electron-volt particle produces about 30,000 ion pairs before losing all of its energy. (When it does lose its energy, if it is a positively charged particle, it will pick up enough electrons to become neutral. An alpha particle, for example, will become an ordinary helium atom; a proton will become an atom of hydrogen.) ”

“ This is how an atom does not look. The electrons do not move along well-defined paths. It is more difficult to convey the idea of an atom by a picture than it is to make a drawing of last night’s dream. ”

“ Any fighting unit in a nuclear war will have to be small, mobile, inconspicuous and capable of independent action. Such units whether on sea, land or in the air cannot rely and will not rely on fixed lines of supply. There will be no possibility and no need to occupy territory and to fight at fixed and definite fronts. If a war should be fought for military reasons and for military advantage, it will consist of short and sharp local engagements involving skill and advanced techniques and not involving masses that slaughter and are being slaughtered. ”

“ The radioactive cloud released from a reactor accident may be more dangerous than a nuclear explosion. Such a cloud will not stop at national boundaries. Some proper form of international responsibility will have to be developed.
What effect the existence of nuclear weapons will have upon the coexistence of nations is a question less understood and less explored than any other affecting our future. Most people turn away from it with a feeling of terror. ”

“ The most dangerous element in all operations is the human element. We ourselves constitute the greatest safety hazard. This is a situation no different in nuclear technology than in any other kind of technology. What is new in nuclear technology is that a reactor is usually very safe but may become extremely dangerous when something unexpected happens to it. ”

“ Billions of contemporary lives in billions of distinct generations have led to the incredible outcome: the harmony of life produced by gambling.
Radiation is surely disruptive. It does cause mutations. Since the genes appear to be single molecules, a single process of ionization or excitation is likely to result in a change. As has been said before there is doubt whether or not cancer and leukemia can be caused by exceedingly little radiation. There is little doubt, however, that mutations can be caused by any small amount of radiation. The less radiation the less the chance. ”

“ Radioactivity is characterized by the kind of particle emitted from the nucleus (our examples, so far, have been of beta and gamma particles) , by the energy possessed by this particle, and by the half-life in which the radioactive decay takes place.
The biological hazard from radioactivity depends on all three of these characteristics. No matter whether the radioactive nuclei are produced in an atomic explosion or in an atomic reactor, some time will in general elapse before a human population can become exposed. ”

“ Our early nuclear explosives have used fission. In the fission process a great array of radioactive products are formed, some of them intensely poisonous. More recently we have learned how to produce energy by fusion. Fusion produces fewer and very much less dangerous radioactivities. Actually the neutrons which are a by-product of the fusion reaction may be absorbed in almost any material and may again produce an assortment of radioactive nuclei. However, by placing only certain materials near the thermonuclear explosion, one may obtain a weapon in which the radioactivity is harmless. ”

“ A better way to appreciate the danger from fallout is to compare it with other more familiar dangers. Such a comparison can be made with the natural background of cosmic rays and radioactivity in the earth and in our own bodies.
We are constantly and inescapably exposed to this radiation. Our ancestors have been exposed to it. The human race has evolved in such a radioactive environment. Moreover, the biological effects from different kinds of radiation can be compared in a meaningful way in terms of roentgens. Therefore the danger from Sr90 is not unknown in every respect. ”

“ Our sources of energy are not yet nuclear sources. Even in the military field, where development has been most rapid, the structure of the armed forces has not yet adjusted itself to the facts of the nuclear age in a realistic manner. ”

“ The only difference is that the amount of energy carried by the electromagnetic radiation from the nucleus is approximately a million times greater than that carried by the electromagnetic radiation from the atom—an indication of the large quantity of energy stored up inside the nucleus. Such energetic electromagnetic radiation emanating from a nucleus is usually called a gamma ray. Gamma-ray emission, or gamma decay, like beta decay, is an energy-releasing process which changes an unstable nucleus into a stable one, or at least into a more stable one. ”

“ It is generally believed that the First World War was caused by an arms race. For some strange reason most people forget that the Second World War was brought about by a situation which could be called a race in disarmament. The peace-loving and powerful nations divested themselves of their military power. When the Nazi regime in Germany adopted a program of rapid preparation for war, the rest of the world was caught unawares. ”

“ What lends strength to solids is the interplay of electric attractions and repulsions inside atoms and between atoms.
When a charged particle, such as an electron or a nucleus, happens to move through solid matter, it is constantly acted on by large electric forces. To such a particle matter does not seem to be very transparent. But if there were such a thing as an electrically neutral particle, comparable in size to the nucleus, it would be able to move around freely inside matter, without experiencing electric forces, and only now and again bumping into a nucleus or maybe an electron. ”

“ Later we are going to see that the size of the nucleus has a great effect upon the ways in which nuclei react with each other. For that very reason the size of the nucleus is a well-defined measurable quantity. It is much harder to say precisely what one means by the size of the electron. It seems acceptable to say that it is somewhat less than the size of the average nucleus. In any case it is certain that both the electrons and the nucleus are small compared to the size of the whole atom. ”

“ That the stone and the spray, the air and an insect, and even the human brain should be composed of the same few kinds of atoms, and that these atoms should be subject to laws which are subtle and simple and precisely described—this certainly is the most remarkable fact that we have learned since Newton proved that the same science applies to the earth and in the heavens. ”

“ Thus the industrial revolution using ordinary chemical fuel could be forced to end before the advantages of civilization have spread all over the earth. However, it might still be possible to use nuclear fuel. With nuclear fuel the industrial revolution and its countless benefits for man could continue to every part of the globe. ”