Progress Report

In a cryptic, 20-word sentence, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Defense Department last week gave a progress report on the H-bomb. Said a joint press release: recent "successful" atomic tests at Eniwetok "included experiments contributing to thermonuclear weapons research."

AEC and the Defense Department would not elaborate, but the reference to "thermonuclear weapons" provided grounds for some informed guesses. Scientists have long known that the only way in sight to start the fusion of hydrogen atoms is by extreme heat--and the only known way to generate such heat is by an atomic explosion. Thus, an atom bomb would have to act as the "trigger" for any H-bomb.

Last week's announcement did not mean that the U.S. already has an H-bomb. It more likely meant that an atom bomb has been found feasible as a trigger for the H-bomb, and that possibly some heavier hydrogen atoms had actually been fused in the experiments. If so, that was a big jump ahead in the grim, global atomic race.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.