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Can the H-bomb

bees IUIL I I Ut itt

TBE world was shocked by the

report that Japanese fishermen
had come home with their skins
burned black, hands swollen and
hair falling from what Japanese
Scientists said were “radiation
burns,”

The fishermen said that they
had been trapped in a radioactive:
dust storm from a U.S. nuclear
bomb test.

Since then Japanese atomic

' Scientists have announced there

is nothing more they can do for
five of the 23 fishermen, affected
— their bone marrow has been
Permanently damaged.

This news came in the same
Week as the announcement from
the U.S: Atomic Energy Commis-
Sion that the “second hydrogen
blast proved mightier than any
forecast.”

The same story assured one and
all that the “American person-
nel... had been moved from the
atoll .. . and suffered no burns
and were in good health.”

But it also mentions that the
trémendous force of the blast
hurled radioactive debris and
Steam so high that it was above
he prevailing trade winds which
hormally would carry the material
toward the open. sea northwest- |
Ward from Bikini. From that
high altitude it could have been
Caught by a veering wind and sent
drifting, unpredicted, to the east,
toward the fishermen and person-
Nel on other atolls.

The amount of research that
*aS gone into atomic bombs, their

effects and the destructive possi-
bilities on human beings is suf-
ficient to warn atomaniacs that
they are playing with the possi-
bility of destroying all human
life.

The many studies on the com- °

paratively small A-bomb that fell
on Hiroshima showed that the A-
bomb ‘had to be contained.

The first nuclear explosion kill-
ed 60,000 people and caused in-
juries to approximately 70,000

-other persons, Injuries over a

three-mile area were fantastic,
end the fiash-burn that lit up
Hiroshima caused skin ¢charring
and lesions.

Thirty-five percent of all in-
juries were caused by radiation.
Medical men attending the vic-
tims and performing autopsies on
the dead showed that the most
sensitive areas of the human body

had been destroyed.

In a series of research papers
collected as “Neutron Effects on
Animals” (William and Wilkins—
1947), various biologists proved
that irradiation would react most
quickly and efficiently on the
blood-forming sections of the in-
ternal organism. The bone mar-
row, intestinal linings and repro-
ductive organs were affected so
that they could no longer func-
tion properly.

‘Since all test animals bombard-
ed by neutrons showed the ap-

‘pearance of starvation, a group

of rats was deprived of food so
that a picture of starvation would
be obtained for comparison with

By PETER STONE

the picture presented by the ir-
radiated group.

The non-irradiated rats lost 35
percent of their weight in 10 days,
with the death of only one in
that period. When given food
the survivors regained their ini-
tial weight in two weeks. The
same loss of weight was observed
in the irradiated animals, the ob-
servable difference being that the
neutro-affected rats all died with-
in 7-8 days.

Autopsies showed a complete
disruption of their digestive sys-
tems, complete tissue destruction,
affected spleen and the interrup-

-tions of the formation of bone

destroy all life?

SEEN GNSS RENEE EEE

Marrow so necessary to the re-
vitalization of blood.
é

Professor Glasstone, in his ex-

cellent Sourcebook on Atomic En:
ergy, painted the pitture of what
could happen to individuals af-
fected by strong irradiation doses.
This is exactly the picture of
what has been reported as re-
gards the Japanese fishermen.
’ Glasstone reports on four Phases
of response of the human body
to overexposure to atomic radia-
tion:

The first reaction is that of
nausea and vomiting, associated
with general bodily weakness.

The second phase, which could
‘last for several days or weeks, is
that of the feeling of general
well-being (the more severe the
radiation dose, the shorter this
particular reaction).

The third reaction is violent,
and the survival of the human
organism depends completely on
the individual differences. This
phase is accompanied by prostra-
tion, loss of appetite, fever, rapid
heart action, severe diarrhea,
bleeding of gums, loss of hair—
all of which could last several
weeks, unless the patient suc-
cumbs.

The last action is that of re-
covery—and here too is the pos-
sibility of a return to the third,
or violent phase.

The scientists who constructed
the atom bomb have constantly
warned of the necessity of reach-
ing world agreement on the con-
trol of the nuclear weapons.

Dr. E. H. Burhop, in his con-
cise study on The Challenge of

Atomic Energy, reported on con-
clusions and experimental work
on the first A-bomb experiments
and those at Bikini in 1947.

It was noted as early as the
test-bombs in the New Mexico
desert that serious effects could
be produced from a persistent
radioactivity if a rainstorm were
to follow a high altitude test
tomb explosion, because lots of
dangerous radioactive material
could then be brought down with
the rain.

Burhop also reported that one
of the 1947 test. explosions at
Bikini occurred under the water:
the radioactive fission cloud had
been trapped by the active sea-
water.and spray was flung dis-
tances of a half mile or more.

Three of the ships affected by
the spray were so radioactive a
year later that they had to be
sunk.

One of the great U.S. nuclear
physicists, Dr. .Leo Szilard, cal-
culated that the reaction between
the particles in the hydrogen
bomb gives risé ‘to a very
large number of fast neutrons.

If such a bomb, said Szilard, were’
surrounded by a thick shell of

suitable material such as cobalt,
these neutrons could be absorb-
ed, and a highly radioactive mat:
erial could then be produced.

Szilard further, suggested that
such a. cobalt substance could be

widely dispersed in the form of

a. very fine radioactive dust, and
estimated that 500 tons of it in
H-bombs could make life unsup
portable on earth.

The story of the Japanese fish
ermen is symbolic of all human
life, teetering on the brink of
tomic disaster. It is truly the
time for decision between the
“quick. and the dead.” It is ab.
solutely essential that all such
weapons of mass destruction be
eliminated, that the power of the
atom be utilized for building the
great projects of peace.

5 Ne U.S. hydrogen bomb tests
in the Pacific causing trem-
ors in Australia? ~

Thousands of people in
South Australia are asking this
question after their experi-
ences on the night of March 1
—the day when the “uncon-
trollable’ explosion occurred
on a Pacifie island.

On that night South Aust-

which caused- widespread
damage to many homes and
terrified the entire population.

The tremor occurred at 3.40
am. South Australian time.
The Japanese fishermen who
were showered by the H-bomb

ralia had an earth tremor,

Did H-bomb cause earthquake?

ashes say they saw the ex-
plosion at “about 3 a.m.”

The reason. given in Aust-
ralia for the earth tremor. was
displacement of a rock layer
along a fault line beneath the
earth’s surface.

On April 7 Australian papers
announced another tremor and
landslide in South Australia on
the previous day. They report-
ed that the U.S. had tested a
“thermo-nuclear device” on the
same day.

It was announced by British
Prime .Minister Sir Winston
Churchill that the March 1
hydrogen bomb explosion had
been recorded on a _ seismo-

, that the two events were as-

graph in Australia — but, al-
though the earth tremor took
place during the same night,
there was no record of two
movements.

The indication is, therefore.

sociated.

“We do not think this is a
coincidence,” stated a report
to the London Daily Worker
from Victoria.

“The papers are not saying
anything about it, but that may
be because they are afraid of
alarming people — and when
people are really alarmed they
are strong enough to stop the
H-bomb explosions.”

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 7, 1954 — PAGE 9