Beware the Atomic Bootlegger

In the echo of new rumblings about disarmament negotiations, U.S. Physicist Edward Teller, "the father of the H-bomb." this week came forward with some well-chosen words of scientific caution. Writing in the January Foreign Affairs, Teller (TIME, Nov. 18) looks with knowing doubt on proposals to start disarmament by agreeing to halt tests of nuclear bombs. "It has been claimed that a nuclear test can be noticed around the world and that a ban on tests would therefore appear to be self-policing,"writes Teller. "Actually, a nuclear test is easily noticed only if it is performed in the most obvious manner. There can be no doubt that if a nation wants to carry out tests in secrecy, observation will become difficult and uncertain. In the contest between the bootlegger and the police, the bootlegger has a great advantage."

Beyond that. Teller raises serious doubts about the whole concept of inspection to enforce disarmament agreements. Pointing out that "the launching of a massive attack by intercontinental ballistic missiles requires very little visible preparation," he warns: "Modern war-making potential depends to an increasing extent on highly specialized weapons. Some of the most essential of these weapons can be hidden with relative ease. Nuclear explosives and long-range rockets are two outstanding examples. Thus surveillance becomes more and more difficult. In addition, scientific and technical developments have produced and will produce unexpected types of weapons. How shall one check whether such weapons exist when the person who does the checking does not even know what he is looking for? We have most correctly emphasized that no disarmament scheme is acceptable unless the application of it can be verified. Few things are impossible; but it may actually be impossible to verify disarmament in the Soviet Union. The game is strongly weighted against us and the very rules are changing too fast."

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