(to oF cert IMMEDIATE RELEASE “” fo fon PAE a ra. wep fie March 31, 1954 , Mad ig haa . cher We. ACT Ob a -€} - Statement by Lewis L, Strauss Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission The President has authorized me to make available those portions report of yesterday to him, the publication of whioh would not my of compromise information vital to our national security. I have just returned from the Pacific proving Grounds of the Atomic Energy Commission where I witnessed the second part of a test ermonuclear weapons) I will describe it as well as Lam able, but perhaps before doing so it would be appropriate to begin with a short summary of the historical background, We detected the test of an atomic weapon, or device, by the Russians in August of 1949, Realizing that our leadership was there- fore challenged and that our sole possession of the weapon which had been a major deterrent to aggression had been cancelled, it became clear that our superiority would thereafter be only relative and dependent upon a quantitative lead -- that is to say, upon our possession of greater numbers of atomic weapons sc long as that could be maintained, There was, however, the alternative of a qualitative lead if we could make a weapon of greater force -- greater than the fission weapons by a degree of magnitude comparable to the difference between fission bombs and conventional bombs, A theoretical method of accomplishing this was known to our scientists. In January 1950 the President directed mission to undertake the necessary steps to called the hydrogen bom», the Fusion bomb, could in fact be made. As you know, thanks the Atomic Energy Comsee if this weapon, variously and the thermenuclear bomb, to the ingenuity of those scientists and engineers who devoted themselves to the project, the feasibility of the fusion reaction was demonstrated and a prototype was tested at Eniwetok in November 1952, REPRODUCED AT THE DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER LIBRARY This test produced the largest man-made explosion ever witnessed to that date, and from that point we moved into refinement of design and other development, In August of last year the Russians also testeda weapon or device of a yield well beyond the range of regular fission weapons and which derived a part of its force from the fusion of light ‘ elements, There is good reason to believe that they had begun work on this weapon substantially before we did, The present series of tests has been long in the planning, It is conducted jointly by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Defense, A Task Force composed of the three armed services and a scientific staff representing the Commission was established last year in accordance with the procedure successfully followed in preceding tests outside our continental limits. The Navy, Air Force, and Army have successively supplied the command for the Task Forces. for, ' Early this January, men and supplies began to move outto nel Proving Grounds for this series. The first shot took place on its <i. scheduled date of March 1, and the second on March 26, Both were successful, No test is made without a definite purpose anda careful determination that it is directed toward an end result of major importance to our military strength and readiness. The results which the scientists at Los Alamos and Livermore had hoped to obtain from these two testa were fully realized, and enormous potential has been adijed to our military posture by what we have learned, : BEST COPY AVAILABLE oe BOX No. cee ok FOLDER Conference.