Atomic Research
The Government's announcement that a research establishment is to be created to investigate the uses of atomic energy will provoke more inquiries than it answers. Is research to be directed primarily to the military or industrial uses of atomic energy, and will it con- centrate chiefly on advancing academic knowledge or on practical application? Will the results of research be subject to military secrecy or do we intend to share them with all corners? A natural suspicion that military considerations will have first place has been created by the statement that, owing to the importance of this work to the Service Departments, responsibility will be transferred from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research to the Ministry of Supply. This suspicion is not allayed by Mr. Attlee's anodyne statement that the Ministry of Supply is engaged on civilian as well as military production. Secondly, academic research and practical application will go hand in hand, and advances in either field should benefit the other. The key question is that of secrecy or publicity ; it seems likely that we shall share results with the United States and with Canada, but not with other countries, notably the Soviet Union ; and the degree and niethod of collaboration will no doubt be one of the chief topics of conversation during Mr. Attlee's forth- coming visit to Mr. Truman. So far as this country is concerned, a further question is under what conditions the Government will share its results with private industry. If the military and industrial applications of atomic energy cannot be separated, and if advances in both fields go hand in hand, then attempts to maintain mili- tary secrecy will gravely restrict the progress of research.
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