etonating the Hiroshima bomb. 

 Dean called attention to the fact 



hat the concept of the employment 

 of atomic weapons has changed 

 radically since the Bikini tests of 

 1946. 



Then, he said, A-bombs were 

 considered strategic weapons to 

 carry an attack to the industrial 

 heartland of the enemy. 



"In those days," he said, " it 

 was fashionable to assume that a 

 dozen or so such weapons judi- 

 ciously placed could knock out any 

 of the major powers of the world. 



CONCEPT REVISED 



•'Since Bikini, this concept has 

 been rather radically revised and 

 today atomic weapons are avail- 

 able which can be employed by 

 military forces in the field. 



"Atomic weapons today are 

 thought of as weapons in which 

 tactical air forces, armies and 

 navies, as well as strategic air 

 forces, have a legitimate interest 

 in and a legitimate need for." 



This was assumed by many of 

 the 300 persons in the carefully 

 screened audience to refer to de- 

 velopment of atomic artillery shells 

 and special rapid-usage field 

 weapons. 



The Atomic Energy Commission 

 chief pointed out that one instance 

 of the changing concept was the 

 presence at Yucca Flat tomorrow 

 of troops and observers participat- 

 ing in a mock atomic attack. 



"It is worth remembering," he 

 said, "that while we are out here 

 in the Nevada desert test of an 

 atomic weapon there are men seat- 

 ed around a conference table in 

 Nfew York who are trying to find 

 an effective way of eliminating 

 such weapons from the armaments 

 of the nations of the world." 



