CHINA'S LATEST ATOM TEST IS BELIEVED A FAILURE
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080045-8
Release Decision:
RIFPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
1
Document Creation Date:
December 19, 2016
Document Release Date:
January 9, 2006
Sequence Number:
45
Case Number:
Publication Date:
December 4, 1967
Content Type:
NSPR
File:
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
CIA-RDP70B00338R000300080045-8.pdf | 71.7 KB |
Body:
QC s 4()Ccc,-7
Approved For Release 2006/01/30 : CIA-RDP70BOO338ROO0300080045-8
China's Latest Atom Testl elieved a Failure
By JOHN W. FINNEY
Speclal to The New York Time?
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3-Pre-
liminary analysis by the United
States indicated today that the
latest Chinese Communist nu-
t
U.S. Notes a Discrepancy
Between H-Bomb Material
and the Low Yield
c ear test was a failure. uranium (uranium-235), which
The indications were that is used as a fission trigger
China was attempting to to set off a thermonuclear ex
achieve a thermonuclear ex- plosion. It contained lithium-6,
plosion in the test conducted la light metal used in com-
Two pieces of admittedly
circumstantial evidence made
public today by the Atomic
Energy Commission pointed to
a failure. One was the presence
of thermonuclear material in
the device; the other was the
small explosive force of the
detonation, indicating that the
thermonuclear material had not
ignited.
The apparent failure would
help explain Peking's unusual
and, to United States officials,
perplexing silence about the
latest nuclear test.
In contrast to the earlier ex-
plosions, which were widely
publicized by China, Peking
has made no public mention of
the latest test, the seventh in
a series since October, 1964.
Speculation that the test was
a failure seemed to be borne
out by chemical analysis of
radioactive debris collected by
United States high-altitude planes In the Far East and
analyzed in a secret laboratory
at Travis Air Force Base in
California.
The Atomic Energy Cotnmis-
sion announced today that pre-
liminary analysis of the debris
indicated that the Chinese de-
vice contained all the ingredi
ents for a thermonuclear ex-1
plosion.
It contained enriched
pounds with hydrogen as the
fusionable material for a
thermon clear explosion. And it
contained natural uranium
(uranium 238), which Is made
to fission by the neutrons given
20,000 tons of TNT, or roughly
the yield of a fission trigger.
If thermonuclear material had
been ignited, the force would'
have been at least hundredsl
and more likely several thou
sands of kilotons.
An A.E.C. spokesman ac-
knowledged, in response to in-
quiries, that "it was possible
the test was a dud." But he
declined to elaborate.
It was speculated that in the
latest test China attempted to
improve the efficiency and
weight of the device, by in-
cluding less thermonuclear ma-
terial and reducing the size of
the fission trigger.
The Chinese may have gone
too far in reducing the
amounts, with the result that
the device was blown apart
before the fusion reaction could
occur. The components must be
put together in such a man-
ner that the thermonuclear ma-
terials will ignite in the micro-
second before the entire device
is blown apart by the explo-I
sive force of the fission trigger.!
off by a thermonuclear raec-
tion, thus producing a triple
stage, or fission-fusion-fission,
explosion.
It thus appeared that China
was attempting to conduct a
triple-stage explosion similar to
its first hydrogen-bomb -test
June 17, estimated to have un-
leashed the force of at least
three millions tons of TNT.
But what apparently hap-
pened was that the fission trig-
ger of enriched uranium de
tonated and failed to set off'
the fusion reaction in the ther-'
monuclear material.
The explosion, conducted in
the vicinity of Lop Nor, the site
of previous Chinese tests, had
a force of about 20 kilotons, or
Approved For Release 2006/01/30 : CIA-RDP70BOO338ROO0300080045-8