THE UNITED STATES VS. THE PROGRESSIVE
United States vs. The Progressive Excerpts from the affidavits For the plaintiff I have read the article by Mr. Howard Morland. I am not trained as a scientist and personally do not have the...
...These lines describe very qualitatively the Teller-Ulam idea which led to the first successful hydrogen bomb explosions by the United States in the early 1950s...
...Edward L. Cooperman Physicist California State University, Fullerton (Editor's note: Similar affidavits were signed by Roger Dittmann, physicist at California State University, Fullerton...
...My appraisal of the article is that it contains a significant amount of information which is properly classified as Secret Restricted Data...
...I am also a consultant with the Department of Energy on classification policy...
...II was suppressed by the Government and entered in the court's secret file...
...The concepts described in the manuscript are as fundamental and necessary to the design of a thermonuclear weapon as those originally formulated by Dr...
...The diagram speaks for itself for any physicist...
...I am currently engaged in the study of implosion systems for Inertial Confinement Fusion...
...I received a Master's degree in Mathematics and a Doctor's degree in Physics from the Ohio State University...
...I have never worked as a weapons physicist nor have I ever had access to classified information...
...Such information would materially aid foreign nations by enabling them to develop such weapons in a shorter period of time than otherwise would be possible...
...This accomplishment would normally take a substantial investment of time and resources which would be obviated by the publication of the article, and it is therefore an extremely important disclosure to a nation seeking a thermonuclear capability...
...The discussion of the [ DELETED ] is in every thermodynamics or statistical mechanics text studied by physics students...
...I as well as Affidavit No...
...The point of my Affidavit No...
...Analysis of that material does not compel the derivation of all the essential principles of thermonuclear weapons set out in the Morland manuscript...
...The Morland article reviewed by me appears to contain no information which would not be arrived at from the well-known physical principles stated in my Affidavit No...
...It is my opinion that my Affidavit No...
...It provides a more comprehensive, accurate, and detailed summary of the overall construction and operation of a thermonuclear weapon than any publication to date in the public literature...
...Robert N. Thorn Acting director Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory I have read the manuscript by Howard Morland which is styled "How a Hydrogen Bomb Works...
...If the Morland paper were disseminated, there is a substantial increase in the risk that the availability of thermonuclear weapons would be increased...
...An intelligent and resourceful reporter could probably do the same thing____ After twenty-five years or more since the first successful hydrogen bomb tests enough is known of the physics required to ignite the lithium deuteride [ DELETED ] that it would not be hard for a capable physicist or even intelligent reporter to deduce that [ DELETED ] ignite the lithium deuteride...
...Governmental policy designed to preserve secrecy with respect to such matters not only is unsuccessful but inhibits research and obstructs the advancement of scientific knowledge...
...This "secret" has been regarded for over twenty-five years as highly classified...
...Based on my knowledge of the unclassified, open For the defense gestive of thermonuclear weapon design and operation as those described by Morland...
...The Morland article describes in a relatively detailed manner the basic design concepts and certain specific design features nf U.S...
...I am a nuclear physicist by training, and thoroughly familiar with the design and construction of thermonuclear weapons...
...This result would be contrary to the non-proliferation policy of the United States, including that adopted in the Treaty on For the defense minimum of effort...
...Charles N. Van Doren Assistant Director Arms Control and Disarmament Agency I am a member of the senior research staff of R&D Associates, an independent company that conducts technical studies for government and private organizations...
...I do not recommend publishing the Morland article, because it unnecessarily draws attention to an issue which has not been demonstrated to be in the interest of national security...
...Pacific Test Operation DOMENIC...
...In my Affidavit No...
...It is perhaps as suggestive of the process used in thermonuclear weapons as the original outline on the subject by Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam...
...I have attended meetings and conferences of those scientists who are knowledgeable in the area of physics and thermonuclear weapon design and operation...
...The basic conceptual "secret" of the hydrogen bomb is described in the first two portions of the article that the Plaintiff wishes to have excised, a total of eleven lines of the manuscript...
...It is our opinion — based on a study of the article, based on knowledge of related technology, and based on our understanding of the technical literature — that an independent panel of technical experts may very well conclude that many competent scientists, in the United States or in foreign countries — using public source documents, logical and inductive reasoning, and a universal base of common understanding of physical principles and technology applications — would probably arrive at conclusions at least as sugFor the plaintiff Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and would increase the risks of thermonuclear war...
...Richtmyer and Schwartz refused on principle to receive security clearance...
...The fact that information does not outwardly appear to be available in no way means that the information is not there to be had by those who wish to acquire it...
...Cyrus Vance Secretary of State I have a Doctor of Philosophy degree in physics from Columbia University, and I have direct and thorough knowledge with respect to nuclear weapons design...
...I am familiar with the design and construction of thermonuclear weapons, and was co-chairman of the pre-shot technical review of LLL thermonuclear devices fired in the last U.S...
...I am not trained as a scientist and personally do not have the technical competence to assess the significance of the disclosures in the Morland article...
...Included in my Affidavit No...
...Teller...
...Based upon my experience on the Bethe Panel, whose task it was to analyze the nuclear capabilities of foreign nations, it is my belief that public dissemination of the Morland manuscript would substantially hasten the development of thermonuclear weapon capabilities by nations not now having such capabilities...
...I am a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Nuclear Fusion of the International Atomic Energy Agency____ The basic principles of operation of the hydrogen bomb as set forth in the Morland article are deducible from information widely available to the public by a person having an unexceptional knowledge of physics and without access to classified information...
...I have been apprised by scientific advisers of the manuscript's technical competence, and have reviewed all of the affidavits filed, as of March 8, 1979, by the Government in this suit...
...Edward Teller for his article on the hydrogen bomb in the Encyclopedia Americana (Vol...
...The court should note the easy accessibility and elementary technical level of these references...
...We are committed to a policy of preventing the proliferation of these weapons...
...However, as in dealing with any collection of ideas and materials, a new presentation of such assorted material may present •aspects not actually yet in print...
...Ray E. Kidder Staff physicist Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (Editor's note: Kidder Affidavit rf was in large part suppressed by the Government and entered in the court's secret file...
...The unfortunate fact is that most scientists who concern themselves with weapons design, do so within the confines of classified literature...
...If this should occur, it would undermine our nonproliferation policy, irreparably impair the national security of the United States, and pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world...
...1 have reviewed what has been designated Howard Morland Affidavit I and the attached exhibits and Howard Morland Affidavit II...
...It was my judgment at the time of reading the Morland article, and it is my judgment now, that the article contains no ideas or information which could not be readily concluded or obtained by any competent physicist after seeing the diagram prepared by Dr...
...If this article by Morland is not published, I expect that it will be only a short time before another reporter working independently for a different publication will uncover the same information and write a very similar article...
...Such information has been published or otherwise disseminated in one form or another, or is otherwise known or available to so many people, that it is readily accessible to anyone interested in acquiring it...
...I am certain that had the data contained in the Morland article ever before been made public, it also would have come to my attention...
...If the proliferation of thermonuclear weapons were to occur, regional stability could be affected adversely, and this would irreparably endanger the security of the United States...
...The Morland paper includes Secret Restricted Data on the basic principles of the functioning of a thermonuclear weapon that has not been made available to the public in unrestricted sources...
...However, from the foregoing affidavits [submitted by the other Government officials], I understand that the Morland article contains technical information that would substantially contribute to the ability of foreign nations to develop thermonuclear weapons, and to develop them in a shorter time than would otherwise be possible...
...Based upon my review of all the affidavits submitted by the Government and my review of the manuscript and information supplied to me by my advisers, I have concluded that publication, communication or disclosure of the Secret Restricted Data portions of the Morland manuscript would irreparably impair the national security of the United States by making available to foreign nations Secret Restricted Data pertaining to the design and operational characteristics of a thermonuclear weapon...
...Henry Pierre Noyes, theoretical physicist at the Stanford Linear A ccelerator Center, Stanford, California...
...I am familiar with the publicly available literature on the subject of fusion and thermonuclear technology...
...None of the five is legally free to read the Morland article...
...Hans A. Bethe Physicist Cornell University For the defense sources as shown in the affidavits by Theodore A. Postol could likely come up with a description as in the Morland article...
...Ralphs...
...There are sizable portions of the text which in my judgment should be classified as Restricted Data, because the processes described in the manuscript, despite a number of technical errors, correctly describe the essential design and operation of thermonuclear weapons...
...I have read the article written by Howard Morland and am familiar with its contents...
...James R. Schlesinger Secretary of Energy Of all the manuscripts purporting to be unclassified that I have reviewed in my twelve years in this field, this one, if made public, appears to be the most flagrant example of deliberate dissemination of sensitive weapons design information, and the most likely to damage U.S...
...Detailed discussion of the physics at temperature required for thermonuclear reactions is For the plaintiff I am the acting director, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico...
...There can be no doubt that some of the concepts discussed are essential to the development of thermonuclear weapons...
...It is my opinion, expressed in reliance on the information contained in the [other] affidavits, that publication or other disclosure of the technical information in the Morland article would substantially increase the risk that thermonuclear weapons would become available or available at an earlier date to those who do not now have them...
...interests in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons capabilities...
...however, I go through the reasoning process in my Affidavit No...
...The development of a new thermonuclear weapon capability would reduce the effectiveness of the nonproliferation policies of the United States and other nations...
...The translation of publicly available information into the concepts and design information set out in the text and illustrated by the diagrams of the Morland manuscript would require extensive analysis and creativity...
...Statements made in the Affidavit of Jack W. Rosengren are misleading and, in part, factually in error...
...I have been a senior staff member at LLL for twenty-two years, during which time I have played a prominent role in providing the Laboratory's theoretical and computational basis for the study of [DELETED] thermonuclear weapons systems...
...thermonuclear weapons...
...Theodore A. Postol Staff physicist Argonne National Laboratory (Editor's note: Postol Affidavit No...
...Jack Rosengren Nuclear physicist As the director of the Livermore Laboratory, I personally review all of the literature available to the public concerning thermonuclear weapons, and I am generally familiar with the nature of the public presentations and discussions of scientific gatherings and conclaves...
...Time is a critical factor...
...The conclusions of such persons as to the availability of public information is in aouot, ana in a case such as this, the judgment of those in the classified establishment who do not have a substantial familiarity with the physical sciences is particularly in doubt...
...Yet there is by now enough information in open publications that a capable physicist could deduce the basic idea for himself without access to classified literature...
...Calvin G. Andre Staff physicist Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Although the material in question correctly identifies the general method by which energy from the fission trigger t DELETED ] and cause its detonation, it is not nearly enough to permit another nation to develop and manufacture such a fusion device...
...Nowhere is there a correct description of the type of design used in U.S...
...As director of the Laboratory, these previous minor breaches of security have come to my attention...
...HughE...
...In short, after more than twenty-five years the H-bomb is not so secret anymore...
...It is only in the unusual situation, such as Morland, that a person outside the classification establishment even thinks about the issues, much more puts them down on paper...
...Edward Teller and Dr...
...This type is far superior in efficiency and practicality to any other known type of design...
...Based upon this familiarity and based upon my review of the Morland manuscript, I have concluded that the design and operational concepts described in that manuscript are not expressed or revealed in the public literature nor do I believe they are known to scientists not associated with the government weapons programs...
...Throughout my professional career 1 have had continuing involvement in nuclear armaments limitation and control efforts...
...weapons...
...II are a list of references from which my arguments follow...
...DeWitt Staff physicist Lawrence Livermore Laboratory I believe that nearly all of the Morland article material regarding the concept of a thermonuclear weapon can be arrived at by a competent group of physicists based on the references indicated in Theodore A. Postal's affidavits...
...14, p. 655), attached hereto...
...Gerald E. Marsh, George S. Stanford, A lexander D eVolpi Staff physicists Argonne National Laboratory I am associate division leader, Theoretical Division, of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, one of the two nuclear weapons design laboratories of the United States...
...The Morland article goes far beyond any other publication in identifying the nature of the particular design used in the thermonuclear weapons in the U.S...
...Thus, I am not in a position to know whether or not a given set of information is restricted within the meaning of the Federal law...
...Detailed knowledge about the necessary hydrodynamic calculations and processing of materials are two of the numerous technical issues a nation bent at developing a weapon of this type would have to master, in addition to the general design described in the article...
...The development time needed to achieve a thermonuclear weapon capability would be shortened...
...stockpile...
...The information that has been identified as Secret Restricted Data contained in the Morland paper describes correctly, in general, the basic principles of the functioning of a thermonuclear weapon...
...Harold Brown Secretary of Defense I am aware of the issues in the above captioned lawsuit and have personally reviewed the manuscript which describes "How a Hydrogen Bomb Works" purportedly written by Howard Morland...
...Kosta Tsipis Associate director Program for Science and Technology for International Security Massachusetts Institute of Technology From my professional experience I can say that the present basic concepts underlying the design and operation of thermonuclear weapons, as well as the manner in which such concepts may be applied, are known to many physicists and other scientists and persons, both within and without the Government, in this country and elsewhere...
...II is that regardless of the statutory character of the information contained in the Morland article, that information is available to any knowledgeable person with a For the plaintiff determining the appropriate direction to pursue in developing high yield thermonuclear explosives...
...The Department of Justice refused to grant security clearances to Cooperman, Dittmann, and Noyes before the March 26 hearing on the preliminary injunction...
...however, the article contains well known commonly accepted information and is, to a physicist, technically less sound than the Encyclopedia Americana article by Dr...
...II contains far more scientifically useful information than the Morland article in spite of the fact that it is common knowledge among physicists...
...II filed contemporaneously with this Affidavit, I demonstrate that a careful examination of the Edward Teller article in the Encyclopedia Americana would result in a physicist quickly coming to the same conclusion as did Morland...
...Based on my knowledge of the literature in this area, and familiarity with the public discussions, I believe that the Restricted Data contained in the Morland article is not publicly available, either in literature or conversation...
...A country or a subnational element within a country that had the technical capability to develop and produce an unsophisticated fission-type nuclear explosive would gain technical assistance in For the defense It is my opinion that the article by Morland contains no information or ideas that are not already common knowledge among scientists, including those who do not have access to classified information...
...1 have reviewed the paper written by Howard Morland...
...Since persons in the classified establishment work with the benefit of classified information, it may be difficult for them to judge what can be deduced from the unclassified literature...
...Moreover, the article in no way provides any of the detail necessary for the construction of any element, yet alone, a complete, nuclear weapon...
...Previous publications contain some correct hints mixed with incorrect ones, but in no way come so near to describing the operation of thermonuclear weapons...
...Furthermore, the ideas and information contained in the Morland article would be arrived at not within years, but within hours...
...Robert D. Richtmyer, physicist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Charles Schwartz, physicist at the University of California, Berkeley...
...There are bits and pieces of information in the open literature that apply to one or more of these different types of designs...
...Teller's Encyclopedia Americana article supplies an important insight into how the problems of stacking fusion materials in thermonuclear weapons might be solved...
...The original conceptualization of this process led rapidly to successful efforts by the United States in this area...
...I have been employed in nuclear weapons research, design and development at Los Alamos since 1953, and have held various positions in the Laboratory, including associate director for weapons and leader, theoretical design division...
...At the request of the DOE, I have reviewed the draft copy of the article by Howard Morland dealing with the construction of a hydrogen bomb in order to provide my assessment of the extent to which the article contains Restricted Data and of the sensitivity of any such data...
...It has For the defense given in an article by Harold L. Brode, "Review of Nuclear Weapons Effect," Annual Review of Nuclear Science (1968), [ DELETED...
...There are many feasible and grossly different possible designs for thermonuclear weapons...
...This "secret" was certainly a major discovery in 1950, but not in 1979...
...It is possible, but not obvious to me, that the article gathers together bits and pieces of public information in a manner not previously done...
...Stanislav Ulam...
...I am familiar with the publicly available literature on this subject, as well as the general state of the art as discussed in unclassified scientific seminars and meetings...
...A copy of that list and the pertinent pages of the references is attached hereto as Exhibit A. Dr...
...Further details in support of the conclusions stated above are provided in my Affidavit II...
...Those details of design of the hydrogen bomb described in the Morland article that are not deducible from the public record are not of such a nature that their disclosure would significantly influence the national security...
...Roger Batzel Director Lawrence Livermore Laboratory For the plaintiff taken present thermonuclear weapon states from two to nine years to go from a fission explosion to a thermonuclear weapon...
...It is of the highest and gravest importance to the United States that as few nations as possible develop thermonuclear weapons...
...Hager Staff physicist Lawrence Livermore Laboratory I affirm that a group of competent physicists relying upon the same literature and discussions in this area, I believe that the Restricted Data contained in the Morland article is not publicly available, either in literature or in unclassified conversation...
Vol. 43 • May 1979 • No. 5
