126-625: The Letcombe Laboratory was located at Letcombe Regis , Oxfordshire, UK. It began life in 1957 as the Agricultural Research Council Radiobiological Laboratory investigating contamination of land and food by radioactive substances, especially strontium-90 , released by weapons testing. When atmospheric testing was halted in the 1960s, the laboratory's work was re-directed towards the study of plant root systems and their interactions with agricultural soils. In recognition of this transition,
252-414: A non-League football club, Letcombe F.C. , which plays at Bassett Road and is a member of Wiltshire League Premier Division. [REDACTED] Media related to Letcombe Regis at Wikimedia Commons This Oxfordshire location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty The Partial Test Ban Treaty ( PTBT ), formally known as
378-514: A "cut-off" of fissionable-material production in a "partial" disarmament plan. The British government, then led by Macmillan, had yet to fully endorse a test ban. Accordingly, it pushed the US to demand that the production cut-off be closely timed with the testing moratorium, betting that the Soviet Union would reject this. London also encouraged the US to delay its disarmament plan, in part by moving
504-600: A "standstill agreement" on nuclear testing. Nehru viewed a testing moratorium as a crucial first step toward broader and more comprehensive arms control agreements, reflecting his commitment to nuclear disarmament and global peace. In the same year, the British Labour Party , then led by Clement Attlee , called on the UN to ban testing of thermonuclear weapons. 1955 marks the beginning of test-ban negotiations, as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev first proposed talks on
630-585: A Corporate Plan which announced that the Letcombe Laboratory would be closed to help accommodate a £2.4 million cut in the council's budget (the "Barnes Cuts") and to comply with new central government policy of leaving near-market science to the private sector. Some scientists were relocated to either University of Bristol's Long Ashton Research Station (closed in 2003) or to Rothamsted Experimental Station (now Rothamsted Research Ltd) with some existing long-term field experiments located elsewhere in
756-545: A ban), became convinced that the Geneva findings were too optimistic regarding detection of underground tests, though Macmillan warned that using the data to block progress on a test ban might be perceived in the public as a political ploy. In early 1959, Wadsworth told Tsarapkin of new US skepticism towards the Geneva System. While the Geneva experts believed the system could detect underground tests down to five kilotons,
882-468: A belief that dominance in the nuclear arena, particularly given the size of Soviet conventional forces, was critical to US security. Interest in nuclear control and efforts to stall proliferation of weapons to other states grew as the Soviet Union's nuclear capabilities increased. In 1954, just weeks after the Castle Bravo test, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru made the first public call for
1008-472: A clear nuclear advantage via regular testing and that the negative environmental impacts of such tests were overstated. Furthermore, Strauss repeatedly emphasized the risk of the Soviet Union violating a ban, a fear Eisenhower shared. On 7 November 1957, after Sputnik and under pressure to bring on a dedicated science advisor, Eisenhower created the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC), which had
1134-566: A cohesive test ban policy, noting his ability to "believe in two mutually contradictory and inconsistent propositions at the same time." Upon assuming the presidency in January 1961, John F. Kennedy was committed to advancing a comprehensive test ban on nuclear weapons. He quickly ordered a review of the U.S. negotiating position to revitalize stalled talks, as he believed Eisenhower 's previous approach had been "insufficient" in achieving meaningful progress toward nuclear disarmament. Kennedy saw
1260-610: A cutoff in nuclear production should precede a test ban. In the summer of 1957, Khrushchev was at acute risk of losing power, as the Anti-Party Group composed of former Stalin allies Lazar Kaganovich , Georgy Malenkov , and Vyacheslav Molotov launched an attempt to replace Khrushchev as General Secretary of the Communist Party (effectively the leader of the Soviet Union) with Nikolai Bulganin , then
1386-623: A former military airfield at RAF Grove , near Wantage, Oxfordshire and were soon evaluating grass and milk collected from the Windscale area (Loutit et al., 1960; Ellis et al., 1960). The first in a long series of reports from the ARC Radiobiological Laboratory on nationwide nuclear contamination appeared in 1959. The following year, the report was mentioned in a debate on strontium-90 contamination reported in Hansard ,
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#17327868257691512-413: A halt to nuclear weapons production (the one-time US demand). In explaining the policy shift, Eisenhower privately said that continued resistance to a test ban would leave the US in a state of "moral isolation." On 8 April 1958, still resisting Khrushchev's call for a moratorium, Eisenhower invited the Soviet Union to join these technical negotiations in the form of a conference on the technical aspects of
1638-480: A highly efficient detonation fallout was relatively limited. Between 1951 and 1958, the US conducted 166 atmospheric tests, the Soviet Union conducted 82, and Britain conducted 21; only 22 underground tests were conducted in this period (all by the US). In 1945, Britain and Canada made an early call for international discussions on the control of atomic power, anticipating the global implications of nuclear technology. At
1764-435: A lead US envoy, offered a new proposal in an attempt to bridge the gap between the two sides. The early Kennedy proposal largely grew out of later Eisenhower efforts, with a ban on all tests but low-yield underground ones (below magnitude 4.75), which would be subject to a three-year moratorium. The US and UK proposed 20 on-site inspections per annum, while the Soviet Union proposed three. The verification procedures included in
1890-519: A limit Eisenhower would revise upward in May 1959—would be banned first, with negotiations on underground and outer-space tests continuing. This proposal was turned down on 23 April 1959 by Khrushchev, calling it a "dishonest deal." On 26 August 1959, the US announced it would extend its year-long testing moratorium to the end of 1959, and would not conduct tests after that point without prior warning. The Soviet Union reaffirmed that it would not conduct tests if
2016-533: A new US proposal by which only tests deemed verifiable by the Geneva System would be banned, including all atmospheric, underwater, and outer-space tests within detection range. Underground tests measuring more than 4.75 on the Richter scale would also be barred, subject to revision as research on detection continued. Adopting Macmillan's quota compromise, the US proposed each nuclear state be subject to roughly 20 on-site inspections per year (the precise figure based on
2142-428: A pair of widely circulated academic papers challenging the claim of Teller and others that a clean, fallout-free nuclear bomb could be developed, due to the formation of carbon-14 when nuclear devices are detonated in the air. A one-megaton clean bomb, Sakharov estimated, would cause 6,600 deaths over 8,000 years, figures derived largely from estimates on the quantity of carbon-14 generated from atmospheric nitrogen and
2268-590: A precursor to a test ban. On 1 July 1958, responding to Eisenhower's call, the nuclear powers convened the Conference of Experts in Geneva , aimed at studying means of detecting nuclear tests. The conference included scientists from the US, Britain, the Soviet Union, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Poland, and Romania. The US delegation was led by James Fisk, a member of PSAC, the Soviets by Evgenii Fedorov, and
2394-490: A question mark over the long-term need for the Laboratory. Russell's response was to move the laboratory's work gradually in favour of experimental studies of plant root function by making use of existing research strengths and radioactivity-measuring equipment. A national centre of expertise in root physiology was certainly desirable since scientific understanding of roots lagged far behind that of above-ground parts despite
2520-664: A retirement village, leaving the Letcombe Valley , a 7.5 ha stretch of Letcombe Brook, as a nature reserve in the care of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust under a 50-year lease. Letcombe Regis Letcombe Regis is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse . It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire . The village
2646-507: A roadblock to an agreement was removed as Macmillan and Eisenhower, over opposition from the Department of Defense, agreed to consider a test ban separately from broader disarmament endeavors. On 13 April 1959, facing Soviet opposition to on-site detection systems for underground tests, Eisenhower proposed moving from a single, comprehensive test ban to a graduated agreement where atmospheric tests—those up to 50 km (31 mi) high,
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#17327868257692772-478: A scheme would be able to detect 90% of underground detonations, accurate to 5 kilotons, and atmospheric tests with a minimum yield of 1 kiloton. The US had initially advocated for 650 posts, versus a Soviet proposal of 100–110. The final recommendation was a compromise forged by the British delegation. In a widely publicized and well-received communiqué dated 21 August 1958, the conference declared that it "reached
2898-407: A significant build-up of strontium-90 in bones of babies and helped galvanise public support for a ban on atmospheric nuclear testing in the US. Lewis Strauss and Edward Teller , dubbed the "father of the hydrogen bomb," both sought to tamp down on these fears, arguing that fallout [at the dose levels of US exposure] were fairly harmless and that a test ban would enable the Soviet Union to surpass
3024-556: A significant increase in U.S. defense spending, a move that was soon mirrored by the Soviet Union . This escalation intensified the arms race and placed the test-ban negotiations within a broader context of heightened military competition. Despite these growing tensions, Kennedy( JFK ) remained committed to pursuing a comprehensive test ban, recognizing it as a crucial step toward curbing the nuclear arms race. On 21 March 1961, test-ban negotiations resumed in Geneva and Arthur Dean ,
3150-564: A temporary basis (a duration of roughly 1 year, versus the Soviet proposal of 4–5 years), but this could only happen after verifiable tests had been banned and a seismic research group (the Seismic Research Program Advisory Group) convened. The Soviet Union responded positively to the counterproposal and the research group convened on 11 May 1960. The Soviet Union also offered to keep an underground ban out of
3276-537: A test ban before its own testing program was completed. Following the Soviet declaration, Eisenhower called for an international meeting of experts to determine proper control and verification measures—an idea first proposed by British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd . The advocacy of PSAC, including that of its chairmen James Rhyne Killian and George Kistiakowsky , was a key factor in Eisenhower's eventual decision to initiate test-ban negotiations in 1958. In
3402-483: A test ban in 1958. There was also increased environmental concern in the Soviet Union. In the mid-1950s, Soviet scientists began taking regular radiation readings near Leningrad , Moscow , and Odessa and collected data on the prevalence of strontium-90, which indicated that strontium-90 levels in western Russia approximately matched those in the eastern US. Rising Soviet concern was punctuated in September 1957 by
3528-527: A test ban in the late 1950s. The proliferation of thermonuclear weapons coincided with a rise in public concern about nuclear fallout debris contaminating food sources, particularly the threat of high levels of strontium-90 in milk (see the Baby Tooth Survey ). This survey was a scientist and citizen led campaign which used "modern media advocacy techniques to communicate complex issues" to inform public discourse. Its research findings confirmed
3654-562: A test ban. The British governments of 1954–58 (under Conservatives Winston Churchill , Anthony Eden , and Harold Macmillan ) also quietly resisted a test ban, despite the British public favoring a deal, until the US Congress approved expanded nuclear collaboration in 1958 and until after Britain had tested its first hydrogen bombs . In their view, testing was necessary if the UK nuclear program were to continue to develop. This opposition
3780-442: A test-ban, specifically the technical details of ensuring compliance with a ban. The proposal was, to a degree, a concession to the Soviet Union, as a test ban would be explored independent of the previously demanded cutoff in fissionable-material production. Khrushchev initially declined the invitation, but eventually agreed "in spite of the serious doubts" he had after Eisenhower suggested a technical agreement on verification would be
3906-476: A testing series and the US was about to begin Operation Hardtack I , a series of atmospheric, surface-level, and underwater nuclear tests. Eisenhower instead insisted that any moratorium be linked to reduced production of nuclear weapons. In April 1958, the US began Operation Hardtack I as planned. The Soviet declaration concerned the British government, which feared that the moratorium might lead to
Letcombe Laboratory - Misplaced Pages Continue
4032-524: Is on Letcombe Brook at the foot of the Berkshire Downs escarpment about 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the market town of Wantage . The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 578. The parish includes Segsbury Camp , an Iron Age hill fort on the crest of the Downs just over a mile south of the village. The Domesday Book of 1086 records Letcombe Regis. The name may come from
4158-558: The Lucky Dragon upon whom "ashes of death" had rained. In the same year, a Soviet test sent radioactive particles over Japan. Around the same time, victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima visited the US for medical care, which attracted significant public attention. In 1961, the Soviet Union tested the Tsar Bomba , which had a yield of 50 megatons and remains the most powerful man-made explosion in history, though due to
4284-531: The Kyshtym disaster , which forced the evacuation of 10,000 people after an explosion at a nuclear plant. Around the same time, 219 Soviet scientists signed Pauling's antinuclear petition. Soviet political elites did not share the concerns of others in the Soviet Union. However; Kurchatov unsuccessfully called on Khrushchev to halt testing in 1958. On 14 June 1957, following Eisenhower's suggestion that existing detection measures were inadequate to ensure compliance,
4410-685: The Old English Ledecumbe meaning the "lede in the combe" – i.e. "the brook in the valley." "Regis" may derive from the Latin 'rex' meaning 'Royal' with 'Regis' meaning The King's, giving, perhaps, "The Kings brook in the valley." From 1959 to 2002 the Letcombe Laboratory , a major centre for plant research, was located at the Letcombe Manor Estate. The centre was initially a UK government laboratory, but
4536-632: The Premier of the Soviet Union . The attempted ouster, which was foiled in June, was followed by a series of actions by Khrushchev to consolidate power. In October 1957, still feeling vulnerable from Anti-Party Group's ploy, Khrushchev forced out defense minister Georgy Zhukov , cited as "the nation's most powerful military man." On 27 March 1958, Khrushchev forced Bulganin to resign and succeeded him as Premier. Between 1957 and 1960, Khrushchev had his firmest grip on power, with little real opposition. Khrushchev
4662-470: The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approved a decision to halt nuclear testing, conditional on other nuclear powers doing the same. Khrushchev then called on Eisenhower and Macmillan to join the moratorium. Despite the action being met with widespread praise and an argument from Dulles that the US should reciprocate, Eisenhower dismissed the plan as a "gimmick"; the Soviet Union had just completed
4788-553: The United States in Moscow on 5 August 1963 before it was opened for signature by other countries. The treaty formally went into effect on 10 October 1963. Since then, 123 other states have become party to the treaty. Ten states have signed but not ratified the treaty. The primary motivation for the treaty stemmed from growing public concern over radioactive fallout from above-ground and underwater nuclear testing, especially as
4914-466: The 1950s as "an embarrassing series of American reversals," suggesting a lack of real US commitment to arms control efforts. The historian Robert Divine also attributed the failure to achieve a deal to Eisenhower's "lack of leadership," evidenced by his inability to overcome paralyzing differences among US diplomats, military leaders, national security experts, and scientists on the subject. Paul Nitze would similarly suggest that Eisenhower never formulated
5040-689: The 1950s, radioactive fall-out in the UK from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing by the US, Britain and the USSR and from peaceful uses of atomic energy was being monitored by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) with attendant risks to human health, especially from strontium-90, being assessed by the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAAF) and the UK Medical Research Council . In addition,
5166-691: The 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water , prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground . It is also abbreviated as the Limited Test Ban Treaty ( LTBT ) and Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ( NTBT ), though the latter may also refer to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which succeeded
Letcombe Laboratory - Misplaced Pages Continue
5292-466: The 21 August communiqué. Nevertheless, pleased by the findings, the Eisenhower administration proposed negotiations on a permanent test ban and announced it would self-impose a year-long testing moratorium if Britain and the Soviet Union did the same. This decision amounted to a victory for John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles (then the Director of Central Intelligence ), and PSAC, who had argued within
5418-590: The ARC was re-organised and renamed the Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) and, two years later, central government expenditure cuts forced the Letcombe Laboratory to close along with the nearby AFRC Weed Research Organisation with which the Letcombe Laboratory had collaborated closely. The site was then bought by the Dow Chemical Company and used as a centre for crop fungicide research. In
5544-658: The Anglo-American plan were unacceptable to Tsarapkin, who responded with separate proposals rejected by the Western powers. Specifically, the Soviet Union proposed a "troika" mechanism: a monitoring board composed of representatives of the West, the Soviet Union, and nonaligned states that would require unanimity before acting (effectively giving the Soviet Union veto authority). In May 1961, Kennedy attempted via secret contact between Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and
5670-578: The Baruch Plan as a US attempt to secure its nuclear dominance, and called for the US to halt weapons production and release technical information on its program. The Acheson–Lilienthal paper and Baruch Plan would serve as the basis for US policy into the 1950s. Between 1947 and 1954, the US and Soviet Union discussed their demands within the United Nations Commission for Conventional Disarmament. A series of events in 1954, including
5796-502: The British delegation by William Penney , who had led the British delegation to the Manhattan Project. Whereas the US approached the conference solely from a technical perspective, Penney was specifically instructed by Macmillan to attempt to achieve a political agreement. This difference in approach was reflected in the broader composition of the US and UK teams. US experts were primarily drawn from academia and industry. Fisk
5922-525: The Castle Bravo test and spread of fallout from a Soviet test over Japan, redirected the international discussion on nuclear policy. Additionally, by 1954, both US and Soviet Union had assembled large nuclear stockpiles, reducing hopes of complete disarmament. In the early years of the Cold War , the US approach to nuclear control reflected a strain between an interest in controlling nuclear weapons and
6048-481: The Discontinuance of Nuclear Tests) and agreed to a temporary moratorium (the Soviet Union joined the moratorium shortly after this date). The moratorium would last for close to three years. The Conference on the Discontinuance of Nuclear Tests convened in Geneva at Moscow's request (the Western participants had proposed New York City ). The US delegation was led by James Jeremiah Wadsworth , an envoy to
6174-505: The Eisenhower administration for separating a test ban from larger disarmament efforts, and a defeat for the Department of Defense and AEC, which had argued to the contrary. In May 1958, Britain had informed the US that it would be willing to join a testing moratorium on 31 October 1958, by which point it would have finished its hydrogen-bomb testing, conditional on the US providing Britain with nuclear information following amendment of
6300-622: The Institute for Research on Animal Diseases (closed in 2016). In 1956, 15 staff moved into newly constructed accommodation. Lead scientists included a radiochemist, plant physiologist, field agronomist and a veterinary scientist. However, the arrangement was not entirely satisfactory and, in August 1957, it was agreed that the Agricultural Research Council should seek new premises and take over responsibility for expanding
6426-586: The Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, argued that the Soviet system would be unable to prevent secret tests. That year, the AEC published a report arguing that the continuing testing moratorium risked "free world supremacy in nuclear weapons," and that renewed testing was critical for further weapons development. The joint committee also held hearings in April which cast doubt on the technical feasibility and cost of
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#17327868257696552-433: The Laboratory's eventual closure by stating "We have to realise that we have neither the money nor the resources to do all those things we would like to do and so often feel we have the right to do" (Agricultural Research Council, 1974). Because of its wide implications for the public expenditure in the UK, the speech made headline news in the national press. In the year following Letcombe's Silver Jubilee (1982), AFRC published
6678-573: The Macmillan–Eisenhower proposal. But US-Soviet relations soured after an American U-2 spy plane was shot down in Soviet airspace in May 1960. The Paris summit was abruptly cancelled and the Soviet Union withdrew from the seismic research group, which subsequently dissolved. Meetings of the Geneva Conference continued until December, but little progress was made as Western-Soviet relations continued to grow more antagonistic through
6804-770: The Manhattan Project, who was skeptical of Warren's then-theoretical claims. Warren's arguments were lent credence in the scientific community and public by the Castle Bravo test of 1954. Eisenhower, as president, first explicitly expressed interest in a comprehensive test ban that year, arguing before the National Security Council , "We could put [the Russians] on the spot if we accepted a moratorium ... Everybody seems to think that we're skunks, saber-rattlers and warmongers. We ought not miss any chance to make clear our peaceful objectives." Then-Secretary of State John Foster Dulles had responded skeptically to
6930-480: The McMahon Act. The US Congress approved amendments permitting greater collaboration in late June. Following Soviet assent on 30 August 1958 to the one-year moratorium, the three countries conducted a series of tests in September and October. At least 54 tests were conducted by the US and 14 by the Soviet Union in this period. On 31 October 1958 the three countries initiated test-ban negotiations (the Conference on
7056-493: The PTBT for ratifying parties. Negotiations initially focused on a comprehensive ban, but that was abandoned because of technical questions surrounding the detection of underground tests and Soviet concerns over the intrusiveness of proposed verification methods. The impetus for the test ban was provided by rising public anxiety over the magnitude of nuclear tests, particularly tests of new thermonuclear weapons (hydrogen bombs), and
7182-455: The Soviet Union allowed in late November 1958 for explicit control measures to be included in the text of the drafted treaty. By March 1959, the negotiators had agreed upon seven treaty articles, but they primarily concerned uncontroversial issues and a number of disputes over verification persisted. First, the Soviet verification proposal was deemed by the West to be too reliant on self-inspection, with control posts primarily staffed by citizens of
7308-429: The Soviet Union as "both powerful and responsible." At the 20th Communist Party Congress in 1956, Khrushchev declared that nuclear war should no longer be seen as "fatalistically inevitable." Simultaneously, however, Khrushchev expanded and advanced the Soviet nuclear arsenal at a cost to conventional Soviet forces (e.g., in early 1960, Khrushchev announced demobilization of 1.2 million troops). On 31 March 1958,
7434-478: The Soviet Union insisted that the inspection quota be determined on a political basis, not a scientific one. The Soviet offer faced a mixed reception. In the US, Senator Hubert Humphrey and the Federation of American Scientists (which was typically seen as supportive of a test ban) saw it as a clear step towards an agreement. Conversely, AEC chairman John A. McCone and Senator Clinton Presba Anderson , chair of
7560-449: The Soviet Union privately suggested it would accept a quota of three inspections per year. The US argued that the quota should be set according to scientific necessity (i.e., be set according to the frequency of seismic events). In June 1959, a report of a panel headed by Lloyd Berkner , a physicist, was introduced into discussions by Wadsworth. The report specifically concerned whether the Geneva System could be improved without increasing
7686-427: The Soviet Union put forth a plan for a two-to-three-year testing moratorium. The moratorium would be overseen by an international commission reliant on national monitoring stations, but, importantly, would involve no on-the-ground inspections. Eisenhower initially saw the deal as favorable, but eventually came to see otherwise. In particular, Strauss and Teller, as well as Ernest Lawrence and Mark Muir Mills , protested
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#17327868257697812-440: The Soviet Union the ability to conduct secret tests and move ahead in the arms race. The degree of Eisenhower's interest in a test ban is a matter of some historical dispute. Stephen E. Ambrose writes that by early 1960, a test ban had become "the major goal of his Presidency, indeed of his entire career," and would be "his final and most lasting gift to his country." Conversely, John Lewis Gaddis characterizes negotiations of
7938-590: The U.S. conducted the Castle Bravo test at Bikini Atoll as part of Operation Castle , which resulted in a yield of 15 megatons of TNT , more than double the expected yield. This unexpectedly high yield caused widespread radioactive fallout, leading to severe environmental and human consequences. The Castle Bravo test resulted in the worst radiological event in US history as radioactive particles spread over more than 11,000 square kilometers (4,200 sq mi), affected inhabited areas (including Rongelap Atoll and Utirik Atoll ), and sickened Japanese fishermen aboard
8064-729: The UK House of Commons record of parliamentary business, and in the British Medical Journal in April 1960. In 1959, the sizeable Letcombe Manor Estate at Letcombe Regis , a small downland village in the county of Berkshire (Oxfordshire from 1974), was purchased by ARC as the laboratory's permanent home. The 19th Century manor house (photograph) was retained for administration and several new buildings and experimental glasshouses added. By March 1962, most remaining staff at Grove and Compton had been transferred along with Russell as Director. The impact of an influx of scientists on
8190-540: The UN, the British by David Ormsby-Gore , the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs , and the Soviets by Semyon K. Tsarapkin , a disarmament expert with experience dating back to the 1946 Baruch Plan. The Geneva Conference began with a Soviet draft treaty grounded in the Geneva System. The three nuclear weapons states (the "original parties") would abide by a test ban, verified by the Geneva System, and work to prevent testing by potential nuclear states (such as France). This
8316-623: The US While the test ban was not a focus on conversations, a positive meeting with Eisenhower at Camp David eventually led Tsarapkin to propose a technical working group in November 1959 that would consider the issues of on-site inspections and seismic decoupling in the "spirit of Camp David." Within the working group, Soviet delegates allowed for the timing of on-site inspections to be grounded in seismic data, but insisted on conditions that were seen as excessively strict. The Soviets also recognized
8442-636: The US and UK continued to observe a moratorium. To break the deadlock over verification, Macmillan proposed a compromise in February 1959 whereby each of the original parties would be subject to a set number of on-site inspections each year. In May 1959, Khrushchev and Eisenhower agreed to explore Macmillan's quota proposal, though Eisenhower made further test-ban negotiations conditional on the Soviet Union dropping its Control Commission veto demand and participating in technical discussions on identification of high-altitude nuclear explosions . Khrushchev agreed to
8568-429: The US assented to a two-year testing moratorium proposed by the Soviet Union, but required that it be linked to restrictions on the production of fissionable material with military uses, a condition that the Soviet Union rejected. While Eisenhower insisted on linking a test ban to a broader disarmament effort (e.g., the production cut-off), Moscow insisted on independent consideration of a test ban. On 19 September 1957,
8694-508: The US conducted the first contained underground test at the Nevada Test Site , codenamed Rainier . The Rainier shot complicated the push for a comprehensive test ban, as underground tests could not be as easily identified as atmospheric tests. Despite Eisenhower's interest in a deal, his administration was hamstrung by discord among US scientists, technicians, and politicians. At one point, Eisenhower complained that "statecraft
8820-431: The US in nuclear capabilities. Teller also suggested that testing was necessary to develop nuclear weapons that produced less fallout. Support in the US public for a test ban to continue to grow from 20% in 1954 to 63% by 1957. Moreover, widespread antinuclear protests were organized and led by theologian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Albert Schweitzer , whose appeals were endorsed by Pope Pius XII , and Linus Pauling ,
8946-566: The US now believed that it could only detect tests down to 20 kilotons (in comparison, the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima had an official yield of 13 kilotons). As a result, the Geneva detection regime and the number of control posts would have to be significantly expanded, including new posts within the Soviet Union. The Soviets dismissed the US argument as a ruse, suggesting that the Hardtack data had been falsified. In early 1959,
9072-438: The US pursue a test ban agreement with the Soviet Union before testing its first thermonuclear weapon, but his interest in international controls was echoed in the 1946 Acheson–Lilienthal Report , which had been commissioned by President Harry S. Truman to help construct US nuclear weapons policy. J. Robert Oppenheimer , who had led Los Alamos National Laboratory during the Manhattan Project, exerted significant influence over
9198-425: The US would not be held to its testing moratorium when it expired on 31 December 1959, though pledged to not test if Geneva talks progressed. The Soviet Union followed by reiterating its decision to not test as long as Western states did not test. In early 1960, Eisenhower indicated his support for a comprehensive test ban conditional on proper monitoring of underground tests. On 11 February 1960, Wadsworth announced
9324-399: The West. The proposal would serve as the basis of the Soviet negotiating position through 1957. Eisenhower had supported nuclear testing after World War II . In 1947, he rejected arguments by Stafford L. Warren , the Manhattan Project's chief physician, concerning the detrimental health effects of atmospheric testing, agreeing instead with James Bryant Conant , a chemist and participant in
9450-451: The closeness of the Soviet proposal to earlier Western proposals, the US reversed its position on the provisions and rejected the Soviet offer "in the absence of more general control agreements," including limits on the production of fissionable material and protections against a surprise nuclear strike . The May 1955 proposal is now seen as evidence of Khrushchev's "new approach" to foreign policy, as Khrushchev sought to mend relations with
9576-584: The commission's proceedings. Finally, the Soviet Union preferred temporary inspection teams drawn from citizens of the country under inspection, while the West insisted on permanent teams composed of inspectors from the Control Commission. Additionally, despite the initial positive response to the Geneva experts' report, data gathered from Hardtack operations of 1958 (namely the underground Rainier shot) would further complication verification provisions as US scientists, including Hans Bethe (who backed
9702-436: The complex technical questions of a test ban, driven in part by a strong interest among American experts to lower the error rate of seismic test detection technology. Some, including Kistiakowsky, would eventually raise concerns about the ability of inspections and monitors to successfully detect tests. The primary product of negotiations under Eisenhower was the testing moratorium without any enforcement mechanism. Ultimately,
9828-455: The conclusion that it is technically feasible to set up ... a workable and effective control system for the detection of violations of a possible agreement on the worldwide cessation of nuclear weapons tests." The technical findings, released on 30 August 1958 in a report drafted by the Soviet delegation, were endorsed by the US and UK, which proposed that they serve as the basis for test-ban and international-control negotiations. However,
9954-443: The conference. At particular issue was the ability of sensors to differentiate an underground test from an earthquake. There were four techniques examined: measurement of acoustic waves , seismic signals, radio waves , and inspection of radioactive debris. The Soviet delegation expressed confidence in each method, while Western experts argued that a more comprehensive compliance system would be necessary. The Conference of Experts
10080-512: The contemporary risk models at the time, along with the assumption that the world population is "thirty billion persons" in a few thousand years. In 1961, Sakharov was part of the design team for a 50 megaton "clean bomb", which has become known as the Tsar Bomba , detonated over the island of Novaya Zemlya . In the spring of 1957, the US National Security Council had explored including a one-year test moratorium and
10206-466: The country being retained and allowed to run their course. By 1985, the Letcombe site had been sold to Dow Elanco a subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company . The name Letcombe Laboratory was retained and the site redeveloped as the company's European centre for fungicide research. After 17 years this too was closed, thus bringing to an end 45 years of research at the site. It was sold for re-development as
10332-410: The country housing the posts and a minimal role for officials from the international supervisory body. The West insisted that half of a control post staff be drawn from another nuclear state and half from neutral parties. Second, the Soviet Union required that the international supervisory body, the Control Commission, require unanimity before acting; the West rejected the idea of giving Moscow a veto over
10458-546: The discord within American circles, particularly among scientists, was made clear in hearings before the Senate Subcommittee on Nuclear Disarmament, chaired by Senator Hubert Humphrey . The hearings featured conflicting testimony from the likes of Teller and Linus Pauling, as well as from Harold Stassen, who argued that a test ban could safely be separated from broader disarmament, and AEC members, who argued that
10584-415: The effect of eroding the AEC's monopoly over scientific advice. In stark contrast to the AEC, PSAC promoted a test ban and argued against Strauss's claims concerning its strategic implications and technical feasibility. In late 1957, the Soviet Union made a second offer of a three-year moratorium without inspections, but lacking any consensus within his administration, Eisenhower rejected it. In early 1958,
10710-510: The existing rural population of only a few hundred was considerable with the village undoubtedly benefitting from new job opportunities, more income for local businesses and a revitalisation of the parish council, primary school and general social life. However, the abandoning of atmospheric atomic weapon testing in 1962 and the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty the following year reduced radioactive fallout and thus placed
10836-520: The experts' report failed to address precisely who would do the monitoring and when on-site inspections—a US demand and Soviet concern—would be permitted. The experts also deemed detection of outer-space tests (tests more than 50 kilometers (31 mi) above the earth's surface) to be impractical. Additionally, the size of the Geneva System may have rendered it too expensive to be put into effect. The 30 August report, which contained details on these limitations, received significantly less public attention than
10962-539: The frequency of seismic events). Tsarapkin responded positively to the US proposal, though was wary of the prospect of allowing underground tests registering below magnitude 4.75. In its own proposal offered 19 March 1960 the Soviet Union accepted most US provisions, with certain amendments. First, the Soviet Union asked that underground tests under magnitude 4.75 be banned for a period of four-to-five years, subject to extension. Second, it sought to prohibit all outer-space tests, whether within detection range or not. Finally,
11088-426: The goal of a comprehensive test ban would be abandoned in favor of a partial ban due to questions over seismic detection of underground tests. Political scientist Robert Gilpin later argued that Eisenhower faced three camps in the push for a test ban. The first was the "control" camp, led by figures like Linus Pauling and astronomer Harlow Shapley , which believed that both testing and possession of nuclear weapons
11214-521: The laboratory was renamed the Letcombe Laboratory in 1969. Under this new guise, it came to resemble more closely numerous other agricultural research institutions owned or funded by UK's Agricultural Research Council (ARC) (Cooke, 1981). These were made-up of eight institutes directly under ARC control together with fourteen ARC grant-aided institutes in England and Wales and eight in Scotland. In 1983,
11340-460: The latter and was noncommittal on the former. A working group in Geneva would eventually devise a costly system of 5–6 satellites orbiting at least 18,000 miles (29,000 km) above the earth, though it could not say with certainty that such a system would be able to determine the origin of a high-altitude test. US negotiators also questioned whether high-altitude tests could evade detection via radiation shielding . Concerning Macmillan's compromise,
11466-420: The latter of whom organized an anti-test petition signed by more than 9,000 scientists across 43 countries (including the infirm and elderly Albert Einstein ). The AEC would eventually concede, as well, that even low levels of radiation were harmful. It was a combination of rising public support for a test ban and the shock of the 1957 Soviet Sputnik launch that encouraged Eisenhower to take steps towards
11592-503: The limited arms-control suggestion of Nehru, whose proposal for a test ban was discarded by the National Security Council for being "not practical." Harold Stassen , Eisenhower's special assistant for disarmament, argued that the US should prioritize a test ban as a first step towards comprehensive arms control, conditional on the Soviet Union accepting on-site inspections, over full disarmament. Stassen's suggestion
11718-912: The nearby ARC Weed Research Organisation at Begbroke, Oxfordshire and with the MAAF Experimental Field Drainage Unit at Cambridge. The direction of this work was also influenced by a report from the UK Agricultural Advisory Board and MAFF entitled 'Modern farming and the soil'. The re-orientated Letcombe Laboratory attracted several new principal investigators and, over the next 20 years, proved increasingly productive in terms of its scientific output and influence on farming practice. During that time, publications on root physiology and agronomy amounted to some 420 peer-reviewed articles, 100 book chapters, 13 authored or edited books and 150 shorter reports. In addition, there were numerous publications relating to
11844-541: The number of control posts. Berkner's proposed measures were seen as highly costly and the technical findings themselves were accompanied by a caveat about the panel's high degree of uncertainty given limited data. Around the same time, analysis conducted by the Livermore National Laboratory and RAND Corporation at Teller's instruction found that the seismic effect of an underground test could be artificially dampened (referred to as "decoupling") to
11970-500: The offer. At a meeting with Eisenhower in the White House, the group argued that testing was necessary for the US to eventually develop bombs that produced no fallout ("clean bombs"). The group repeated the oft-cited fact, which was supported by Freeman Dyson , that the Soviet Union could conduct secret nuclear tests. In 1958, at the request of Igor Kurchatov, Soviet nuclear physicist and weapons designer Andrei Sakharov published
12096-449: The point that a 300-kiloton detonation would appear in seismic readings as a one-kiloton detonation. These findings were largely affirmed by pro-ban scientists, including Bethe. The third blow to the verification negotiations was provided by a panel chaired by Robert Bacher, which found that even on-site inspections would have serious difficulty determining whether an underground test had been conducted. In September 1959, Khrushchev visited
12222-542: The power of nuclear devices continued to increase. Additionally, there was widespread apprehension about the broader environmental damage caused by such testing. In 1952–53, both the United States and the Soviet Union detonated their first thermonuclear weapons (hydrogen bombs), which were significantly more powerful than the atomic bombs that had been tested and deployed since the Trinity test in 1945. In 1954,
12348-621: The production of atomic energy. Though Dwight D. Eisenhower , then the Chief of Staff of the United States Army , was not a significant figure in the Truman administration on nuclear questions, he did support Truman's nuclear control policy, including the Baruch Plan's provision for an international control agency, provided that the control system was accompanied by "a system of free and complete inspection." The Soviet Union dismissed
12474-508: The proposed verification measures. Additionally, Teller continued to warn of the dangerous consequences of a test ban and the Department of Defense (including Neil H. McElroy and Donald A. Quarles , until recently its top two officials) pushed to continue testing and expand missile stockpiles. Shortly after the Soviet proposal, Macmillan met with Eisenhower at Camp David to devise a response. The Anglo-American counterproposal agreed to ban small underground tests (those under magnitude 4.75) on
12600-683: The report, particularly in its recommendation of an international body that would control production of and research on the world's supply of uranium and thorium . A version of the Acheson-Lilienthal plan was presented to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC) as the Baruch Plan in June 1946. The Baruch Plan proposed that an International Atomic Development Authority would control all research on and material and equipment involved in
12726-465: The resulting nuclear fallout . A test ban was also seen as a means of slowing nuclear proliferation and the nuclear arms race . Though the PTBT did not halt proliferation or the arms race, its enactment did coincide with a substantial decline in the concentration of radioactive particles in the atmosphere. The PTBT was signed by the governments of the Soviet Union , the United Kingdom , and
12852-497: The security of both Russians and Americans is dangerously weakened." He had also claimed that renewed testing would be "damaging to the American image" and might threaten the "existence of human life." On the campaign trail, Kennedy's test-ban proposal consisted of a continued US testing moratorium, expanded efforts to reach a comprehensive agreement, limit any future tests to those minimizing fallout, and expand research on fallout. Notably, early in his presidency, Kennedy also oversaw
12978-516: The spring of 1958, chairman Killian and the PSAC staff (namely Hans Bethe and Isidor Isaac Rabi ) undertook a review of US test-ban policy, determining that a successful system for detecting underground tests could be created. At the recommendation of Dulles (who had recently come to support a test ban), the review prompted Eisenhower to propose technical negotiations with the Soviet Union, effectively detaching test-ban negotiations from negotiations over
13104-595: The start of the moratorium back to November 1958. At the same time, Macmillan linked British support for a test ban to a revision of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (McMahon Act), which prohibited sharing of nuclear information with foreign governments. Eisenhower, eager to mend ties with Britain following the Suez Crisis of 1956, was receptive to Macmillan's conditions, but the AEC and the congressional Joint Committee on Atomic Energy were firmly opposed. It
13230-492: The subject in February 1955. On 10 May 1955, the Soviet Union proposed a test ban before the UN Disarmament Commission's "Committee of Five" (Britain, Canada , France , the Soviet Union, and the US). This proposal, which closely reflected a prior Anglo-French proposal, was initially part of a comprehensive disarmament proposal meant to reduce conventional arms levels and eliminate nuclear weapons. Despite
13356-599: The summer, punctuated by the Congo Crisis in July and angry exchanges at the UN in September. Macmillan would later claim to President John F. Kennedy that the failure to achieve a test ban in 1960 "was all the fault of the American 'big hole' obsession and the consequent insistence on a wantonly large number of on-site inspections." Eisenhower would leave office with an agreement out of reach, as Eisenhower's technical advisors, upon whom he relied heavily, became mired in
13482-443: The tending of the root environment (i.e., the soil) being a major task of arable farming. The research was organised primarily around laboratory-based physiology linked to studies of root behaviour in the field, the latter concentrating on the impact of recently introduced minimal cultivation and direct drilling techniques on soil conditions and root performance. These field studies, in particular, benefitted from close collaboration with
13608-403: The test ban as a critical step toward reducing nuclear proliferation and easing Cold War tensions. In making his case for a test ban, Kennedy drew a direct link between continued testing and nuclear proliferation, calling it the "'Nth-country' problem." While a candidate, Kennedy had argued, "For once China , or France, or Sweden , or half a dozen other nations successfully test an atomic bomb,
13734-647: The then Director of the UKAEA Sir John Cockroft initiated a small research group led by Dr Robert Scott Russell at the University of Oxford Department of Agriculture to examine the movement of nuclear fission products in soil and plants. In 1954, a committee headed by (Lord) Victor Rothschild recommended that this work be expanded by providing the Oxford group with facilities at the nearby ARC Field Station at Compton, Oxfordshire, later to become
13860-491: The theory behind decoupling, but dismissed its practical applications. The working group closed in December with no progress and significant hostility. Eisenhower issued a statement blaming "the recent unwillingness of the politically guided Soviet experts to give serious scientific consideration to the effectiveness of seismic techniques for the detection of underground nuclear explosions." Eisenhower simultaneously declared that
13986-516: The time, Rothschild was Head of the Central Policy Review Staff, a part of Central Government's Cabinet Office. By 1974, his recommendations had been acted-on. They created tensions at Letcombe and elsewhere between perceived needs for applied research to be paid for by MAAF (the "customer") and more curiosity-driven work to be funded by ARC (the "contractor"). In a speech made at Letcombe in September 1973 Rothschild foreshadowed
14112-552: The time, the U.S. had not yet developed a cohesive policy or strategy regarding nuclear weapons. Vannevar Bush , who had been instrumental in initiating and overseeing the Manhattan Project , sought to leverage this moment to advance his long-term goal of banning nuclear weapons production, despite the project's role in developing them. As a first step in this direction, Bush proposed an international agency dedicated to nuclear control. Bush unsuccessfully argued in 1952 that
14238-515: The treaty under negotiation. In May 1960, there were high hopes that an agreement would be reached at an upcoming summit of Eisenhower, Khrushchev, Macmillan, and Charles de Gaulle of France in Paris. A test ban seemed particularly close in 1960, with Britain and France in accord with the US (though France conducted its first nuclear test in February) and the Soviet Union having largely accepted
14364-656: The views of the highly influential (Lord) Victor Rothschild, who had been Chairman of the Agricultural Research Council from 1948 to 1958 and, as stated above, instrumental in bringing Letcombe Laboratory into being in the first place. Years earlier, Rothchild's discontent with how research priorities were identified and acted upon was outlined in a lecture marking the 1953 golden jubilee of Long Ashton Research Station another ARC-funded laboratory then specialising in fruit research. By 1971, these views were formalised and extended by Rothschild's influential but controversial report "The Organisation and Management of Government R&D". At
14490-435: The work on radionuclide contamination which continued on a diminished scale throughout. In May 1982, under Dr J.V. Lake (Director since 1978) the laboratory marked its silver jubilee with three consecutive open days under the banner of "Roots at Work". However, despite this high watermark, cracks were already appearing in the financial and conceptual support for Letcombe and similar organisations. These were clearly discernible in
14616-505: The work to include not only nationwide surveys of radionuclide contamination of soil, herbage and human food (notably strontium-90 in milk, and caesium-137) but also experimental studies of how radioactive substances move through soil and into plants and the food chain. The extent to which the nuclear fire at Windscale Cumberland (now Cumbria) just two months later energised matters is unclear. But, by November that year, new appointees had been installed in temporary quarters provided by UKAEA on
14742-424: Was a vice president at Bell Telephone Laboratories and was joined by Robert Bacher and Ernest Lawrence, both physicists who had worked on the Manhattan Project. Conversely, British delegates largely held government positions. The Soviet delegation was composed primarily of academics, though virtually all of them had some link to the Soviet government. The Soviets shared the British goal of achieving an agreement at
14868-405: Was becoming a prisoner of scientists." Until 1957, Strauss's AEC (including its Los Alamos and Livermore laboratories) was the dominant voice in the administration on nuclear affairs, with Teller's concerns over detection mechanisms also influencing Eisenhower. Unlike some others within the US scientific community, Strauss fervently advocated against a test ban, arguing that the US must maintain
14994-436: Was characterized as "highly professional" and productive. By the end of August 1958, the experts devised an extensive control program, known as the "Geneva System," involving 160–170 land-based monitoring posts, plus 10 additional sea-based monitors and occasional flights over land following a suspicious event (with the inspection plane being provided and controlled by the state under inspection). The experts determined that such
15120-405: Was dangerous. Second, there was the "finite containment" camp, populated by scientists like Hans Bethe, which was concerned by perceived Soviet aggression but still believed that a test ban would be workable with adequate verification measures. Third, the "infinite containment" camp, of which Strauss, Teller, and members of the defense establishment were members, believed that any test ban would grant
15246-539: Was dismissed by others in the administration over fears that the Soviet Union would be able to conduct secret tests. On the advice of Dulles, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Lewis Strauss , and Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson , Eisenhower rejected the idea of considering a test ban outside general disarmament efforts. During the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections, Eisenhower fended off challenger Adlai Stevenson , who ran in large part on support for
15372-427: Was not until after Sputnik in late 1957 that Eisenhower quickly moved to expand nuclear collaboration with the UK via presidential directives and the establishment of bilateral committees on nuclear matters. In early 1958, Eisenhower publicly stated that amendments to the McMahon Act were a necessary condition of a test ban, framing the policy shift in the context of US commitment to its NATO allies. In August 1957,
15498-431: Was personally troubled by the power of nuclear weapons and would later recount that he believed the weapons could never be used. In the mid-1950s, Khrushchev took a keen interest in defense policy and sought to inaugurate an era of détente with the West. Initial efforts to reach accords, such as on disarmament at the 1955 Geneva Summit , proved fruitless, and Khrushchev saw test-ban negotiations as an opportunity to present
15624-499: Was rejected by Anglo-American negotiators due to fears that the verification provisions were too vague and the Geneva System too weak. Shortly after the Geneva Conference began in the fall of 1958, Eisenhower faced renewed domestic opposition to a comprehensive test ban as Senator Albert Gore Sr. argued in a widely circulated letter that a partial ban would be preferable due to Soviet opposition to strong verification measures. The Gore letter did spur some progress in negotiations, as
15750-535: Was sold to the chemical company Dow Elanco in 1985. The Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew is a Grade II* listed building . St Andrew's parish is part of the Ridgeway Benefice , along with the parishes of Childrey , Kingston Lisle , Letcombe Bassett , Sparsholt and West Challow . Letcombe Regis has a public house , the Greyhound Inn and a village hall. Letcombe has
15876-419: Was tempered by concern that resistance to a test ban might lead the US and Soviet Union to pursue an agreement without Britain having any say in the matter. Members of the Soviet military–industrial complex also opposed a test ban, though some scientists, including Igor Kurchatov , were supportive of antinuclear efforts. France, which was in the midst of developing its own nuclear weapon, also firmly opposed
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