Atomic Sleight-of-Hand
SIR,—Perhaps if I point out that I am a Cumbrian born and bred, this may receive more credence. In reply to your correspondent, I would claim that I have encountered this feeling of uneasiness here, though I would by no means suggest that the population is panic-stricken. This, as I said in my article, is no more than a vague half-awareness, and the majority of people are not certain of the cause of their unease, though it is nevertheless present.
As for the origin of the exhibition, I would not claim that my surmise is correct. Perhaps Mr. Hay is in a better position to judge the real origin ; but whatever may be the right of this it is manifest that in execution it was fitter to soothe than to educate. Nor would I deny that the exhibition was interesting: of course it is interesting to have one's hand X-rayed or to watch card tricks being done by geiger-counters ; but if this is "a genuine effort to educate public opinion," then I would suggest that the Ministry of Supply has a miserably low regard for the public. It is a harsh fact that exhibits of this nature were played up a great deal, and that the more factual exhibits were subsidiary.
Mr. Hay, despite several very intriguing red herrings, does manage to raise a genuine problem in his claim that it is essthtial to have a well- informed public opinion. But this is not private to atomic energy, and it is a point that is, and has been, systematically ignored in many spheres. For myself, I would not profess to know any better method of educating public opinion than by exhibitions ; they are an admirable means of stimulating public interest ; but I feel most strongly that the Whitehawen exhibition was designed more to lull the public and mystify it, than to awaken a real interest. After all, the interest is already there. The progress of the plant at Sellafield is a matter of vital interest for West Cumberland, and it may perhaps be in the better interests of the community to quieten any inquisitiveness. In America the progress of work at Oakridge is a carefully guarded secret ; so far there has not been undue secrecy here, but it may be that the time is now ripe for a greater degree of secrecy, and that the Ministry of Supply hoped by this exhibi- tion to lull the fears of the populace and quell any speculation as to the nature of the work proceeding at Sellafield.—Yours faithfully, Monk wray House, Whitehaven, Cumberland. JAMES FORRESTER.
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