X-RAYS from water in Bikini Lagoon and in the cloud spray from the blast of the second test bomb here are expected to be 1,000 times more hazardous than they were after the overhead atom bomb explosion several weeks ago. …The underwater bomb is expected to throw about 1,000,000 tons of water high into the air. Much of this mass will emit X-rays, although only the salts and some other elements in the water are likely to become dangerously radioactive.

Rear Admiral William S. Parsons, who fused the Hiroshima bomb, said there will be a tremendous shower of salt water Gamma Rays, and that when the water evaporates from the decks, Gamma or X-ray particles are likely to remain in a thick coating.

The last Command Conference has been held and everything is in readiness to pull the trigger for the second atomic test at Bikini…. The target fleet has been entirely rearranged, with six strong hulled submarines submerged close to one another. They have been so placed as to subject their hulls to the terrific force of the underwater explosion….

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2021