Business: Rush for the Atom

Get into the atom business quick, Atomic Energy Commissioner T. Keith Glennan told private industry last week. Otherwise, growth of the Government monopoly in the atomic field may prove to be "the first step in the extension of governmental control over our basic industries." Unless private industry "gets in on the ground floor," Glennan told the annual meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a golden opportunity for future industrial uses of atomic energy will be lost. "What I would like to see is more industries knocking at our door and asking, 'What's in this for me?' "

Some of the things in it for industry, said Glennan, are the uses of radioactive waste from the operation of reactors. Possible uses: activation of phosphors for luminous signs and markers, static eliminators for a variety of industrial processes, reduction of starting-voltage requirements in process-control instruments which incorporate a source of radiation, cold sterilization of drugs and foods, and portable low-level power sources.