Atomic Tests: The Blast at Lop Nor

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Spotting the actual test site should not have been hard. Since the Russians stopped supplying them with the latest Soviet missiles and interceptors, the Chinese have been almost helpless against photographic flights by U-2s and other high-flying airplanes. Deep in the desert, the site in Sinkiang requires conspicuous roads, transport vehicles, housing, supply dumps. Its burst of activity before the test must have been plainly visible to U-2s and perhaps to reconnaissance satellites orbiting overhead. If such activity still continues in the hostile Takla Makan, the Chinese are likely as Secretary Rusk announced last week, to shoot a second test soon.