For two weeks Chairman David Lilienthal of the Atomic Energy Commission had been on the congressional grill. Members had questioned him and his aides about Government-financed scholarships for Communists, about security precautions, about the wisdom of shipping radioactive isotopes abroad. They wanted absolute answers to many questions which could not be absolutely answered.
Harassed and sometimes angry, Lilienthal admitted some mistakes. He had already promised a change in AEC's handling of federal scholarships (TIME, May 30). As the inquisition went on, he also admitted that the Argonne Laboratory's delay in reporting the...