Atomic Energy to Speed Development of Israel’s Negev Desert

The full utilization of atomic energy will accelerate the development of Israel’s Negev desert and make possible the settlement of tens of thousands of immigrant families, the annual Conference on Science and Technology in Israel and the Middle East was told here this weekend by B. Summer Gruzen, president of the American Technion Society.

Mr. Gruzen told the nearly 500 delegates attending the Conference that through “atomic energy, Israel will dramatically transform a wasteland into a region truly flowing with milk and honey.” He expressed the opinion that the “dream of millennia–the desalting of the ocean’s waters–will become a reality in our time, thanks to the role of atomic power.”

The president of the American Technion Society–which provides financial and technical support to the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa–reported that four tons of heavy water shipped from the United States to Israel as part of a recently concluded agreement between the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission have arrived at the port of Haifa. He said that the heavy water supplied by the United States has been Leased to Israel for experimental purposes. The heavy water, valued at tens of thousands of dollars per ton, will be stored at the Technion. Periodic checks will be made by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to ensure that the heavy water is being used for peaceful purposes only.