Extract from a report by Foreign Office officials in Moscow concerning an alleged new kind of nuclear weapon developed by the USSR in 1964 (Catalogue ref: PREM 11/5116)
Transcript
SECRET
PRIME MINISTER
Mr Khrushchev’s Monstrous Bomb
The JIC are meeting tomorrow to see whether they can draw any firm conclusions about Mr Khrushchev’s recent boast in Moscow that the Russians had a weapon which could destroy the world.
The experts’ preliminary view is that Mr Khrushchev has not made a great new breakthrough in any technological field: that is to say he has not developed any new rocketry or form of explosion. We have known for some time that he has an enormous nuclear bomb; but the experts still do not believe that he has any method of getting it anywhere. It is possible that he may have some new biological weapon; but again, the experts do not believe that he has discovered any safe method of disseminating it.
Apparently Moscow press and radio are tending to play Mr Khrushchev’s statement down.
We shall hope to know more tomorrow; in particular we hope to have the Americans’ opinion.