2 December 1961
Dear Chairman Khrushchev:
First allow me to thank you for your letter of 24 October to me, in which you discuss the reasons for the resumption of nuclear tests by the Soviet Government and express the hope for the earliest solution of the problem of general end complete disarmament, in which I concur.
My wife and I are in Moscow at the invitation of the Akademia Nauk, to participate in the Lomonosov Celebration.
I am greatly pleased by the new proposals of the Soviet Government about ceasing the nuclear tests. In this connection I should like to communicate an idea to you, for your consideration. It is that the Soviet Government invite the United States and Great Britain to send some scientists, especially seismologists, to the Soviet Union to cooperate with Soviet scientists, in the various seismological stations, in studies of methods of detecting underground nuclear explosions. The conditions of their work would, of course, be determined by the Soviet Union, in issuing its invitation.
I feel that such an arrangement would provide valuable experience in preparation for international agreements about nuclear testing and disarmament.
If it were possible, I would be happy to discuss this proposal with you.
Sincerely yours,
Linus Pauling
December
2, 1961
