Hatch Fearful of Soviet Spying at Utah Missile Site

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) wants assurances that when Soviet inspectors come to Utah to verify the process of missile elimination, they are not allowed to set up espionage networks in the area.

Bob Lockwood, an aide to Hatch, commented on confirmed reports that the Soviet Union has selected the Hercules Bacchus plant west of Salt Lake City as an inspection site that will be used to verify compliance with some terms of the treaty to ban all ground-launched intermediate-range nuclear missiles. The treaty is to be signed at a superpower summit next month.

Hatch is concerned about where the Soviets will be permitted to travel, who will escort them, where they will be housed and what contact they will have with local citizens, said Lockwood.

“Actual terms of the inspection, where the Soviets will live or how many will come, haven’t been worked out yet,” said Lockwood. “We don’t even know if the inspections will be permanent or periodic, but Hercules is it.”