4,
Monthly Report to the Commission
a. Production
Mr, Bloch reviewed progress in the construction
of new production facilities and reported on production
rates of fissionable materials for the month of May.
He discussed with Mr. Libby the question of whether
heavy water production would be adequate to meet probable demands if heavy water reactors prove attractive
for nuclear power plants.
Atthis point Mr. Bloch left the meeting.
b. Project Hydra
Colonel Beckedorff reviewed the history of
- Project Hydra and reported on the development of
devices for use of agencies engaged in the detection of
fissionable material clandestinely brought into the U. S.
With regard to recent incidents involving
the possibility of clandestine introduction, he said
that the nature of the material in question had not
been determined, (See AEC 837%,)
c. Military Application
Colonel Dishuck reviewed highlights of the weapons
program for May. Among other matters he reported that on
the basis of information developed at LASL it had been deter-
mined that storage requirements for certain weapons could
safely be relaxed so that a greater number of weapons could
be stored in a given structure, This development would make
possible the saving of several hundred thousand dollars in
construction costs, The Commissioners made several
suggestions concerning possible storage improvements.
*See also the memorandum of June ¢@ from Mr, Kelehanto. the
General Manager on this subject,
a4 -