D cFc L ET ED VERSION ON,’ "73404 GENERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE to the U. S, ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION Washington 25, D. C. a ce Mr, Lewis L, Strauss, Chairman U.S. Atomic enerey Commission Washington 25,2 C, guy 1Ses Us "926 US ATOMIC ENERGY. RG___——_comnil Collection SEC a, ft . Tope - Dear Mr,Strauss: .-:-, : Folderote 1: GAC Mwores ota Herewith is the summary reportthe Meeting of the Generel Advisory Committee held in Los Alamos and at the Sandia Corporation in Albuquerque on July 12, 13, 14, and 15, 1954. exception of Dr. Wigner were in attendance. All members with the + Me howeW/ogemA REVIEWED BY OF POE/OC kbptuVo J ifoc BY AUTHORITY WITH DELFETIONS CLASSIFICATION CANCELLED The first three days were devoted to briefings by the Sandia Corporation, the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and the Livermore % pj bea! Laboratory in connection with a simultaneous visit by the Military Liaison Committee to the AEC, the Defense Department's Coordinating Committee on Atomic Energy and its Technical Advisory Panel, The 15th was devoted to a meeting of the GAC with Commission and Los Alamos staff, At this time, we had the benefit of the presence of the Commission Chairman for an important discussion of the U-233 program with the Director of the Division of Military Application, the Director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, and AEC and LASL staff. Our comments and recommendations follow. 1, U-233 Program. After a lengthy and lively discussion, it became clear that Program "B", providing for the production of U-233 and the suitable adjustment of other production schedules, as outlined by Gen. Fields would furnish, omens to the best eveslablean2 ee complete answer to the ESpons ‘or in money; that this program was not an irretrievable commit ment but could easily be reversed; that the availability of U-233 would most likely be of importance in other weapon programs; that the use of thorium would lessen our dependence on foreign supplies of raw materials; Wrifor two-stage weapons. bo For these reasons we unanimously reccommend the immediate initiation of Program "BY with such modifications as may appear desirable after further discussion and after consultation with the duPont Company. Cs