WorkingRelations with DOD An inspection liaison section had been assigned for the purposes of review and recom~ mendation relative to the DOD interest in specifications and inspection. This section is comprised of military officers who review the specifications presented by Sandia Corporation for AEC approval. The arrangement affords the field office a single point of contact on matters of inspection and specifications wherein coordination with DOD is desired or required. In the administration of AEC site inspection activities, members of SFOO makeperiodic liaison visitsto ZI sites. Site commanders and staff level officers have assisted the AEC inspection program as requested and/or required. Distribution of War Reserve Material On July 1, 1950, the production of War Reserve Material was restricted to Sandia Corporation and Burlington, producing only one type of weapon at any one time. The distri- bution of the material was to Sites Able, Baker, and Charlie. At that time the distribution was performed by one person in the custodial unit of AEC-Sandia. The material was shipped direct from production immediately in order to build up the stockpile as quickly as possible. This was done primarily to meet military requirements and maximum loads; al nearest destination was a secondary consideration. As this operation progressed through 1951, 1952, and 1953, there were several different types of weapons developed; producers increased from two to four, and sites increased from three to nine, consequently, by 1953, the distribution of War Reserve Material developed into a network system of producers, sites, types of weapons and components, which resulted in a centralized distribution point in order to coordinate the production and ship- ment of the various weapons and their components to the sites in proper ratio to assure the availability of complete weapons. This centralized distribution point was reorganized in June 1953, into the Administrative Branch of the field office, and it was necessary to reassign personnel in order to perform this function. This was accomplished by changing the duties of certain personnel in the Branch in order that part time could be spent in the performance of this function. 14. NUCLEAR FIELD TEST OPERATIONS Testing goes hand in hand with each step in the manufacturing process, from re- search to stockpile. Laboratory testing is continuous, including, for instance, the tests - of the behavior of metals at extreme low temperatures conducted at the Boulder Cryogenics Laboratory in recent years. ALG? Both Los Alamos and Sandia have extensive and specialized programs of field testing which do not involve full-scale nuclear detonations. Sandia has its own backyard testing laboratory in the Sandia Base area, a test site at Salton Sea, and uses many other testing sites throughout the United States. These, as discussed previously, range from ballistic, vibration, and static load tests to catapulting and arresting tests, aircraft compatibility, and drop tests of non-nuclear over-all weapons. One of the major reasons for locating Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory on an isolated New Mexico plateau was sparse population and adequate real estate for explosive, but not full-scale nuclear, tests. Ba a Several outlying vG a