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Test programs of the above nature are an integral part of the
program of the LASL.
For obvious reasons of safety, it is imposSible to study experimentally at Los Alamos the actual phenomena
of nuclear explosions,
Although all experimental studies using
stand-in materials are conducted there up to the actual time that
such an explosion would start, the essential feature of the entire
procedure can only be conducted and studied under actual condi-
tions with active material at Nevada or Eniwetok.
Such test programs without Los Alamos development and interpretation would be ©
almost valueless;
on the
other hand,
without such test programs
the real test of LASL effort would not be forthcoming and further
development effectively stalemated.
It may be noted that as a consequence of LASL. research and
development,,stimulated by test programs of the type described, the
efficiency of the use of fissionable material has increased between
two and ten times depending on the specific application; that bombs
between 1 KT and several megatons are developed or under development; that weapons have been reduced in weight by a factor of ten
Had this program
and still further reductions may be possible,
not been carried out, a comparable ratio of additional piles and
diffusion plants would have had to be constructed whose cost would
have completely dwarfed the cost of this research and development,
Moreover, research coupled with test programs gives results which
make more effective all the active material which has ever been
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