ak Maj. Gen. Clarks ; _- -2- 25 November 1953 * - never been a requirenent in past operations for “winds over the Marshall Islands up to 40,000 feet . . . from the southeast or south” or for "strong westerly winds (above 50 knots) above 20,000 feet in the Enivetok-Bikini region", To my knowledge, no responsible member of any past Task Force has requested a twenty-four hour prediction of rain fall or ecuwmlus clouds over a restricted locality. The last sentence of the section on Page 9 is an impertinence since the Atomic Energy Commission has never specified acceptable meteorological conditions to any Task Force. fo my knowledge, the only requirements placed on the Weather Section during Operation Ivy were ag follows: a. To give weather outlooks at a number of times prior to a b. To make a forecast the evening before a test, c. To give a statement of the reliability of that forecast. a. To indicate the next most probable weather conditions if test. the forecast were not verified. - e. To obtain weather data which would permit the Task Force to determine whether the forecast was, in fact, being verified or not. f. To make routine forecasts for normal operations. Once the Staff Weather Officer had filled these requirements, it was the responsibility of the Task Force Cormrander to determine that "suitable" weather would or would not be encountered on the day of the operation. &, With regard to the conclusion that "it is entirely possible that e@ high yield detonation can ‘trigger® a self-sustaining circulation which will derive ite energy through the condensation process”, I should like to point out the wery different statement which appears in the report it- self under 'k' on Page 13 where the statement appears, "whether such a system could ever become self-perpetuating, through the supply of energy set free by condensation, 4s a matter about which it is impossible to reach definite conclusions as yet; at the same time, it mst be said that the triggering of such a self-sustaining circuletion is not at all inpossible”, I agree completely with this latter statement, but feel that -. avery different impression is conveyed to the reader by a statement that - sonething "ig not at all impossible” and a statement that something “is entirely possible". Moreover, the qualification contained on Page 13 that "4t is impossible to reach definite conclusions as yet” is a qualification whose omission peems to me to be important. The further qualification appearing in the preceding sentence "provided larger bombs are exploded 4n an atmosphere with pronounced cyclonic shear” is also ignored. 5. The statement “analysis of dDomb cloud dynamics points to the reason for the inadequacy of present techniques in high yield cloud sanpling" assumes that present sampling techniques are inadequate for high yield devices. IE,D/npna The evidence for this statement is not made clear anyvhere BP oe mn, m~.e —