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program that Livermore would like to see pursued if testing could be resumed

in the summer or fall of 59 and would take testing up thru Sept. 1960.

In

tabular form is presented those weapons developments shots as well as some
Plowshare and detection shots which Livermore would wish to do with the site

and device ready dates ranging from the lst of June and fall for the devices thru
1960 and into 1961 in some cases.
specifically shown.

Over a dozen weapon development tests are

After discussing at length the known geology of the NTS and

the containment rules felt to be conservative (550 W to the 1/3rdfor over-burden

in tuff and 600 W to the arabepoint separation in neighboring tunnels),
several tables of specific devices with the proposed tunnel site and the schedules
for necessary construction to meet certain readiness dates accompany a detailed
drawing of the configuration of the tunnels in Nevada to meet this list of some

dozen and a half safety and full-scale weapons test.

Noting that some immediate

authorization for construction at the NTS would be needed to meet these schedules,
Teller concludes, "As mentioned in the first paragraph, our suggested program
is predicated on a change in these assumptions (limited funding and preparedness),
and we would propose acting on it only in case the probabilities have altered
so that those assumptions can be changed.

watis

Le

can be hidden.

It is an accepted fact that underground

Considering that the U.S. has now made a proposal at Geneva which

would allow underground tests for the time being, it seems appropriate to LRL to
demonstrate that we are serious about underground testing by undertaking such a

tunnel program now."

The next update is forwarded by Johnson to Starbird on 8 June 59 and lays
out a specific program to begin testing with a 1 Aug. authorization and the first
shot on 1 Nov. 59 (90 days readiness with the first shot 1 year after the moratorium
began).

The first three shots would be safety shots in tunnels I, J, and K whose

construction is underway and has been authorized.

The other 9 tests plus 3

Select target paragraph3