It also appears
high
~
that should Christmas Island prove unacceptable for
altitude testing, a separate facility for this activity could be
7
established at Johnston Island, and the increased cost and disadvantage
of operating two sites would still be more than off-set by the disadva
ntages of the combined facilities of Eniwetok-Bikini.
is based on one premige:
K
This recommendation
That we are given complete operational control
of Christmas Island ~ we doubt that joint operational control of Christmas
Island would be acceptable."
A 1 Nov. TWX from Reeves of ALO to Betts goes into a great deal of detail.
in the assessment of possible overseas sites for the conduct of the longrange test program.
Those four areas that are addressed are Eniwetok,
Bikini, Johnston Atoll and Christmas Island. The advantages and disadvantages of each area are listed. Summary quoted here.
/f
"In summary, on the basis of a permanent long-range test facility,
it would appear that Christmas Island from the standpoint of weather con_ ditions, fallout problems, and international objections to testing
activities, would have distinct advantages over Eniwetok.
In the long
run, any immediate savings that might accrue by use of existing support
and scientific facilities on Eniwetok would be far outweighed by operational
advantages of Christmas Island. It also appears that should Christmas Island
prove unacceptable for high altitude testing, a separate facility for this
activity could be established at Johnston Island, and the increased cost
and disadvantage of operating two sites would still be more than off-set
by the disadvantages of the combined facilities of Eniwetok-Bikini.
recommendation is based on one premise:
tional control of Christmas Island."
On the same date,
This
That we-are given complete opera-
Noy,, Gen. Betts sent a similar memo to Chairman Seaborg
on the subject of wieectnent of overseas test sites.
He included the
details of the various sites that we™sent to him by ALO and made essentially
the same recommendations about the use of Christmas Island and Christmas in
conjunction with Johnston Island as opposed to using Eniwetok and Bikini
for a long-range test program which was assumed to be a test series conducted over an indefinite period of time with devices fired when ready and
using maximum diagnostics.
The great desirability of having such a full-
scale test program as opposed to a completely airborne and hence, minimum
diagnostics operation is emphasized and an intermediate step between the
two programs is discussed as a program which could “be carried out largely by
airdrops in the vicinity of an island on which we could establish a higher
level of instrumentation for diagnostic measurements than could be provided