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After some lengthy period of no discussion on the “subject of seismic
testing, a briefing for the Commission was held which included Harold
Brown and Roland Herbst on 28 Cctober 1960 which is extracted for our
files.
Meeting #1675, 23 November 1960:
In a weapons briefing on the warhead for the Minuteman System, Starbird
made a couple of interesting remarks as to testing policy.
‘In answer
to a question by Commissioner Graham he pointed out that a safe
and reliable warhead could be developed without testing;
however, more
flexibility of design would be provided if tests were possible.
Ganeral
Starbird said that in order to ensure an adequate warhead without testing
it would be necessary to proceed with two possible designs.
In response
to Commissioner Olsen, General Starbird said it would roughly double
the cost of the program to proceed with both designs. ''
Meeting #1676, 2 December 1960:
In a discussion of FY62 budget estimates, within the weapons program,
it was noted that the Budget Bureau had suggested
dollars for the VELA Program.
reductionsof 10 million
''The AEC Staff deemed it appropriate
to appeal this recommended reduction.
General Starbird said if such
a reduction was permitted, the deep shots and the D-coupling shots
recommended by technicians in the seismic improvement program would
be delayed considerably.''
1
The Chairman and Commission agreed that they
would appcal the 10 million dollar reduction.
114