Meeting #1417, 24 October 58:
y if tak sf .
_
As for the upcoming Geneva talks, McCone noted that he had discussed
representation with Robert Bacher and planned to propose that one of the
three US negotiators for the conference be an outstanding scientist familiar
with weapons matters.
Meeting #1418, 28 October 58:
McCone reported that Dulles had announced in a press conference that,
if the Soviets continue to conduct tests after 31 October, the US would plan
to resume its testing also,
The Commissioners decided that the brief
announcement that the last shot in the NTS Hardtack series had been
concluded should have no reference to any position as to conducting weapons
tests after 31 October,
Meeting #1421, 31 October 58:
Here are the words on the final day of operation Hardtack :"'three tests
of the Polaris warhead remained to be held on October 30,
tunnel shot of a mockup warhead
l-point safe.
First was a
that had not been proved
This shot was detonated successfully giving the desired yiéld.
The second was a] point safety test of a reduced-mass (blank) and this test
proved the (blank)
to be 1 point safe.
detonation of a mockup warhead
The third test was to have been a
.
However,
in the afternoon, when the test was s thheduled, the atmospheric conditions
were such that some blast damage would have occurred over the Las Vegas
area and so the test was delayed,
At 11:00 PM, the weather scemed to be
clear and an additional high explosive test was held to determirethe blast
prediction,
This indicated_that the last shot could safely be fired and a test
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