PL M & R Records Center "635 Laboratory Program" Folders On 8 Jan. 58, Bradbury sent a letter to Starbird expressing his feelings about where the LASL has come to and where weapons development has come, partly in light of the possibility of a moratorium on testing, and Bradbury is just generally "worrying." His thinking in this particular instance seems to be driven by current questions about how a moratorium would affect LASL and Bradbury refers to Starbird's "somewhat surprised reaction" to his recent reply to Starbird's query along these lines. Apparently due to the transition of LASL from being a pretty freely operating, independent laboratory making good progress for the money they were receiving, Bradbury generally feels that the two weapons laboratories are now making very little progress per the dollar invested and are much more prone to control from the bureaucracy, in particular the military. He feels that perhaps a moratorium would be a good thing in a certain sense right now: "If we had to sit down and think, if we had time to sit down ard think, we might think of something. It is very unlikely that with the press of affairs as they are, and with the general attitude of the commission what it is, and with our own response what it is that we will have the intellectual fortitude to say ‘No!' to any proposal, nor will we, with the continual workload thustare (which we will partly bring upon ourselves) find the-édbestve 'new' idea if it exists at all. .. . A moratorium followed by the possibility of further testing would at least force us to take stock of our whole situation. own impression that LASL has let itself ... It is my get slightly too bogged down in mass production of weapon designs, and that we should try to take that aspect of our life a little easier and work a little harder in general research - which is thought to be good for the country too! It is for reasons like this that the thought of a moratorium, cast in the proper context, is not too painful." One of the last paragraphs is particular significant to just give an insight to