A letter from Commissioner Leland Haworth to Mr. Bundy, the President's
special assistant for national security affairs on 15 Dec. addresses the
advantages to be gained by having Christmas Island available for the
test series. The summary of the letter reads "To summarize, the availability of Christmas Island by Jan 1962 for the coming series of tests would
be highly advantageous in that it would permit the conduct of a more extensive
more carefully instrumented, and operationally simpler program with .greater
assurances of attainment oftest objectives.
limited by shortage of time,
great importance.
Even if use in this series were
availability for subsequent series could be of
However, tes rigorous restrictions imposed by the British,
particularly on the content of the test series or on our freedom of control,
could largely, or even completely, nullify the potential advantages."
Mr. Haworth concentrates some length in his letter on the subject of the
desirability of having the island base for the most accurate and proper
diagnosis and output measurements of the tests themselves.
"He makes a very
strong point as to the need for a fixed base and at most desirable a land
base for diagnostic instrumentation to carefully pinpoint its position and
also the desirability of having the detonation carefully located and he
compares the use of Christmas Island either in conjunction with airdrops or
in some cases balloon tethered shots to the diagnostics problems with having
an open ocean series where the devices would be either airdropped or on
ships in some cases and the instrumentation would be largely either shipbased or airborne,
A 15 December TWX from the Chief of DASA to the Chief of Staff Air Force
a
and the Chief of Naval Operations begins with the following:
"McMillan panel |
in studying effects programs for Fish Bowl has made strong recommendation
for exposure of full scale ICBM re-entry vehicle or vehicles on the Star Fish BZ
Event to observe missile vulnerability. ''
DASA asks that the services advise
them of feasibility of this proposal by 22 December.
om A 15 DecemberTWX from AFSWC to
AFSC details the latest in sampler
aircraft
requireménts as seen by this agen
cy.
it is stated that a letter from the Chie
f
of DSA to the JCS has stated that
the requirement is for 22 sampling
aircraft
for Bluestraw, divided into 12 B57B
and 10 B57D aircraft. AFSC is urge
d to
assign to the airweather service
6 more 857D aircraft and major
repair of one
D aircraft will be required to sati
sfy the requirements. Further
augmentati
of B57B's is not requred.
"
”
.
area
TWX from Foster to Gen. Betts on the subject of the 872)cally
Abetween
UsDeceAEC a4 DOD
the follow
and
-< responsibilities
that the AEC has states
responsibility
forns’
waheaa ‘design
ray area”
my understa “blast
output, inclucsng
x-rays, neutrons, and gamma Trays.
of these effects.
.
ene response
The DOD responsibility 2° ion seems
28 canceevguipment. and personnel to these effects. This, PostRL on
of mie overed in Starbird's letter to Dr. Brown, bee he
is a gray
adequately con ter goes on to
say that he doesn't feel t ere
radiation
for LASL to make a measuremenyOeels there
Nov:
area 25 olved in the request
:
}
d here,
produced
1s no qu
aS
we
i
he feels are both appropriate
by the warhead Oorkiloneter shot which
So desiires.
3
it
if
to perform if
experiments for the AEC