37 paid for by the AEC. As for the Johnston Island management it is planned for an agreement to be negotiated such that JTF-8 will take control of J. I. from the present controlling agency which I believe is PACAF and will negotiate satisfactory agreements for use with the present users. H6&N will then provide the support facilities and the AEC will be reimbursed for the costs that are attributed to non-JTF users. Operational drop aircraft and sampler aircraft are planned to be based at Barbers Point Naval Air Station with only minor additional facilities needed there. The remainder of the Air Task group will be based at Hickam and there is a need for at least $100,000 to be spent there to build and rehabilitate barracks buildings. Furthermore, the MATS freight terminal at Hickam which is presently jammed to capacity will require some additions for the JTF needs. JTF headquarters will be located on Ford Island and the Navy has agreed to the use of the buildings there which are in need of some repair. Gen. Starbird feels the AEC should pay the rehabilitation costs listed above for Ford Island and, I believe, Hickam also, based on the fact that the requirement of these facilities arises primarily from the AEC development shots. There are a couple memos from the AEC secretary on about 18 Dec. noting the fact that a response to Dr. Harold Brown's letter on the subject of the atmospheric test series be prepared and that Gen. Betts of DMA will be preparing a reply. On 19 Dec. Mr. Batzel of LRL sent a TWX to Gen. Betts on the subject of the desirability and feasability of pursuing the Christmas Tree concept which Betts had earlier requested comments on. Mr. Batzel goes into some of the details of the desirability of having tunneis for improved diagnostics on detonations as opposed to using just holes, and he discusses some of the engineering problems and stemming problems involved in both holes and tunnels. As to a recommendation about pursuing the Christmas Tree concept he states "In the light of our existing experience, LRL also has reservations about the feasibility and desirability of starting construction of a Christmas Tree facility at this time. As we gain more experience about the problems of stemming, radii of damage, and the effects of geology, we will be in a position to make a firm recommendation." On the question of outer space testing, Batzel states that LRL believes it is very important to develop a capability to diagnose nuclear tests in space and that an effort should be made to establish this capability. Further, LRL believes that it is urgent that the techniques for diagnosing and instrumenting such tests be checked out during the forthcoming atmospheric series. A32 A 20 Dec. TWX from the Chief of DASA to DMA and AFSWC requests AFSWC to proceed with the design and procurement of sea borne targets for the airdrops including radar reflectors, radar responders and lighting and requests the AEC to provide necessary initial funds. A 20 Dec. TWX from Batzel of LRL to Gen. Betts and Mr. Reeves of ALO is on the subject of schedules for underground testing at Nevada and in particular the construction and digging schedules at the NTS. Batzel notes that the present LRL schedule through 1 April has a few shots removed from it for two reasons: 1) An appreciation of the difficulties involved in providing locations for the experiments and 2) preparation for the atmospheric