was made of fine metal working plants to find a manufacturer who could make the items, and conferences were held between the Chief Specifications Engineer and a representative of an aluminum producer to obtain recommendations as to the aluminum alloys to be used in fabricating the hardware items. Sufficient information was then made available to the metal working plants so that quotations could be obtained upon items to be fabricated, In final conversations between the Chief Architect and Chief Specifications Engineer, decisions were made which were later approved by the Chief Engineer, The result of this time-consuming investigation was the specifications for finish hardware. The procedure involved in preparing specifications for hardware items was typical of similar investigations involving such unrelated materials as explosive-driven stud bolts, paints, aluminum cabinets, plastic glass and surfacings, synthetic rubber gaskets and stripping, and vapor-seal coating. It was often impossible to obtain materials that satisfied all requirements completely, but every effort was made to insure that the material selected was the optimum obtainable, Many investigations yielded only negative results and therefore were not reflected in the specifications, Other investigations resulted in specifications for materials which although ordinary in themselves represented the end product of considerable research, One great deterrent to the collection of specification material was the security restrictions placed upon the dissemination of classified information, The restrictions, insofar as they influenced the collecting operations, were to the effect that personnel must not seek information not directly required for their work and must not give out information unless assured that the recipients had need of such information for their work, The result of the restrictions was to stifle the free exchange of information, even among cleared personnel. The combination of the security restrictions and the magnitude of the Project resulted, in some instances, in the Specifications Department personnel not being fully aware of certain developments as they occurred, Conversely, the personnel who were fully aware of such developments did not always know what specific information would be required by the Specification Department, The result was that when the time came for the completion of the General Specifications, it was necessary to search out certain items of information that normally would have been at hand. By August 18, 1950, the preparation of working drawings had progressed to a point that permitted work to be begun on the final phase of specification preparation. The basic criteria were similar to those used in the preparation of Purchase Specifications and the specifications for Eniwetok Island, They were to be in accordance with AEC or government standards, in AEC standard format as much as possible, in form for use of competitive bidding (no proprietary names), and in accordance with security restrictions (no classification higher than d~24