AOALie
JOINT CROSSROADS COMMITTEE
NAVY DEPARTMENT
RFIDERTIAL-
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
Dear Dr. Hemplemann:
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UNCLASS Fic9
17 JAN 1947
The Joint CROSSROADS Committee takes pleasure in inviting you to partici-
pate in a symposium on the scientific aspects of Operation CROSSROADS, to be
held in Washington on the third, fourth, and fifth of February of this year.
The purpose of the symposium is to apply to the problems of atomic warfare
your experience and judgment; to provide for a brief time ready access to the
documents of the Bikini tests and facilities for consultation with participants;
and to record your findings for the use of the CROSSROADS Committee and the JCS
Evaluation Board. In support of these aims, short talks on major topics will be
given by some participants; these will be immediately followed by thorough discussion. Some moving pictures of the test will be showm, and other reels will be
available as needed to elucidate specific points.
stockpiling, or operation will not be discussed.
Details of bomb construction,
The Technical Director's Files and other documents of the test will be
available for reference.
Ample opportunity will be provided for discussion
of specific topics by subgroupse
While it is realized that many participants will wish to discuss detailed
features of the tests it is hoped that the general papers and discussions, at
least, can be confined to the broader issues. The thought is to get away fran
the narrow confines of Bikini - to consider what may happen at other places and
other times, and what should be done about ite We are to try to arrive at an
integrated viewpoint on the whole subject.
picture rather than analysis of the smaller.
The goal is synthesis of the larger
Comments of the participants will be bound, in a top secret volume with an
introduction and a summary, as the symposium's contribution to the security of
the United States against atomic war. After the symposium you will be requested
to record your views on any aspects of atomic warfare which interest you. Your
attention is invited to the attached list of suggested subjects.
In the interest of effective informal discussion, and of security, the num-
ber of participants is being kept as small as possible.
To avoid hurting the
feelings of other well-qualified people who might have been invited, it is desired
to restrict knowledge of the symposium to tnose who wiil actually attend.
Encl:
Sincerely yours,
Suggested Subjects for Comments
/
Drs Louis Hemplenam
—™*POSITORY (&
P. O. Box 1663
Cc
Santa Fe, New Mexico
.
*
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