This document consists of » CopyNo. suet 4 . of 2 Series AEC-A 9 a | RG pages a US DOE ARCHIV ES 326 US ATGNIC EALEGY Collection COMBISSION SECRETARIAT —PECRETARIAT , BoxGag GENERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE + . ‘older TO THE U. S, ATOMIC ENERGY COMM A WASHINGTON 25, D.C. April 2, 1954 . Mr, L. L. Straues, Chairman U. S, Atomie Erergy Commission Washington 25, [. C, , Dear Mr. Strauss? The experience on the MIKE shot, which though unexplained _ nas proven to be a happy one so far, is that most of the debris has never been found, The present contamination of the world by the fission product Strontium-90 appears to correspond to a sotal of about one megaton of explosion. The fate of the MIKE debris remains a mystery, though more and more evidence indicates that a considerable part of it is in the bottom of the sea. The possibility still remains that a large proportion resides in the highest levels of the atmosphere. However, it appears not yet to nave entered the biosphere nor to have been found in human bodies, roods, and foodstuffs, After careful studies ~- Rand Corporation Project SunshineAureole -- one is left at a nearly complete loss when he attempts to predict the effect of changing the base on which one of the large thermonuclear weapons is fired from coral to sea xater. The study has one tsiy ee us greater humility, has made 3S more dependent than ye"ipitially were on experimental observ2Sion. A shot such as which was fired from a raft over “water, may therefore e been subject to a fundamental change in "fall out" conditions. It is our understending that a mini- mum of information will be availeble concerningIll'£212 out" in time to tear on the CASTLE series. Therefore We are likely to be unable to deduce in the next few weeks whether water serves better than coral or worse than coral in the sense of removing the lethal fission products and carrying them into the sea before they reach the great continental land masses, Under these conditions I would recemmend that you consider making no further shots on barges over water in the present series. If it is essential to do 30, an attempt should be made to pléce fo