Washington National Center P “Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Atomic Energy)" Retired Files 14802; 2/21:55-5 Of some interest in the overall question of what the public feeling and information given to the public on the fallout question, here is a speech presented by Libby at the University of Washington on 13 March 1959 on "Radioactive Fallout." After a lengthly discussion of world wide fallout mechanisms and patters and statistics in various locations, Libby concludes as follows: “the future cource of the fallout investigation is well set and is now proceeding on an international scale so that without a doubt the major questions about the fallout mechanisim will be answered within the foreseeable future. Remaining, however, will be the tremendous problems of the biological consequences of fallout radiation. to consider these. We shall make no attempt here It is, however,an area of uncertainty so large that only the most conservative treatment of the permissible body burdens of fallout isotopes is tolerable and this conservative treatment indicates that care and caution must be taken about the matter of additional radioactive contamination. The US AEC has consistently tried to reduce the magnitude of the fallout from the atomic testing and it is clear that the new technique of testing underground can further greatly reduce world-wide fallout. It is to be hoped that other nations will adopt this procedure, even tho it is sometimes difficult and more trouble. It does have one advantage, however, in addition to ilima- ting fallout; it makes the test schedule independent of weather. With further development of procedures it ought to be possible to obtain most of the results on weapons design with this technique. Of course the proof testing of weapons in their carriers might not be possible underground but the critical question of whether the warheads operate and give the yields and behave as they should, can be answered by this method which is fallout free. No one who has studied radioactive fallout has arty desire to unnecessarily increase the amount of it in anyway but it is a risk and hazzard which is limited and which can be considered relative to the advantages gained. essary to watch it and to control it as carefully as possible." It is nec-