-3- AEC informed as clearly as possible as to the technical benefits to be obtained from a resumption of testing at any given time under whatever restrictions or lack of restrictions that may be present at that time. As for this latter point, he expands “this promises to be an increasingly difficult task, and even for the short length of time which the current .'moratorium' has been in effect, one may detect some decrease in enthusiasm to plan hypothetical test programs, particularly under the heavy restrictions which seem currently in some degree of favor at high levels. Moreover, the intensivity of testing operations during 1958 followed by the current uncertainties is resulting in a drift of individuals away from the testing type of activity. This is true both at Los Alamos and with its contractors such as EG&G- where the problem has been further complicated by funding restrictions. the longer the current uncertainty exists, In general, the longer it will take to re-establish a weapon test activity at any specific degree of technical compentence. Short of a national crisis involving a test of the most extreme urgency, it might now after the short time since Oct. 31 - require as much as a year or two to re-attain the degree of skills existing in 1958 because of loss of personnel or their drift into other activities from which they will not easily be removed. This should not be interpreted as a total loss of testing ability but rather that any initial resumption of testing will be at a somewhat lower level of technical elegance re mrLecs than has heretofore be deemed appropriate."