ATOMIC ENERGY


             Walter Williams, Acting General Manager, Atomic En-
               ergy Commission
             John A. Hall, Atomic Energy Commission.
           Secretary
             R. Gordon Arneson
 I. British Request for Interim Allocation
   The Members had before them a communication from the British
 Ambassador requesting an interim allocation of 505 tons of U0O8 from
 the unallocated stocks located in the United Kingdom. (Tab A 2) In
 discussing the matter the following points were developed: SECRETARY
 JOHNSON pointed out that the Joint Chiefs of Staff are getting ready
 to inform the Atomic Energy Commission that its requirements for
 atomic weapons had been doubled. The Defense-AEC working group,
 established pursuant to the President's directive of August 8,3 was in
 the process of firming up a recommendation that the AEC production
 program should be increased to the extent of one and one-half billions
 of dollars over the next few years. On'the supply side, the Secretary
 of Defense inquired whether steps were being taken to see whether
 production in the Congo could be appreciably increased. CTAIRMMAN
 DEAN stated that Mr. Gustafson, former Director of Raw Materials
 of the Commission and currently a consultant to the Agency, was now
 in Brussels conferring with Mr. Sengier on this question. Mr. Sengier
 was scheduled to arrive in the United States early in October at
 which time it was hoped that he would have in hand proposals for
 increased output. CHAIRMAN DEAN estimated that it probably would
 not be possible to increase the annual output of the Congo by more
 than 500 tons. As to other sources of supply, he pointed out that South
 Africa could not be expected to come into production until 1953 or
 probably 1954. It was estimated that within a few years U.S. produc-
 tion would be at an annual rate of from 500 to 600 tons. Prospects
 were good of securing 250 tons from Canada this year with the possi-
 bility of a like amount in 1951. The Commission has given the highest
 priority to the Redox process4 but this could not be brought fully
 to bear for another year and a half.
 The Committee agreed that the British request for 505 tons should
be granted, but that in communicating this decision to them it should
be pointed out that U.S. requirements in the immediate future would

  2 Tab A. a letter from Sir Oliver Franks, the British Ambassador, to the
Secretary of State, June 21, is not printed.
   See p. 570.
   4The Redox process for the recovery of uranium is described in Richard
G.
Hewlett and Oscar E. Anderson, Jr., The New World, 1939-1946: A History of
the
United States Atomic Energy Commission, vol. i (University Park, Pennsylvania:
The Pennsylvania State ULniversity Press, 1962), p. 630.


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