DOCUMENT I Galaxies Engineering [illegible] 815 So. Hill Street Los Angeles, California April 7, 1947 Mr. Carroll Wilson U. S. Atomic Energy Commission Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Wilson: At the request of the Atomic Energy Commission the budgetary subcommittee of the Interim Medical Advisory Committee convened in Washington April 3 - 5 inclusive to resurvey the medical research programs now being [illegible], and to determine which programs and budgets should be kept active in order to safeguard the interests of the Atomic Energy Commission during this interim period. The Atomic Energy Commission is in the peculiar position of working with many toxic materials and radiation in all forms. In many cases the commission is also either the sole or the major [illegible] of numerous toxic materials, many of which are new in biological and medical research. The Atomic Energy Commission has the obligation of safeguarding the health of its employees, and thus is required to obtain as soon as possible the correct information needed to establish these safeguards. Such an obligation is absent in other fields where medical research is usually separated by governmental or other research agencies, e.g. cancer or other diseases of spontaneous origin are not the responsibility of any agency because of anything that agency might do. The priority for the research in the university laboratories and in certain sites has been carefully weighed and is based upon the urgency of the need for information, the number of people probably exposed, the probability of great toxicity resulting from an occasional exposure, and the apparent helplessness of any therapeutic [illegible] in the presence of a definite injury. Many less direct factors are likewise involved which require an active research group to met the demands of an unpredictable amount of short time or spot check type of research. Such factors as public relations, medico-legal requirements, public inquiry, and accidents occurring in other concerns whose lack of connection with the Atomic Energy Commission is not known to the public or to opposing counsel. All of the project leaders are aware that the emphasis of these diverted research program may shift as the emphasis and direction of the overall manufacturing, research and development programs of the Atomic Energy Commission shift from time to time. It should be emphasized that the great bulk of the programs [illegible] approved are routinized research tests which were and are accepted as a [illegible] to be done from a sense of [illegible]. Such programs do not attract high grade personnel so that it is necessary as part of the hiring agreement at this time to liberalize the contracts to permit key personnel (1) [illegible] The following budgets are recommended for immediate Atomic Energy Commission approval in order to keep the current programs in operation (based upon the priority criteria above). Personnel Contracts 1946-67 1947-48 Additional for 3 yr --------------------------------------------------------------- U of Washington 28,000 56,000 50,000 Columbia U 100,000 100,000 50,000 Western Reserve U 100,000 135,000 50,000 U of Rochester 1,200,000 1,300,000 400,000 U of Calif at L.A. 100,000 200,000 40,000 Some of these contracts include large administrative and security costs not borne by others. The programs tentatively recommended in the previous report for the U of Tennessee and U of W. Virginia were not acted upon in the absence of a current contract. It is recommended that an active program be supported in health physics research and development along the lines indicated in the last report of this committee, as soon as facilities become available this next year. The extent of the medical and health physics research program at Los Alamos is controlled by special and local problems of vital interest to the area, and is strongly recommended. Recommendation on 1946-67 1947-48 Priority Criteria ---------------------------------------------------------------- Los Alamos 100,000 (pt of yr) 200,000 yes Argonne 1,200,000 1,400,000 yes Clinton Laboratory 100,000 ? Partially U of Calif 4S A 1 100,000 125,000 yes 4S A 2 115,00 150,000? Partially 4S C 20,000 35,000 yes Monsanto (Dayton) 40,000(pt of yr) 225,000 yes by subject Hanford ? ? yes by subject Brookhaven ? ? no program Those programs questioned or partially recommended are in a state of development and need further consultation for integration of part of their specified programs. It is strongly recommended that various types of training programs be started whosoever the facilities are staff of the contractor or area can be [illegible]. A large amount of scientific medical and biological information of practical use to the Atomic Energy Commission is available at the various sites of atom bomb detonations. With the passage of time, such information either disappears or becomes more difficult or impossible to obtain by experimentation. This information can be obtained with relatively less cost than that obtained from experimentation. It is strongly recommended that the Atomic Energy Commission take the leadership in both the Japanese and Bikini areas where its can [illegible]. The [illegible].