AEC 141/3 December 20, 1950 COPY NO. 21 ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION LOCATION OF PROVING GROUND FOR ATOMIC WEAPONS Note by the Acting Secretary 1. At Meeting 504 on December 12, 1950, after consideration of a report on the above subject presented by the Director of Military (Illegible) (subsequently circulated as AEC 141/7), the Commission approved the recommendation of the report. As a result of this approval, the memorandum in Appendix "G" to AEC 141/7 (also attached to this paper as Annex to Enclosure "A") was dispatched to the Special Committee of the National Security Council for Atomic Energy Matters on December 13, 1950. 2. The staff representatives of the Special Committee of the NSC recommended that the Special Committee authorize the Executive Secretary, NSC to submit the December 13 memorandum to the President, subject to the amendment of the last paragraph thereof as shown in Enclosure "A". As of December 15, 1950, the members of the Special Committee approved the memorandum to the President, with the suggested revision. 3. The Executive Secretary of the NSC has now advised that the President has approved, as of December 18, 1950, the recommendation of the memorandum from the Special Committee. PHILIP J. FARLEY Acting Secretary DISTRIBUTION COPY NO. DISTRIBUTION COPY NO. Secretary 1 Intelligence 12 Commissioners 2-6 Military Application 13-17 General Manager 7 Security 18 General Counsel 8,9 Santa Fe Operations 19-20 Biology and Medicine 10 Secretariat 21-23 Information 11 - 1 - ENCLOSURE "A" EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON December 14, 1950 MEMORANDUM FOR: The Secretary of State The Secretary of Defense The Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission SUBJECT: Additional Test Site. REFERENCE: Memo for the Special Committee of the NSC on Atomic Energy, same subject, dated November 14, 1950 The enclosed memorandum from the Atomic Energy Commission on the subject is submitted herewith for consideration by the Special Committee of the National Security Council on Atomic Energy. Your designated staff representatives recommend that the Special Committee authorize the Executive Secretary, NSC, to submit to the President a memorandum identical to the enclosure, subject only to the revision of the last paragraph thereof to read as follows: The Special Committee of the National Security Council on Atomic Energy recommends approval by the President of the development of a portion of the Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range as an atomic weapons test site. The publicity attendant on the establishment of this site will, as in the case of the Amchitka site, be coordinated by the Special Committee of the National Security Council on Atomic Energy. It is requested that you indicate your action with respect to the recommendation in the above paragraph by completing and returning the attached memorandum voting form. /s/ James S. Lay, Jr. JAMES S. LAY, JR. Executive Secretary - 1 - ANNEX TO ENCLOSURE "A" UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. December 13, 1950 MEMORANDUM FOR: THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL FOR ATOMIC ENERGY MATTERS SUBJECT: ADDITIONAL TEST SITE As directed in National Security Council memorandum dated November 14, 1950, the Atomic Energy Commission has made a review of possible locations for the required additional atomic weapons test site. The Department of Defense has assisted the Atomic Energy Commission in this review. At the beginning, it may of course be said that there would be outstanding advantages in having a continental site for all atomic weapons tests, involving a wide range of energy release of from, say, 1000 to 500,000 tons TNT equivalent, or more, and for tests of special nature. However, there are problems of site acquisition and logistics which preclude consideration for (IllEGIBLE) and efficient use of very remote sites, as in (deleted) or Alaska, and less remote continental sites present questions of radiological safety for tests of very high energy release and other tests which might involve a high order of radiological contamination. These latter questions may be answered satisfactorily as test knowledge increases through experiments, and as the world situation may develop, but they are not satisfactorily answered at present. The Commission has therefore, after study, limited itself at this stage in its serious examination of possible sites to those which might meet the urgent requirements of the immediate weapons development program. The essential need now is for a site at which a few relatively low order detonations may be done safely and with minimum non-productive cost in time, effort and money at the earliest possible dates, preferably within the next two to three months. The Commission budget now before Congress contains $1,000,000 for the initiation of development of a continental test site. The criteria for such a site include primarily: ready accessibility to the Los Alamos Laboratory by land and air, good communications, adequate radiological safety, reasonably regular topography and prospects of economy of preparation and operation. There are two general areas within the continental U. S. where it is believed a considerable portion of the expected AEC testing program could be conducted without undue public radiological hazard. These are the South Central Atlantic Coastal area and the arid Southwest. There are four locations within these two areas where some of the facilities needed for operations are already in existence, so that a site could be developed for atomic tests at reasonable cost. These locations are: - 2 - Annex to Enclosure "A" a. The Las Vegas, Nevada, Bombing and Gunnery Range. b. The Dugway, Utah, Proving Ground. c. The White Sands, N. M., Proving Ground (contains the Trinity site used in 1945). d. The Camp Lejeune, N. C., area, North Carolina. The Las Vegas site (see map attached) * has been selected as the most desirable. It has the following advantages: a. The site is within easy reach of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. b. The weather and terrain conditions are such that it will be possible to use the site at any time during the twelve months of the year. c. An atomic weapons test site is immediately available within the approximately 5400 square miles of Government-owned land currently in use by the U. S. Air Force. It is possible to establish test points which will not unduly restrict continued practice bombing and gunnery operations except during actual test periods. d. Meteorological conditions and population density are such that some of the most urgent atomic weapons tests can certainly be conducted well within acceptable limits of public radiological safety. Each specific test operation would of course be subject to examination and approval by recognized experts. e. Many of the buildings, power supply requirements, transport and communications lines, etc., required for operations already exist at the Las Vegas range. In comparison with the Las Vegas site, the Carolina Coast site, in addition to the disadvantage of its relatively great distance from Los Alamos, does not have the necessary Government-controlled land area, while Dugway and White Sands do not provide quite so high a degree of radiological safety. It should be noted that development of the Las Vegas range as an atomic weapons test site would not eliminate the current requirement for use of Eniwetok, Amchitka or some other similarly very remote site for tests where the radiological hazards involved may be beyond the limits acceptable in the United States. Thus, there remains a requirement of some urgency to find a secure site alternate to Eniwetok and Amchitka for use in an emergency which may deny the use of Eniwetok or Amchitka. This point will continue to receive attention. - 3 - Annex to Enclosure "A" * Secretariat Note: On file in Division of Military Application. The Atomic Energy Commission recommends approval by the National Security Council of the development of a portion of the Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range as an atomic weapons test site, suggesting that the text of this memorandum is suitable for presenting this recommendation to the President. UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION /s/ Gordon Dean Gordon Deal Chairman - 4 - Annex to Enclosure "A" (GRAPHIC) EXISTING BOMBING AND GUNNERY RANGE - 5 - Annex to Enclosure "A" ENCLOSURE "B" EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON December 19, 1950 MEMORANDUM FOR: The Secretary of State The Secretary of Defense The Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission SUBJECT: Additional Test Site REFERENCE: Memo for Addresses from the Executive Secretary, NSC, same subject, dated December 14, 1950 The recommendation contained in the reference memorandum was approved by you, as members of the Special Committee of the National Security Council on Atomic Energy, as of December 15, 1950, and was accordingly submitted to the President for consideration The President has approved, as of December 18, 1950, the recommendation of the Special Committee of the National Security Council on Atomic Energy, in the form contained in the second paragraph of the reference memorandum. /s/ James S. Lay, Jr. JAMES S. LAY, JR. Executive Secretary - 6 - Enclosure "B"