Document o9qNQmM3ZyzxG6OB6xv9QwGbE

WILLARD MACHLE, M. D. C HRYSLER B U ILD IN G 403 LEXINGTON AVENUE ROOM 714 NEW Y O R K 17. N. Y. PERSONAL - Hold f o r r e t u r n 20 August 19 k l D r. R obert A. Kehoe K ettering Laboratory College o f Medicine U niversity of C incinnati C in c in n a ti 19, Ohio Dear Bob: Have been a d v is in g th e A.E.C. on m a tte rs o f p la n t c o n tr o l w ith respect to beryllium e t a l. At a m eeting to d ay w ith Dr. B ernard S. Wolf and Mr. Merle E isenbud, th e l a t t e r o f whom has j u s t been engaged as e n g in e e r, th e ques t i o n came up o f th e a n a ly s is o f Be sam ples i n a i r as p a r t o f a p la n t c o n tr o l program which they wish to in s titu te fo r a l l b ery lliu m p roducers. I can make a v a ila b le to them a p o r tio n o f th e f a c i l i t i e s h e re in S y lv a n ia fo r a lim ite d tim e; b u t in view o f th e ir r e la tio n s h ip s , i t would appear f a r b e tte r f o r them to s u b s id iz e o r e n te r in to an agreem ent w ith some U n iv e rs ity la b o r a to ry to have th e ir ro u tin e samples run fo r them. Eisenbud would see to the s e le c tio n o f sam pling p o in ts , c o lle c tio n , e t c . , and th e problem would e n ta i l o nly r o u tin e a n a ly s is . I t o ccu rred t o me th a t K e tte r in g would be th e l o g i c a l place and th a t you m ight be in te re s te d in undertaking t h i s , and I have s te e re d Wolf your way. There are only th re e p la n ts a t p re s e n t; b u t th e f u tu r e , in s o f a r as o v e r a ll s u p e rv is io n f o r many o th e r p la c e s and o f co u rse o f th e u s e rs o f Be i n p r iv a te in d u s tr y , co u ld e a s i l y fo llo w . One f u r t h e r m a tte r came up f o r d is c u s s io n . The Commission has a sm all number o f uranium p la n ts s c a tte re d around th e U nited S ta te s . At the p re s e n t tim e, Wolf and h i s c o h o rt, E isen b u d , a re o r w i l l s h o r t l y become re sp o n sib le f o r th e in d u s tr ia l hygiene a c t i v i t i e s . These w ill e n t a i l medi c a l su p erv isio n , fo r which they have d o cto rs; in d u s tr ia l hygiene engineering, viiich Eisenbud w ill do i n p a r t; and a n a ly tic a l s tu d ie s . Wolf i s a r a d io lo g is t, and is not in a p o sitio n to coordinate th e o v e ra ll a c tiv ity . F urther more, th e A.E.C. o p e ra te s th e p l a n t s , and Wolf i s t h e i r man. I t i s b e lie v e d th a t, in view of the im portance of th e s itu a tio n , th a t the c o rre la tio n and o v erall supervision of the p lan ts should be by a recognized in d u s tria l research establishm ent w ith p r a c tic a l experience and of unquestioned stan d in g . Hodge, as I g a th e r, has never taken any g re a t in te r e s t in th e p la n ts , n o r has he had tim e to do much more th an many re s e a rc h ta s k s t h r u s t upon him. I b e lie v e t h is kind o f work would be a n a tu r a l f o r K e tte rin g Labora t o r y , s in c e i t would com prise e s s e n t i a l l y th e same b ro ad approach we u sed w ith N14036 00.! 23o u Dr. Robert A. Kehoe Page 2 20 August 19i(7 th e TKL p l a n t s . I t has been h in te d t h a t th e uranium p la n ts a re n o t in to o good shape h y g ie n ic a lly . The r a d i a t i o n a s p e c t i s w e ll h an d led ; b u t th e in h a la tio n * b y -p ro au cts, and heavy m etal problem s have been la rg e ly l o s t s ig h t o f w ith the em phasis h av in g b een pu t on r a d i a t i o n . .Wolf in te n d s to ta k e t h i s m a tte r up w ith you, to o ; and I th in k i t may o f f e r some v ery prom ising avenues fo r research as an outgrowth of the p la n t observations and stu d ie s. I s h a ll be d a sh in g o f f f o r a s h o r t h o lid a y th e end o f t h i s week and v d l l r e t u r n i n e a r ly Septem ber. I hope to have more in fo rm a tio n fo r you then. My s p ie s t e l l me th a t th e new p r e s id e n t i s a v e ry e n e r g e tic g o - g e tte r . Ke i s a ls o u n d ersto o d t o be v e ry economy-minded ---- more l a t e r . C ordially, tVU:md E n el. W illa rd M achie, Li. d. 0012361