s3 nr-5t CbI3liaF7 l et 3 NE 3 VUi i tC e tz3_cw l 3tC i S c 3' P _ i Lay 24 1945 The Hon Henry L Stinson Secretary of War ' ar L'epartment ashin ton D C y dear fir 5dcrctary Attached is a copy of a e zunication directed are to the President on a subject in which I know youof the lonoIrecord as one deeply interested with your f ec real statesmen in our country it is perhapsthe ideaspresu Lptuous of me to ask you even to consider of international of one who admittedly has no knowledgeextremely grave This matter is however so affairs before that I believe every opinion should be scrutinized this and I therefore su'mit the solution is reached cor unication for your consideration Lost respectfully OCB R Attachient _-- GRADED Oq Z ifle d -c r n-t CO ddeTe - 3tEa t t r4it2 Seeing ii c rat 1 t ur H Sect-' ei Yio th aey- ca o the Eey ct 'c ' c t d C' N 33 -a 32 Iu trnre a is r or ruin'wrr n rtnnr -rr r 3 Cierr Cc rn d SEtC UNCL S TFIED ARMY BY TAG PER '2 1i64 G C »PII° CC '15° ' q pa ge o erie F-1 0 r- fl -VV -7 7 1 R MAY tot 1949 '' The resident of the United States The hits ttouas DH t aDED two Lr uEMDT auTD'° sfaet istgtoat A Co t 9D EECRADY-1 rn my liar hir i'rssidantt a tttt Y S n R ry JP Dn SEC ARMY By A- Prssc0te$ herendth ins a matter which L b4l iovo to Dig vet s'a D tu 2 1 -hns ' be At net the gravostygaestioae now Cartfro ting the United States and the entire eorld It has to do with the pollsy to b i4opted ss to the ti ture han Sing of the Clinton n ia er Works near Knoxvillej Tennessee and esseaiat 4 projects This eossutnieatton is being directed to you through the spsaia aban iu1s provided by the Army for material on this subject but gravest this fast sho ild in no sway be onatrued'as Army sn orsoment of any of the ideas prssonted ant is srsly in rsoognition of aiy right as a oitisen to bring thoss idfsas bafors you and on my part it Is so done in repogpitioo by me of the eaatiaesd grg nt necessity for the security of this undertaking axed a sa si t to a id sy act that would jiopardLse that siourity Copies of this oMwaeteatica have also been dirriete t too the Searstarloo of tats and of liar through the acme ebaanal s in the bsltef that it 1e proper to- bring the asatter before them At the sale ti%e that it is presented to the Preeideat This matter is prsssntsd rdV the full knovlsdgo on ay part M Lt it is nndpabtsdly being given very Aericus attention already by far better minds than aitse Ad yet I know syss7 i' to hold the poplar and minority view on the U A am therefore teel it %r r duty as a loyal citisen to attempt to place be7Cori y the ideas on-the chance that they haTra not been pros atsd to you biters and on the r shsaue that while f -can I no claws to any kboel 4g ef utatssians ip ar sorXd' politics soes of those ideas may turn out to be serrsst And of i portanee to world p coo The guestioa is of such eppalli y arpscy that 1 vo d be'det llot in rq duty in not britbging it to yoaar attention in the absoaci of dannite infoz cation thht it was being fully considered frog au points of vase I have been aseoofatsd with this project since February 1942 as Am w4ittesr tdtit The Yellest Corporation sod while not in possession of all the facts wader the wits ruling that for the sate of eeeurity no one should bare each iarwledgs I do know sao4gh About it to realise its possible effect upon ewr aodsra rilisatian and I have given a great deal of too t to it over the past three y srs0 My ka mledge of the so walled'K 35e' plant that w4inesre4 t y b gaiez Corporstoa and now going into operation aaider Carbide sod Carbon Chmriesls Corporstion -is quite detailed and epooific but as to the other pre j ets7eaa eesee- t a y-12 and 1-10 'J' Dweat in g AAngton State frro1sve O sad Chicago Uaiversityr on sad use in Taxis I baliuirs o itot or Soft it esoond hand and general cad aw be luabourats altho gh obtained from informed soureees Norsorer I so not alified as a physicist to 3udgs as to the e rreatness of the tittjssatea of the possible effe lttve ess of the putterial invety d sad there again I can oo y paste on what I have been told and believe to be ntbateotl Uy ttna d r L c T'r T 1c7 i r DOWNGRADED AT 12 YEAR INTEAV421 t ct r 4r NOT AVTOMd1TMF TX1 tliM 4 The President of the united ates Y 24 194 In ardor to present my views adequately I tool forced to go into rather extensive detail with such of abich you are elrsady undoubtedly famlUgr in order that the tests on #hich I bass my conclusions may be verified so that it my Information is faulty My eanoluaions may be aaardingly discounted The project as a whole to a s mnath undertaking on which many h drvds of mill toas of doll rs are being peat and'ttandreds of thousands of psapls are directly or indirectly lmlvad It is rapidly wherein lies goat deagsr as I hope to wme-and rspreaentsapproaching c iplstion a modern airsole of seisms and ogineerlag and oven today wstinisltsd suecsss to stand as a momsent to the geal%s of the shows ooh promise of aen whose tireless devotion has In the lace of almost insuperabio difficulties delay and diecouregenant brought it to its present states The purpose of tb project isfto produce in imam Material from which can be liberated by scissionuseable quantities the one up in the at in Such bide quantities relative to the of the atoo energy locked weight of material handled that it to iepossibls to grasp its full aignifieanos On my introduction to the project I wax told-that one fifty pound bmb utilizing this natsrial would be gwlnlsat to twelve thousand tons of $ - in ether words about five hwule d tboosand tines as eftsative pound for pound Xwrthsniore such a bomb would the nd due to induced radio owl t of Manhattan attA all life iinn this impossible for a period of I have bon told that this eeti ats Is a but also boon told that everU rttsl work is deraonstrar be ussavble with Sn stbi ug ap roashicg its theoratisal potsntia3 ity that all signs pointed to its living up to expectations as An s Qglosite4 ivy and ond ves of the material and I have made no effort work is not involved with the to verity these facts The exact figure is of little iportanes - if its ettectivrness were only five hundred time that stn tsatetrial to of W instead of five hundred thousand my coualusione would only be in error to a degree This materiel under controlled conditions also has tremendous potentiality as a aoncintratsd fuel for poorer generation one pound being equivaleentes tons of coal or oils saldng posolble a revolution in ship propulsion m esiPep lbile eatteh of this was known for several years before was written on the awbjeoty no serious effort to produoy this the war and wash bob atsrosaoylo q%AAtiti eras suds mtllj under the ocmpulsionmaterial in anything of war the effort beaus nIQaceary This is due to the snornoue difficulty in its produntio - it involves the separation of a relatively vva11 portion of a fairly rare hold by' separating moans which are very difficult The result is that a plant to do this job on any wart ftls eaals is co soatly that no individual and few nations could mdertaks it ihd then only under the great stress of war when cost booms a exw mr eC L r d3 -- REGRADID UxcLASSTT D ORntR SEC ARMY BY TAG PER f - - The President of the United tetsa 1945 May 24 secondary conrl4eration ie Clinton Ecliuser Works represents the effort of this country to produce this material and since the wbole Undertaken was an estoracrus experiment for which at the start there was no assurance of success of any one of a nzxmber of proposed methods all of these methods w'lSle3 Mewed any proalte on a minute laboratory scale were undertaken in parallel in the hops that one at least of ht_aucaeed The Y-12 plant Itisb bad the chance of securing production most quickly vii intended to supply only eeall gaantitles for research and experimentation but dus to the shorter time eleeunt in its construction could yield invaluable data The X- 25 pleat was designed for relatively large production of the ultircate prrduat bat we later altered to produce material of ot'tly moderate concantration The Want plant in Washington was also for large production buV I mderatuad it has been a diuppointnsnt 8-54 came along as a later Idea and is a plait capable of producing in relatively large quantities but of unu ably low concentration dud is thus used to produce food for 'Y-12 p At present Yelp is In moderately successful pro netien of believe for experimental purposes -25 is in partial operation producing a large quantity of aaterial of low concentration which is being used as tend to Y-12 ' thereby auStnting ito production of highly eozlsantrated product 1-25 is rapidly being pushed to completion and as now sefi up will upon completion and upon oonpletion of 1-27 a newly authorised addition to 425 be able to furnish such a supply of rsodarately highly con- euffieieat material I centrated arterial that when this is fed to Y 12 the ultim4te production or greater than that originally of highly concentrated material will he equal tc planned for Y 25 The 9-25 plant with which I an quite familiar shows every prospect of success Many units of this plant have been in operation for months and their perforstanse exceeds xpsctations Except for final proof by actual awuplte epergtloe the plant now stands as a vindication of the genius and skill of those who have given their untiring devotion to it through periods of greatest trial and dieocuragewsnt parsafd as to those Nothing which I advocate as the policy to be plants is intended to detract in any way from the success of the patriotic effort which has been put into them so a sosssasaa The destructive possibilities of the material as I have are obvious based in any described it With aviation what it is today it should be possible with planes country on the globe to destroy at one fell swoop slacut any great city in the world and wipe out the manufacturing the fleets and the supply bases of any other country without warning thereby rendering it helpless almost before it reaUsed it had an sa W ire esyr try prodcoing each a weapon during the source of a war would gain sue n un snorbioe a dvaatata over Its annoy that victory would be almost assured regardless of its condition just prior to putting it to use I do not know whether this weapon could be applied in sufficiently homeopathic doses to make it efficient agains't' ocabat troops but certainly against mated copplies aaretasturint centers petite ' aapitals and great cities the sfreotiveness is apparent xr caAD cF ss F O i g SEC AAIVIY DI A0 7211C- 4 The Presldwat 4- of the United stets May 24 1945 Bola we were torrid into the war it was kttaie3 thit OsraarO was working to produos this material It was knovn that a great her of her ablest physiolets eheei ets and engic era had been drawn into the project It was kwowwn and rssognised that It QarXsaay suoaseded victory was irrevesaWy Gerweanyw s and that the rest of in this effort the the world could look to nothing other than slavery under the Nazi yoke ' 'turns before our entry into the war the OMD had already atjirt d a rsear'eh program looking toward the prodnation of this material After Pearl Harbor this prsgram was enormously enlarged and with the cooperation of a fantastic BrWlat who was already at work race with Germany was begun with the ttuf knowledge that Germany had a head start of possibly as such as started enough encouraging results two jean befor the research was eras well by several mtatheds had been obtained that without waiting for further developof this material were met fall sised facilities for the large scale production started The fact that amy success at all was achieved constitutes the modern miracle I mentioned earlier because thus plants were built an scatty research they were built on grab on prayers and on what at time appeared to be wishful th'sking but by dogged dateraination coupled with warns of the wet brilliant sgientifit and srXineering work they have succeeded or given every promise of aru ossa and Germany for some reason know sees day has failed which I think all of us are entitled to A s N 4 s A # From my first association with this project I have been convinced and have been appa Ued by the cotuviction that the successful production of this material by a y nation Meant the inevitable destruction of our present day sivUizatisiR This is not an original thought with we but is shared by many of sy Ooeiates On of the most otrrast hopes of many of us was that it might be ootfelusLV4y proved that the thing was impossible Obviously however so long as there was icy chance that Osrwany night succeed at this task there was only one oeurse to follows and that was to do everything in our power to get this think first and destroy Germany before she ha4 a chance to destroy use To east forget about the destruction of civiliawatton or at least we must agree that if civilisation is to be dritrored we eboald do it our way and prevent Germany from doing it the Yawl way Thus this project become the most Important thing remained by what seams another of its kind before the country and still miracle one of the best kept ssorets of our time it The idea of the destruction of ei llization is not melodramatic hysteria or crack-pot ravieug it is a very real and I submit aleost irievitabls ram lt It cannot of canurae be proven until it occurs-and then it would be too late The posssssioa of this weapon by WV one its intentions nation no powers could not be tolerated by other great matter how benign Those who could not prsduce the weapon thanasivss would watch our every move Our slsoticns our fore g policy everything we did would be viovM thuruesp#oion Hand distrust D ORDER SEC ARMY BY TAG d srn h chi ran r a a 7 1-16 4 V# president of the UAitsd Btatss icrt ik 1945 would be charged with sd our yistre on the world on any sublsot we Its would be toadied to alt weapon as a club thr atsning to use this p ssrrics as our friend dioUiRIMAted against all the world would do We would be the drat against us bind our basks and aoampirs and intrigue hated and fared nation on eartb If wts Yssnt ethers would rwt sit by idly but would also build plats Our best MWO could not oofsthmattema for proupossessor our soul' they' know when our in t hing the rs hens Others not our beat ht be firoy-tree or tw cnLy yea friends would can legitmate salt protection to prepar if ha still We amino for their United states could not rest ccapL saint I sablit that we the the sole possessor of say kisxita or Trot Es or Russia or even stain were this means of sudden dsstruations but be most benign our intentions toward the world may it-esary oouatry would coerpstition would star dth r trill would get the sparks wmld eye sm7 other country askance and sooner or later bendstruck that tad sand the thole world up in one tlaaing which would dwarf the horror of the prexent ones As I say nay be roe There are feather dangers Repeating that our intentions and the possession and soul are far train perfect most beaigD the h asan aind wen cannot resist VW of great power is a corrupting influence which massy rule the world could in the it could it it chase that this country# knowing complex that led to the destruction course of tlas esquire the seas Herrecrolk d strueti oc of the world the next time bat whion Right head to the or 00sdary the possession of this power by our Ggig slam a slightly different line ting to the corrupt And MI dewiogus coaatry Mould offer a prise mare td 9 ah a sue given the grsat before the eyes of Sans than had ever been dashed could ability %hich S M of them bare could lay his plans with greatest d build forty years to gain his end set aside twenty thirty or word of his real intention orgsuisetton attract lie follasing acid with never a and only then he could finally got hites lt Into power in this aaur trp and them inrsns satiefasticn and conquer it for his can turn an us sad the world up to asy just what would I would be suprwIel7 rain if I set wya lt mentioned could hWion I know things such as I bars happen bet I know that unprsdiet mle tra k but with the the scares of svacts might follow some other on rth result and I know that it this this exists ant general aata41ysnic as weu as I know and lust of porter I know tae man ankle have gt rd and bate will happen without the that 03 is in his Hsaveia that somAthing of this kind sUglltsat shadow of a doubt REGRADED TJN -AS- 73 AM1Aw Cccace T1y d r7rr cc r' ro v-st c' N r S hr- ORDER SEC ARMY B4 TAG PER The lratidesat gay 4 1443 of the United dtatss This thing swtbt act be psr itted to zist an this earth We mist not be the seat hated and feared people on earth however good our intent mar be Si long as the threat of tiarsuepy aaciste4 ease had to proasstl width 411 speed neared we cast stop this to scoosplish this end With the threat of Gerteany projdat east is possible and we and we alone today have it in our power to - brim peace to this earth for the first tins and this very weapon which we have today almost in our grasp is the scans rlheraby we can help to bring this about If this world has learned nothing from this war than we had best give up and revert to thw da ages The world has learned at last that war must not happses again M it will happen if this weapon perwdtting a war to be fought end wan possibly in a matter of days if not--arin hours Is found upon this sarth - I know nothing of statenimaship or dipiostaoy or power politics but I 'llevs we today can go before the world and say something like thist NY now possess this weapon We will show It to you and daaaonstrats what it sin do We will soon have Lt in itantity and can before any one sac atop is be in a position to control m d enslave the world not care to rule the world# we if this wsapos psate wat peace an earth and we realise there can be no We do not waft to do this We do saiatn MIi therefore say to you that we will give up this watpaa It yous the rest of the worlds will so organize with is that no cowmtry on earth shall ever producs this material in a torn which can be used for dsatructire pnrpssee Ms propose that every power on earth great and asaU shall agree that it shaft not produce this material lre know that agrsim nts are only scads to be broken so we further propose that this agraw sat be lapleewentod scmewhat as follows - 3 A group of international obeervsra shall watch the Industry of every ocuntry The pr d ctita of this weapon is sixth a gigantic wmdartaking that no country under then conditions could attestpt to build the necessary plant in assist 2 It any country starts this wont the rest of the world shall as one take it over by fares and prevent this thing from happening The time necessary to build the plant would give tins to do this All known sources of supply of the raw material shall be supervised by an intartaatitata1 cot iealom and STET pound of the raw material be aseswted for t_ - The soetraes of taw satsnial in gnantity sacs few t- Canada Cseahaslavakis the Belgian Congo end probably the tarsi The material in widely distributed in_l grade deposits but the difficulty of recovery mod be great atad ooeild be awservad a a - m 4Ytr r c1 G C Fc L n a ca Ir1c c n arc t ct ct 6C ah r tr arc 32 rrcc nf REGRADED U C ASS T URDER SEC ARMY BY' AG PER --_y The r asideett of the VaLted tltttsa 1y 4' 1945 4 aeaaroh peraeps under intnswattonel aponaorsMp should aonttnsa as to the properties of the xsAsrin and as to methods of p$4retiotw fartiaular aphasics shooul# be placed on a search r any arsy and sia4s aethod sixes auot a asthod it It gist as it meld To won1d drllatly eaatrol Inor#ass the hawed and asks necessary more rigid 5 The use of this material for power msy be psradtted it it cam be oonelusively prows that whef In fora u sasbla for power it caatat be sad for datrrustio and ssa of be used as the first and perhaps most diftiaalt stage of waaufaeture for destructive purposse showing you our good faith 0Ve _are in this by having stopped our plant alrat on the point of aoosa No an prepared to prouasd with this punt-a v U proceed and finish it it world 1greeasnt is dolt au d b-wil in s defense pretend against ay ration ich ors ding a W ellar plant I believe assitt'raag like that is subatawa x xouhi get the desired I as #urd It 4n and Vranse lucid gladly fail in tins and I' have acov4h faith is b'R n mature to blelf v that Limits Quid see the light and agree to the restraints amid supers tom shirts at present spew rspvgaa4 to her restwlt Germany and later Japan can of soars be forced to abide by the programio Many of me are so atr'44 of lwosia we fairly jwmp %tten the nalla is augtioned I pretend to known nothing of naeds but our ly she has learned that wear is a serve bosinssa and surely it east be possible to convince her that this it be does no war with Japan goes eaa and I have slaost been accused of treasep by song for pv edng the stoppage of this vo before Japan Is broaght to treas This is swot ray idsaw The prss t tact tisa are I belloys capable of producing in the near tutors an ro nt of the mterSal tuffiai at to serve as a d moaatra ttsm sod I I nee so reason sby Japaa should not serve as the target for apsh d maostratioat I goastlew Mother skid d produstioa emu d be necessary to bring about the sasreader of Japans This is of a matter of opinion st»rein my spbion is aduidttedly notf wwell iztfozmac On the other hand the ihfl pla t-eti ltsing xr27 only reosattly uudsrtakwo-as aaot be is prodswstlon vatil 1946 sad when its pwroduotion w a ld be ready for use Is swthiug I do not know bet I Mink it likely that it ill Certainly be pest- sr I do net of ooarss vent to proywoee anything to 3epardise the war with Japaet bat horrible as it may somas I carom that it d be better to take poster caa raltisa now in soagae4sg Japaa thaw to bring Upon t world the tragedy of w crsstrdned oompsdtive practattiou of We suterlel wt ftRAD D UI CtA SS'F' bl ch o nc r t contd GE I n Ifo t era 'a r rr t -r -o cal tt nc±a z' rcd 2 ORDER SEC A LMY BY TAG rZR IV u ia' ce e m na r - ar rt w e0 amnt rl t l 7 211P A The restdlat of the United Stsitss Way 94 better minds that nice are ear ssatly It is obvious that many other sincerely disturbed by the follovin canconsidering this problwr bat I aa and must be eri p sd in nature this projsat has bowworking iideratio as ream its vary on the project proportion of those the greatest se4rse7 Only a ro sil or about people Who For that reason the only really ktsow hat we are asking on of the Corps of The in it it area those wto are uoet deeply interested and asAufacturers xho have ecginesrs it iners the C Ds the acisAtiets sussass e of us are capable of viswiX4 given their U to sake this third a therefore are not the proper ones the pxablea objectively and disinterestedly and to advise or decide what should be done h svitarianiva or honesty of the Army at Without discrediting the Such of this project all surely it is not the one to decide the future course profession soldier to all the prayers of the a weapon is the satwer wiliJ nglyauth a potent means of bringirig victory cannot be expected to for xo to or preparing thw defense of his countt7 are so intent on The rest of us - the ofvilians in the project sujgestion th t it should be stop ed is rank heresy reeking it sucoesd that the it not treason to most ti ll who know about it and But ekes are prac ca y the only people Also there is the old saw of thia about it therefore the only Miss who can In this case I disagree if the scientist that 'you scant stop progress is so great that it can indeed 1t be progress since the t aio of stanufacturs be made to agree that this if the world as a whole can be eontrolle4 and stopped it be dais Xt therefore sewn to at most urgent Yr President that you should full Is concluded consult ogtDhei to the view of the great majority res aaeordi syt forts of aboutit those o know world I beg of the In the name of the tutu of our cot trl and of the peace be an uaicnowa without this off bemuse I happen to you sirs Apt to pass snall of tinrthe2 influence or ma e in the public eye I an definitely and sgsainority those now in a position to form an opinion of there waintsih the right of those o oppose we to their opinion just as sane sound that any of us can offer refit my opii Q0 but I do not believe n diatntereetsd counsel on this question is you could turn 'There surely are asc in this country however to whew to a conclusion problem secure the tarts and me asking them to study this Only on the unbiased by their Owe deep and sincere interest in the pro Ct had been given Judgment of such a oould there be faith that consideration I hope I do not appear to all sides of his dssporatel7 grass gusetian you I have NIL faith and ponfidsaae and that pr r pt oue in this I rivers fait -vA confidence in you in fulfilling the the Is catiAtr7-bee full ettor%ous task that has befallen you and that you ass gol to lead us REGRADED UNCLASS ORD h - -' c l on-Jt 7c c c x r c to'4 SEC A 1 Y BY 1A r' F rho r ai t of t o Vidtod atatas r 240 1415 aad ddth as sio aeild iat# an on of lastipr and rut psaao Is tty and that rw aro the boot odds t4 t O t bu o and to ibex you aiiU twrs is MITL t axltitvdw of ProZos v isb as wA ow be rorpa tN to Soho tiaaiiN most xooprat2UU7 rA dtts4 r ADGRADID UNCLASS FI°D ORDER SEC ARMY BY TAG PER 72116 4 L th koy h44 lk4ra e c ' h' 9 £ 1 'V A N £