Indicative of the trend under the new classification policies toward more dissemination of unclassified information, three additional meetings already are planned for 1957 on an unclassified basis-open to access permit holders, of course, but also to any interested person who has not obtained access to restricted data. This list includes a meeting on boiling water reactors; one on nuclear safety and one on fast reactors.

These meetings bring together representatives of industrial organizations who desire to familiarize themselves with current technology in selected areas of present or potential interest to them. The meetings are arranged either as the Commission identifies particular areas of technology or manufacturing processes that are believed to be of present interest or as numbers of inquiries are received to indicate industry's interest in a given field.

In addition to the meetings listed above the Commission's program divisions also held a number of meetings of more limited interest on a variety of specific projects. Proceedings of all industrial information meetings are made available not only to those attending, but to others interested who possess the appropriate security clearance if any is required.

MORE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE

During the past year the Commission has continued to give attention to the expansion of the areas of classified scientific and technical information available to holders of access permits. One new category of classified information was added to the 27 categories previously available. This additional category cov ered secret restricted data on controlled thermonuclear processes. Access to restricted data in this category is authorized for organizations showing a need and meeting the following criteria:

1. That the applicant is engaged in a substantial effort to develop, design, build or operate a fission power reactor that is planned for construction; or 2. That the applicant possesses qualifications demonstrating that he is capable of making a significant contribution to research and development in the controlled thermonuclear field.

The wide range of industrial interest in the technology available under the access program has been fully demonstrated in the almost 2 years of the pro gram's operation. As organizations become more familiar with the information of interest to their special fields and proceed to the more advanced stages of their projects, new needs will doubtless develop. It will be the Commission's purpose further to expand its services to meet their needs.

SAFETY EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The increased participation in fuel manufacturing and handling, the use of isotopes, and operation of reactors, has been accompanied by accelerated interest in safety education and training. To meet the demands coming from prospective and actual users and from insurance companies and sometimes from other Gov ernment agencies, safety training aids which translate the experience in AEC contractor plants have been prepared. A radiation booklet in simple language (Radiation Safety Primer) for training employees has been published, supple mented by an instructor's handbook and 46 color slides, all of which are available to. civilian users. Especially designed for firemen and fire-control officers, ! pamphlet Radiation Hazards in Fire Fighting was published and has sold over 4,000 copies. The Commission has also cooperated with the National Fir Protection Association and fire insurance groups in the publication of pamphlet

for fire protection in radiation laboratories, in reactors, and in particle accelerators. Films have been made on the toxicity of uranium and uraniumzirconium alloy surface explosions; a narrated film on the safety measures involved in the Chalk River reactor incident in Canada is in production. Information on accidents as they occur involving the special hazards encountered in plants of Commission contractors are published and are available to the industry.

A plan is being worked out to offer instruction to fire chiefs, State fire marshals, and fire college instructors in problems related to fire fighting in nuclear energy plants which can be transmitted to fire department personnel.

Because of wide interest in current research and experience with explosions involving zirconium, thorium, and other pyrophoric metals, meetings of manufacturers and research personnel have been held in Washington and Pittsburgh; additional meetings are planned in early 1957 further to disseminate knowledge of developing technology to prevent explosions.

TABLE I.-Business or occupation of access permit holders

1 Since the 1955 report, the classifications for "Waste disposal,” “Regulation of utilities,” and “Publishing and advertising” were discontinued and the figures included in “Others not elsewhere classified.” NOTE. These figures include permit holders with more than one field of interest, resulting in a total greater than the number of permittees.

TABLE III.—Access permit holders by number of employees

TABLE IV.—Access permit holders by geographic areas1

1 Standard Department of Commerce areas.

TABLE V.-Number of permittees having access to secret restricted data by

Categories

Chemistry, general_.

categories

Chemistry, radiation and radiochemistry_-_

Chemistry, separation processes for plutonium and uranium.

Chemistry, transuranic elements---

V. MANPOWER BASE FOR THE ATOMIC ENERGY INDUSTRY

When the Commission appeared at these hearings last year, Dr. Libby and others dealt with the critical shortage of skilled manpower in atomic energy and other fields. They made the point that shortage of engineers and scientists threatened to become a serious limitation on atomic industrial development. This condition, as they pointed out, prevails for other lines of industrial development. One of the Nation's major problems for the future is to assure that enough men and women adequately trained in engineering and the sciences are available to support the needed growth in products and services.

During the past year increasing attention and efforts have been devoted by government and professional committees and agencies, educational institutions, industrial and business concerns, and others toward increasing the number and improving the quality of scientists and engineers. There are indications that the supply of newly graduated scientific and technical manpower, which has declined in the United States since 1950, is turning upward once again.

However, despite an improving picture, the shortage of scientific and technical manpower is of serious concern to the Nation and will continue to be serious for years to come. For example, the number of first degrees in engineering conferred by accredited institutions declined from 48,160 in 1950 to 19,707 in 1954 but rose to 23,547 in 1956. These data may be contrasted with the estimate of the Engineering Manpower Commission that the 1955 need was for approximately 35,000 new engineers a year and that the need will accelerate annually by 3,000 to 4,000 for the next several years. The number of first degrees in the physical and biological sciences decreased in like proportion with engineering from 46,102 in 1950 to 23,336 in 1954. The statistics for later years are not yet in hand.

The fact which gives most concern about the decline in the first half of the 1950's is that the proportion of engineering and science graduates to the total

number also declined. The science and engineering graduates of 1950 were nearly 22 percent of the total graduates; those of 1954 were only 15 percent of the total. In no area of our economy is the technical manpower problem of any greater import than in the developing atomic-energy industry. The growth of this industry depends upon an adequate supply of manpower trained in a wide variety of professional skills. More than half of the technical men engaged in Commission programs are engineers, drawn from every field of engineering; one-third are physical scientists, mostly chemists and physicists; the remainder are specialists in biology, medicine, and other life sciences.

Expanding activities in peaceful uses of atomic energy will exert a continuing major influence on the demand for technical manpower. As the joint committee's Subcommittee on Research and Development recognized in its report after extensive hearings last April on the manpower shortage, the demands of the atomicenergy industry can best be met by efforts to increase the total supply of competent and qualified graduates in the scientific and engineering disciplines. The scientists and engineers needed in the atomic-energy industry are persons with well-rounded basic training who will best learn at the graduate level how to modify or adjust the normal practices of their respective specialties to the changing technology of an atomic age.

SURVEYS OF MANPOWER NEEDS

The first step toward assuring an adequate supply of trained men for the atomic industry of the future is to find out the probable size of the demand. We know generally that demands for manpower trained in nuclear disciplines are numerous and increasing among Commission contractors; among the armed services and civilian agencies of Government; among colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations for education and research; and among privately supported atomic-energy industries.

The Commission considers it essential to make estimates of future manpower demand broad enough to include the individual interests of all groups partic ipating in atomic-energy activities. For this purpose, the Commission during the past year has undertaken a four-part survey program designed to provide information regarding the demand for engineers and scientists :

(a) The Atomic Industrial Forum, under contract with the Commission, is gathering data regarding the scientific and technical manpower needs of industries;

(b) The Commission's staff is gathering data regarding its own and contractor requirements;

(c) The Commission's staff also is gathering data on the manpower requirements for other Government agencies in or entering the atomic energy field;

(d) The American Society for Engineering Education has been requested to gather data with respect to college, university, and nonprofit organization manpower requirements in the atomic energy field; a contract for this study is now being negotiated.

Data from this survey program will permit comprehensive analyses of the demand for technical and scientific manpower in atomic energy. Summaries of all the survey data will be provided to the committee as soon as the responses have been received and analyzed.

The Atomic Energy Commission is not awaiting the results of the studies before moving ahead with various programs in education and training to serve the obvious needs. Some of these programs were reported to the Joint Committee in the section 202 hearings of 1956; others have been started since and were reported to the committee as they were undertaken.

TRAINING AND STUDY PROGRAMS BY INDUSTRY

There are many indications that industry, educational institutions, and other Government agencies recognize the critical importance of time and are also taking similar steps. The Commission recently completed an inventory of the extent and kinds of training and education being offered by its contractors. The results of this inventory are summarized below: