NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 449 



In considering this type of engineering and development work, related to but 

 not in itself part of oceanography, we see that the initiative for our participa- 

 tion comes from our specialized capability — the chance of applying nuclear tech- 

 niques to increase the range and power of conventional methods in use by other 

 people investigating the imdei'seas environment. Our motivation is the respon- 

 sibility to seek out new and useful applications for nuclear energy. The de- 

 cisions on establishing and supporting such work are ones that relate the work 

 to the projected needs of the users in oceanography and take account of the 

 ability to support the work in its competition with other applications for nuclear 

 energy in many environments. 



A third type of work performed by the AEC relates to the oceans in one way 

 or another but not directly to investigations in oceanography. Thus, our sub- 

 stantial water desalination programs may make it easier to meet man's grow- 

 ing need for water by drawing upon the ocean as a source of supply. Our pro- 

 grams in the application of isotopic irradiation to food preservation include 

 a substantial emphasis on the preservation of food from the sea. Similarly, our 

 programs in ship propulsion, both civilian and Navy, other than the specific 

 deep submergence effort, involve the ocean but are not considered to be directly 

 related to oceanography as such. All of these programs are supported and co- 

 ordinated in response to motivations and in accordance with resources which 

 do not directly relate to the formulation of a national program in oceanography. 



Against this brief description of the nature of our ocean related programs 

 we can consider our methods for managing them and coordinating them with 

 programs under our own and other agency sponsorship. Those most closely 

 related to oceanographic programs in other agencies are the environmental pro- 

 grams in the first area discussed. It is important that they be coordinated 

 to be sure that there is no inadvertent duplication and, in response to a more 

 common problem, to attempt to fit them together with work undertaken by 

 others to be sure that in the national program all promising lines of effort 

 toward understanding the oceans are being followed. Effective coordination 

 started with these programs before there was formal interagency effort, with a 

 recognition by the AEC of the existence of competence in these areas in other 

 agencies of government and in other organizations. In our work we have main- 

 tained close working relationships with such groups, and we utilize them in 

 accomplishing our objectives in preference to building up major competencies 

 or facilities in-house. The work of formal coordination has been carried out 

 in recent years, we feel successfully on the whole, through the Interagency Com- 

 mittee on Oceanography. 



Such coordination is a process conceptually distinct from the proposition 

 that the total program should be managed from one place, and a considera- 

 tion of the nature of the work may show that it is reasonably so. This flows 

 from the fact mentioned above that the management decisions consider our 

 work primarily as a part of the total environmental work and as a part of the 

 total program in nuclear energy development, with the coordination being car- 

 ried out to bring it into consonance with other oceanographic work undertaken 

 for different motivations. Our work is an example of the general type of prob- 

 lem that Dr. Homig has mentioned earlier in pointing out that a group, however 

 constituted, which attempts to pull together the oceanographic work will of 

 necessity have to deal w*ith the resources available in accordance with judg- 

 ments of relative priorities. As he has indicated, this basic consideration will 

 influence all efforts to develop a national oceanographic program within the 

 executive branch. 



Relations between the AEC and other agencies in the second type of program, 

 the application of nuclear energy to the production of power or other useful ends 

 in relation to the ocean environment, partake primarily of the relationship be- 

 tween the developer and the user. We do coordinate these programs directly 

 with potential users and try to carry on our developments to be consistent with 

 their needs. To some extent this involves pulling together with specific needs of 

 various users, but it is more clearly a problem of fitting: together generally 

 stated needs with the capabilities possible within a developing technology. Such 

 capabilities extend across different areas of application ; for example, much of 

 the technology which is being developed to provide compact power for the space 

 environment also will be applicable to underseas iise. The problem of coordi- 

 nation is not one that is a serious hindrance to the program, and the competition 

 for resources, though taking place in a different area from the environmental 

 work, is similarly one that would have to be faced by any organization attempt- 



