While, at the ASEE meeting in Seattle, Washington, and in visits with many engi-
neering deans as well as members of the Atomic Energy Commision, much interest
was shown on our Nuclear Engineering Program and our plans for a nuclear reac-
tor. Congratulations and encouragement were extended on the progressive program
that we are developing here in the School of Engineering at North Carolina State
College.

Among other things on my desk when I returned from Seattle was a letter to you
written by Dr. Beck under date of June 24, 1950, dealing with the sketch and
floor plans, as well as the external appearance of a building specifically de-
signed to house a nuclear reactor. I appreciate very much Professor J. D. Paul-
son's preparing this tentative sketch for the Physics Radiation Laboratory of
the School of Engineering.

There are several locations on the State College campus which would be most
suitable for this Radiation Laboratory, and Dr. Beck and I hope that in the near
future we may review these various locations and make a written report to you
and a request for approval from the Building Committee of the Board of Trustees.
I have heard unofficially, and which I hope is correct, that there is a strong
possibility that $150,000 of State funds have been obtained for the construction
of the nuclear reactor and that there is strong hope of obtaining matching funds
from private sources so that a total of $350,000 will be available to provide the
building to house the Reactor and to build the Reactor and its associated equip-
ment.

I believe the development of Nuclear Engineering training here in the School of
Engineering at North Carolina State College is one of the biggest advances which
has been made in this generation. We have effective national leadership in
this program for the development of experimental work and for graduate and under-
graduate instruction. The Atomic Energy Commission is most sympathetic to our
suggestions and is strongly supporting our designed program. We are now at
the most critical stage of bringing the reactor program to fruition, and that is
the obtaining of the necessary funds to construct the building as well as the
reactor. Dr. Beck and I discussed this whole program yesterday and lock for-
ward to hearing from you officially as to the status of our financial support
for this reactor development.

With continued high appreciation of your help and support with the developments
and programs of the Engineering School, I am

As you requested, Mr. Paulson and I have prepared a tentative sketch
of the floor plan and external appearance of a building specifically designed to
house the Nuclear Reactor State College intends to build. The details are not
completely thought out, but the four essential features of the eventual instal-
lation (sketch 1, left above) are inlcuded. They are, in order of importance

• 1. The Reactor Room, with the nuclear reactor, a huge octagonal block of concrete
  17 feet across and 11 feet high (largely underground and partly below floor
  level), in the center of the room. Around the reactor must be space for
  experimental equipment. Opposite each opening in the concrete block, from
  which a collimated beam of radiation may emerge, a narrow opening in the
  building wall leading to an underground radiation trap, must be provided.
  Head room above the reactor is needed for large ventilation blowers, and
  for lifting crane.
• 2. The Research Wing, or more correctly, the pre-and post-exposure sample pre-
  paration, handling and counting laboratories. These facilities for specimen
  manipulation immediately adjacent to the Reactor Room will more then double
  the types and importance of research projects which can be undertaken. This
  wing must be equipped for the handling of highly radioactive materials.
• 3. The Student Wing. With the press of research problems certain to be scheduled
  for the Reactor, and the high level of radioactivity, it will be virtually
  impossible to have students in the Research Wing for nuclear technology
  training. Yet instruction and education is one of the fundamental objectives
  for which the Reactor is being established. Hence a space adjacent to the
  Reactor suitable for laboratory and student research activities is highly
  desirable.
• 4. The Control-Observation-Calculation-Records Area. If necessary, the control
  console can be located in one of the laboratory wings, adjacent to the Reactor
  Room. It is almost imperative however, that there be a sizable area near the
  Reactor which is completely free of radiations or radioactive materials. Cal-
  culations, records, observation facilities for visitors (of which there are
  certain to be many because this will be the first reactor in the entire
  country-- the world, perhaps, accessible to the public), etc. must be located
  outside "work" areas.

On first sight, this whole building appears rather a large one.
I have sketched the entire plan as it most desirably should be built. If funds
are not available however, the entire laboratory, though desirable, would not
be initially essential to reactor operation. Quite effective work could be
done with only the central portion and one wing, or even with the central portion
alone (with reassignment of space functions). One wing, or both, could be added
later. It is possible also that each dimension of the building (except perhaps
those of the Reactor Room) could be reduced somewhat, if necessary.

I hope this information and these sketches will be adequate for
your purposes. If there is anything further we can provide you, please command
us.

Perhaps I should add for your information our reactor design, if
anything is ahead of schedule. If events ocour as we now anticipate, complete
approval of our project should be obtained and the construction phase should
begin on or before September 1 of this year.