March 20, 1970 Hr. Willtpa It. Polk Director, Adlal Stevensoa Institate af Xaternstlcmal Affafra 5757 wood&wn Avenue Chicago, fllinofe 60637 Ikar Xr. Polk: Ken Hansen called 6te tuduy and made it evident that I had wortold myself into a etalmate through come slsunderstandlng as to which of us van to taks, the nut lnittativ6. I 6m 6orry about thst, but having uou been cataljned by Ken, would like to share 6~ple further lhoughts with you. The e%pansLon of the B&3 to encompa66 a number of special i66ue6 on well- con6fdered important topics is one of the more Important opportunities vhich I can perceive in the area of common inter-t. I am not exactly mare what my operational role in this sight be, and I would be glad to know what thought6 you might have on it. The l666t 1 C6n do is to 6Ugg66t 6 COUplO Of &OpiC6, and I would continua to put near the top of the lfst the i66tm of nuclear energy development and it6 side eff6ct6, whihh ha6 become 60 contentious and IPO confusing in recent monthe. In fact, I had a very interasting and illumiuatfng time yesterday afternoon discussing these queationrc with the comafsslonera themeelves, and thfs made it even more evident that the country v66 suffering from avoidable agonies through lack of effectfve c cmmunlcation. I UR 8ure thi6 i% a subject on whfch Kabinowltch also has a good deal to say, but before X go any further I would Amply like to know what the prospect6 are of doing emething In this area. In the mme connection there is a general consensus that it would be very de6irable to facilitate factual ctxmunlcation on envIronmenta hatarde from nuclear activitie6, in 6 munner 6imilar to th6 periodic bulletins of the Public Bealth Service. Possibly the AI&C will undertake to do this Itself, recognilring that the press is unable to communicate reliable quan- titative data ou varioue in&dents. However, there might be eve6 more merit to trying to Identify B good technical reporter who could ask more pointed question6 of the AEC for incorporation into a periodfc evaluation report. I think it would attract 6 good deal of constructive a_&&eeful attention to the bulletfn if it were to undertake such a service. I also believe that the comaieaion is quite eager to defend Itself against abcolled @`expo6e*' of informxtion that it ~86 quite ready to promulgate in the first ins txlnce. Mr. Willium R, Polk March 20, 1970 Page 2 I have a aumber of other topics ia saind far special issues. Par example, I would like to be able to ask Myron Tribus, Assiscont Secretary of Gmxerce for Science and Technology, to argsnixe a "6~poaium" on the eubjeet of technological risk - to which he himself might be an outstanding contributor. I have been thinking quite a lot a;bout this matter my6elf along the lines of the enclosed abrtract `%`mm Prometheus to Frankeniatein", keeping ia mind that scientific investigation bring6 Its advances into 8x1 imperfect world und we ought to analyre more alossly the kind6 of atresees that it actually induce6 therein. I would, by the smyr b6 grateful for any suggestions you might huve yowelf on wary6 of conceptusliring this kind of inquiry. I continue to give a very high priority to glob81 epidemics as a subject that wmmante social concsrn. HIowmer, 0% I UIB in some confu6ing negotiations with the Nobel Poundstion on this rubjest I would not want to pu6h it right now for the bulletin. Sine6 we talked, we have gone a long way on question6 of biologic81 warfare snd the field is moving almost too rapidly for the Bulletin to contribute better than a6 a reporting vehicle, We ohould n6vertheless be getting much more maw6 on such 6ubject6 Ghan is eeaily available right now. The New6 und Cossaents section of Science me&mine does make 6 useful contribution in thi6 direction, but,with mm exceptions, its cosment6 tend to be rather superficial. I hope &hese remark6 rosy then 6erve a6 a basis of continuing our dialogue. Sincerely your8, Joehu6 LBBerberg Professor of Genetice