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1534465
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1975/03/27 - Lin Holton and Jerry Komes
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1
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1534465
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document
title
1975/03/27 - Lin Holton and Jerry Komes
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James M. Cannon Files (Ford Administration)
James Cannon's Meetings Files
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Uranium enrichment
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1534465
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1975-04-30
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4
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1975
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1975-03-01
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3
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1975
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The original documents are located in Box 43, folder "1975/03/27 - Lin Holton and Jerry
Komes" of the James M. Cannon Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box 43 of the James M. Cannon Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-5:30 PM - Meeting with Lynn
Holton and Jerry Comess
Plum Uranicim
Thursday, March 27, 1975
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WASHINGTON
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Please
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
April 9, 1975
MEMORANDUM FOR:
JIM CANNON
FROM:
JIM CONNOR for
SUBJECT:
URANIUM ENRICHMENT ISSUE
After our conversation a week or so ago with Jerry Komes and
Linwood Holton, you asked me to send you a note on the uranium
enrichment problem which might be used to bring the issue to
the Vice President's attention. The subject is complex, and
accordingly I have just put down a few points which seem to be
important.
As I see it, the issue comes down to whether we want to see a
situation develop sometime during the next decade in which the
U. S. electric utilities depend on a Government monopoly for
their primary fuel source. This situation is quite likely to occur
if utilities continue to develop nuclear capacity and if we don't
take steps shortly to insure that the next increment of enrichment
capacity is developed by the private sector.
Without going into detail, the issue has substantial budget implications
on the order of tens of billions of dollars of Federal outlays over the
next 15 years. It also has foreign policy implications. We are the
primary world supplier of enriched uranium for civilian power purposes.
It has considerable implications insofar as the relationship between
the public and the private sector is concerned. By maintaining this
activity in the public sector as it grows we will be contributing to the
growth of that sector, and it will be at the expense of the private sector.
There are legal (anti-trust) implications; questions of the proper
relationship between Government and business; and strong value
disagreements involved in the issue. Because of the complexity of the
technology, the magnitude of the investment and the enormity of the
physical construction required to build enrichment plants, we are also
FORD is LIBRARY GERALD
- 2 -
engaged in a problem that is essentially a long range one. Between
the time a decision is made to build an enrichment plant to the time
at which the plant actually starts producing material it is estimated
that roughly 8 to 10 years are involved.
For all of the above reasons, I think that you may wish to bring this
issue to the Vice President's attention. If you would like to discuss
it further, feel free to call on me.
GERALD LIBRASE R. FORD