19 cents above inorganic chemicals-the two industries selected as most comparable to atomic energy in processes and equipment. However, the 6-percent increase pattern in the oil industry, set early in 1956, was not reflected in these figures.

Work Stoppages

During the first 5 months of 1956, Commission operating activities were interrupted by two work stoppages. Both strikes involved workers employed by American Car and Foundry Industries at Buffalo, N. Y. Neither strike was sanctioned by the bargaining agent, the United Steelworkers of America. As in previous years, the ratio of time lost to time scheduled is insignificant (0.5 percent) in operations in comparison with that lost in construction activities.

A strike of Zia town maintenance and service employees at Los Alamos, N. Mex., was initiated by teamsters and laborers after negotiations over contract renewal with the basic maintenance crafts had broken down. Some 580 Zia employees were involved directly and the strike resulted in a total loss of 57,600 man-hours including some construction work affected by the establishment of picket lines. The 1956 loss for 5 months of 1956 in town maintenance and service activities was 1.1 percent.

Although the Commision has done considerably less construction during the past year, idleness from strikes during the first 5 months of 1956 was relatively greater than during the same period of any known

previous year. It amounted to 4.6 percent of the working hours scheduled. Of 16 work stoppages in construction during the period, three strikes at Hanford, Wash., were the most serious.

It is Commission policy to encourage its construction contractors to negotiate labor agreements wherever a project is so large as to overshadow other local construction. Since August 1947, the amount of construction at Hanford, Wash., had made it desirable to cover all construction crafts by a project agreement which provided certain uniform conditions including daily "isolation pay" in lieu of travel and subsistence. Early this year, because relatively little programmed construction remained at Hanford, the agreement was abandoned at the insistence of seven unions and to conform with Commission policy of encouraging adherence to area labor conditions, negotiated by local unions and local employer organizations, wherever the volume of construction permits.

As a result of the change, several disputes arose over travel allowances proposed to replace isolation payments. Consequently, of the total of 521,040 man-hours lost in the first 5 months of this year 461,796 were lost at Hanford. Considerable improvement occurred at Oak Ridge, Tenn., where loss of scheduled work time dropped to 0.1 percent during the first 5 months of 1956 from 1.9 percent during a similar period in 1955.

The Atomic Energy Labor-Management Relations Panel has handled only two disputes involving employees of operations contractors during the last 5 months. In both cases, one involving Phillips Petroleum Co. at Arco, Idaho, and Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers, AFL-CIO, the other involving Union Carbide Nuclear Corp. and Atomic Trades and Labor Council AFL-CIO, at Oak Ridge, Tenn., the Panel's recommendations provided the basis for settlement. At the request of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the Panel took jurisdiction and the workers returned to the job on June 6, 1956.

Safety Experience

The occupational injury record during 1955 was the best ever experienced in the Atomic Energy Program. Disabling injuries were reduced 24 percent over 1954. The severity of injuries as measured by loss of worktime decreased 41 percent. There were fewer fatal accidents than in 1954. Dollar losses from fire and explosion continued at a low rate during the last 6 months of 1955. The Commission recognized 39 outstanding safety records by contractors and Commission offices.

An explosion of zirconium scrap metal, which cost two lives at Oak Ridge in May 1956, is being thoroughly investigated. The findings will be widely disseminated because of the great interest in this metal.

Research work has been inaugurated into the causes of spontaneous ignition of certain metals (see Reactor Development).

The Washington Safety and Fire Protection Branch has increased its efforts to make available to licensees, other governmental agencies, and the general public, information about hazards and safeguards peculiar to Commission industrial operations. A film, "The Mechanism of Uranium Poisoning" was produced. A publication, "Radiation Hazards in Firefighting," was placed on public sale. A Radiation Safety Primer package consisting of a set of slides, a cartoon book, and the "Instructors Handbook" was made available for public purchase. Other publications are in preparation.

The Fire Hazards of Atomic Industry Course, regularly held in the East, was conducted for the first time on the West Coast.

Director, Division of Intelligence----- C. H. REICHARDT.