Gilbert F. White
Q: Was that partly due to your influence?
A: Partly. By that time a good many other people had the idea, too. Certainly
TVA would have espoused it.
Q: The report in a sense supersedes BOB Circular A-47?
A: Yes.
Q: To your mind was it an improvement on A-47?
A: I think so. Again, I was strongly in favor of the effort they were making but
was distressed at the way some of the issues were resolved in what I thought
was a rather pedestrian fashion. I'd have to go back and look at that.
Q: By pedestrian, do I interpret that as gutless?
A: Partly; also unimaginative.
Q: So it was a political compromise? Is that what you're saying?
A: There were few indications of efforts to change the approach in any radical
fashion. It was a series of moderate adjustments of what had been the
prevailing policy. And I remember there were a number of discussion papers
that were out at the time being prepared. Many of them had, as I recall,
some interesting and more challenging ideas, but they got watered down
through the process.
Q: Now, who would be offering these discussion papers? People within the
various departments?
A: Some within the departments, but some from the outside. I can't recall, did
Art Maass make any contributions to that?
Q: I don't recollect that at all.
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