HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Dear Art:

Two points concerning the Medical Annex to the Cyclotron building,

First: Dr. William H. Sweet was the Principal Investigator on the original NASA grant for construction of the Medical Annex as well as for, the, NASA research grant NsG-262. The latter was not renewed after June 30, 1967, although we were authorized to spend from a small remaining balance up to the end of this year. For the past three years the NASA research grant supported work in physics and biology only; the medical work, under the direction of Dr. Raymond N. Kjellberg, has of late been financed by small grants from the M.G.H. and the Medical School and by charges to the patients.

I do not feel that Dr. Sweet or NASA have any claim on the Medical Annex building, once the cyclotron has been shut down. However, I do believe that it would be courteous for you or Franklin Ford to write Dr. Sweet (White Bldg., Mass. General Hospital) that, since it will no longer be possible to use the Medical Annex for the purposes for which it was constructed, after December 31, 1967, the University expects to put it to other use.

Second: The Physics Department urgently needs the Cyclotron building for the assembly of large experimental equipment under the overhead crane. Quite separately, we need the Medical Annex to relieve the present serious overcrowding in the Cyclotron laboratory building. With the addition of both buildings, we can get along reasonably well until the new DEAP - Physics unit near Cruft is completed.

It however in the interim we should be forced by the construction of the cooling Unit-Computer "sandwich" building to give up Dunbar, it would be possible to move the displaced activities into the Medical Annex and cyclotron area, but it would be extremely crowded once again.

Sincerely,

W. M. Preston

Director, Physics Laboratories.

P.S. I enclose a copy of an unsolicited letter from a grateful patient

CC: Professor R. Wilson

5 University Hall

Dear Franklin;

On at least two occasions I have announced an irrevocable decision to terminate operation of the Harvard cyclotron. The first date was December 31, 1961, and a wistful Goodbye Party was held at about that time to mark the end of its 20-odd years of service.

All support of cyclotron operation by the Office of Naval Research ceased at the end of 1967, but that agency was committed by its contract (wisely negotiated by Mr. Pratt!) to "restore the premises." It turns out that this will be an expensive business; an estimate by C. T. Main in February came to about $200,000, much of which would go to breaking up the large re-enforced concrete shielding blocks, too big to remove in one piece.

You will recall that for over five years the cyclotron's proton beam has been used to treat patients, with various conditions which hopefully may be arrested or improved following destruction of the pituitary gland, in a joint venture with Dr. Raymond N. Kjellberg of the Massachusetts General Hospital. It became clear early this year that the O. N. R. lacked the funds necessary to remove the cyclotron and thus that much of the space in the Cyclotron Building was not likely soon to become available for use by the Physics Department. Meanwhile, Dr. Kjellberg urged that some way be worked out so that treatment of his patients could continue. An informal arrangement was made under which we agreed to operate the cyclotron on a daily fee basis until June 30, 1968. The M.G.H. paid us from charges made to their patients. Some use of the machine was also made by NASA and by Professor Bainbridge of this Department. A special account set up for the purpose with the Comptroller was comfortably in the black on June 30, when once again I announced an irrevocable closing.

The O. N. R., in an attempt to finance removal of the cyclotron, cast about for possible buyers. No one wanted it; the best possibility seemed to be the sale to a laboratory like Brookhaven of the magnet steel at a price below the cost of scrap and insufficient to help materially. By early summer it appeared likely that our machine will be around for a long time, while the government agencies' budgets remain tight.

In July a significant change occurred in the official position of the M. G. H. which previously, while blessing the cyclotron medical work, refused to assume any financial responsibility for it. Partly this came about because of more widespread agreement that the proton beam irradiations were helping patients, some of whom could not other­wise be offered efficacious treatment. Negotiations were reopened and, after rather lengthy bargaining, a tentative agreement was reached on October 7. In anticipation of an agreement at an earlier date, patients had already arrived from distant parts of the country, so treatments commenced on October 8.

The Fourteen Points of agreement are enumerated under the date October 4, 1968; with them I enclose the latest pertinent correspondence between myself and Mr. Henry J. Murphy, Associate Director of the M. G. H. I enclose also copies of an exchange of letters with Dr. Padgett of the Washington O.N. R. giving permission for continued use of the cyclotron and reaffirming the Navy's responsibility ultimately to restore the premises.

On the basis of our experience in the first six months of this year, we estimate that all operating costs of the cyclotron will be recovered if we sell 40 days "time" in 12 months. Whatever slight financial risks, are involved are assumed by the M.G.H.; they are slight because they are free to close down operations if it is found we are running in the red. Mr. Andreas M. Koehler, Engineer and Assistant Director of the Cyclotron, and a Corporation appointee, will spend about half his effort on the project, with the M.G.H. guaranteeing a corresponding fraction of his salary. We are also offered a "credit" so as to be enabled to get started, in advance of collecting income, without our account being forced into the red.

We have budgeted for indirect costs to be collected by Harvard on sums spent here. With your permission, I will ask Mr. Janke to work this out with Mr. Murphy. I believe Harvard should recover thus at least $5,000.

We have also a provision for the payment to the Physics Department of $100 per day of operation. Even without the removal of the cyclotron and its shielding, the Harvard group working on experiments at the CEA can use several thousand square feet around the machine and in the Medical Annex. Due to the hazard of radiation, much of this space must be vacated when the machine is actually running. These payments are in partial compensation. We propose to use the money for the benefit of the CEA groups, either for renovation or remodeling of existing space or for rental of storage space in the vicinity (should this prove possible.)

I welcome your comments and hope that you will approve this agreement with the M. G. H.

Sincerely,

W. M. Preston

Director, Physics Laboratories

WMP :mb

Encs.

P.S. If agreeable to you, will you be so good as to inform Mr. Donald Porter (office for Research Contracts, Holyoke center) that you approve his requesting a no-cost extension of contract NAS - 9 - 800S for one year from July 1, 1968?

This contract was written for $18,320 by the Manned Space­craft Center in Houston, to buy time on the cyclotron for calibration of equipment for the Apollo mission. It was for some reason dated 05/22/68 - 06/30/68, but only $4,580 was spent in that period. The NASA people are anxious to do some more work on the cyclotron as soon as it can be arranged.