Note by the Secretary, Subject: Use of Uranium Ore in Operation of "arthritis Clinics" and AEC Licensing Activity with Respect Thereto (Encl; Report by the Director of Construction and Supply)

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ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION CLINICS" AND AEC LICENSING AC TIVITY WITH RES PECT THERETO Note by the Acting Secretary The attached report by the Director of Construction and Supply Is circulated for the information of the Commission. New York Operations Oak Ridge Operations San Francisco Oprns, Santa Fe Operations ' Savannah River Oprns. Grand Junction Opms,

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1, .The purpose of this report is t o inforin the Commission and a2pro pri ate staff members of the existence and general gc ti - vi ties of numerous s o - called "uranium cli nias " designed t o attract persons afflicted with arthritis, rheumatism, sinusitis, etcetera, Some of these " clinics " are located in or at uranium ore mines others in specially constructed buildings, USWllg near populous areas, 2. The activities of these establishments are of i ate rest t o AEC mainly because of A ECf s responsibility for source material licensing and the fact that in sage cases AEC licenses have been used t o lend an aura of official sanction to the operation of some of these establishments p 3. Pertinent sections of the AEC regulation for the control of source material (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, the term Isounce material1 neans aizy material, exce pt fission able material, which contains by we1 h t uranium, (2) thorium, o r (3) any co!nblriatlon there of. material which has not been chemically processed i n any manner and ( 2 ) source materllal 2 . 3 the f o r m of "8 40.10 Restriction on transfer:, Unless authorized bv a license issued by trie Commission, no person mai tr an of er or deliver,receive possession of or title to,or export from the United States, aliy soixce material after reinoval from its place of deposit in nature ,,,.

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"b 40,11 Exempted transfers, Except where export is in KdF Ef i " ere export occurs, the restriction of 8 40,lO does not apply t o any trans Per,delivery,or roc ei pt of possession or title, of the following: (a) During any single calendar month a quantity of raw sou.rce material af tei - removal from Its place of deposit In nature which contains less than 10 pounds o f ura;iurn o r thorium .or any conbination there of,, 4. The first establishment of this nature was the Free Enterprise Mine ,near Boulder, Montana, The operator, Elkhorn Mining Company, completely renovated the mine early in 1952, i n - stalled an elevator to the 80 foot level and constructed comfortable treatment rooms behind air - lock doors at that level,A reception hall and offices were built at the surface, It has t been e8timated that over 5O,OOO persons have visited this establishment during the past twelve months, 5, AEC Source .Material License P-505 was issued on September 7 , 1949, t o Elkhorn Mining Company authorizing transfer o f raw sou2ce material from the Free Enterprise Claim Group t o "any person licensed by the AEC within the limits of his license " . signed principally to authorize transfer from mine operators to AEC-licensed processing plants,) Subsequent license renewals extended the validity period to April 1, 1953. During the inte2L.n the Company made a few relatively small shipments of ore and undei' took development work t o extend its operations, No shipments have taken place, however, sirice May 1951. Inthe meantime the Company has claimed expenditures of $100,000 to establish facj.2.:- ties to accommodate persons afflicted with arthritis,etc. For ci period prior to October 13, 1952, in advertising its arthritis establishment over radio station KOPR, Butte, Montana, the Elkhorn Mining Company ended its advertisement with the statement:

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UNC LASS IFIED Operating under U, S. Atomic Energy Commission License NumberI 1 P-505. 'I This statement was deleted after intervention by the AEC Butte Sub-office of the Raw Materials Division, On April2, 1953, i n response t o an application for license renewal, the Licensing Controls Branch advised the Elkhorn Mining Company that no action will be taken on the application until such time as evidence i s submitted that appropriate arrangements have been made fora transfer of raw source material to a person o r firm licensed by AEC to receive such material, Under this procedure the Company will not possess a continuing license,valid for the usual one year period a Shipments of ore destined for AEC-licensed procos8or8, if they arise,will be licensed on an individual shipment basis, 6 , Due t o the success of the Free Enterprise Mine a number of others have opened similar " clinics " .At the present time there are atleast nine such mines operating in Montana, some charging fees and others depending upon donations, One ofthe most successful is the Merry Widow Mine, owned by Mlracle Mines, Incorporated. It has been visited by hordes of visitors seeking cures for var i - property. Most of the enterprises .are Inthe same general area, described as the Boulder - Basin District, The attached map Some 40,000 t o 50,000 persons have visited this 7* The latest innovatlon in this business is the packaging i n bags, and selling these to customers for a fee which ' usually runs about $2.00 per pound. The customer applies the bag of material to afflicted parts, 8. On January 7, 1953, the Salt Lake Exploration Branch, Division of Raw Materials,reported,in pap t,as follows:

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"For some time now we have been plagued by a n increasing num5er of businesses coming into ex is - tence inthe Bouleer batholith area for the sole purpose of effecting radioactive ' cures I of one type OF another,Latest estimates indicate that 60 t o 70 thousand persons have visited these 80called clinics and have contributed upwards o f better bus kes sb we a us,etc., have contacted us as t o our control over the use of theae materials an& we have proviCed them w i t h +,he information contained inthe Atomic Energy Act governing the exemption of material assaying less than 0,05$ uranium, and other provisions, Many people have expressed the opinion that these businesses are perpetrating a fraud Oil the public and the impli cation is that we are atleast remotely ' I.or Most of the operators have letters from visitors attesting to the effective neos of raCioactivity in relieving them of pain and occasionally these are published to stimulate business e Some of the properties now advertising radioactive 'cu.res1 wwe checked and four d lacking in radio - activity,so that any hole in the ground is a "Other areas including the Front Range and Marysva;e are starting to give this business a . 9.. A recent communication from the Food and Drug Administration,Federal Security Agency, reports that an establishment has been set up i n Spokane, Washington, under the name of "The Uranium Center of Spokane", Ore i s pla.ced inor under benches, Patients are charged $3500 per hour for the privilege of sitting there on c It was reported that the operators of this enterprise obtainec: 12,275 pounds of ore from the Last Chance Mine located i n Montana. Licensing Controls Branch records indicate that th:.S ore may be of sufficient quality to come within the purview of the applicable AEC regulation governing transfers of source material,A recommendation is being made that this matter be referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a possible violation of the regulation quoted i n paragraph 3 0 nec tion,the report identifies the transfer r or of the,material in this case as R, A . Wellborn, t o whom an AEC source material license was twice refused within the past three months,

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10, A t Picacho, ATiZCn3, 44 miles north of Tucson, an establishment designated as "Uranium Foundation No, 1" has attracted several hundred visitors since it opened i n December 1952. The proprietor, Fred A. Brown$ haa stated that he also owns stock in the Free En tez p rise Mine i n Montana, The Picacho enter p z is e consists of a building about ten feet wide and twenty-five feet i n length. Uranium ore has been placed i n the ceiling and wa113, Benches have been built along the inside walls of the building, Sacked ore, stacked in front of the building,is also available t o those who wish t o have closer contact with the material, No charge is made for visiting this establishment but donations are accepted, The owner, Fred R e Brown, plans with an associate in a new firm called "Uraniurl Research Foundation" to build a four times larger establishment at Mesa, Arizona, just outside Phoenix. He was informed that the transfer of .ore from the mine, located 60 mile8 south of Tucson, t o Mesa would requipe an AEC license and it was indicated to him that alice me application for this purpose would not be looked on favorably. On April. ? , 1953, an application was received inthe Licensing Controls Branch from Mesa, Arizona, signed by Ralph C, Campbell, Vice President, The application is filled out i n the usual manner for obtaining a "procluc%?~s" license, No mention is rr.ade of the proposed Met38 " arthritis foundation " + In a reply being prepared for dispatch to this firm, reference is being made t o Brown's revelations regarding the firm's intentions ; that it does not appear that the establishment and operation of the facility is under the sponoorship or has the approval of any recognized medical group o r organization ; and that,accordingly,the license application is

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11, Atthe time of the recent visit by a representative of the Licensing Controls Branch t o Drown's Picacho establishment, an AEC license he then held was picked up and cancelled. This license,authorizing transfers of oreto AEC p?ocessors, etc, was affixed to the Coor of the " Ura nlm Founaation No, 1" for all his visitors to see o Earlier Brown had the following painted i n large black letters on the door: "THE BUILDER OF THIS TUNNEL statement had been painted over after an earlier vis lt by a representative of the Phoenix Sub-office of the Raw Materials Division. Photographs of the Picacho enterprise are shcii!n i n 12, A rather novel twist was envisioned by one CarlD, S tickle,operator of the S tickle Secret Service, Portland, Oregon, He wrote t o AEC last October that he had been retained by several Montana and Idaho min4 owners t o thoroughly investigate the effects on sufferers of exposure to radioactive ores, It was proposed toset up a radioactive experimental foundation for the and set up a basic operation in Portland, Oregon, and " stockpile quantities of these low-grade ores at strategic points through the United States where experimectal exposure stations would be established which are accessible to the largest number of suffer - ing people" ,,,, "It i s our belief that a nominal charge for occupancy, along the same lines as any hospital, would cover the costs of operation, " I n response to his request for AEC license forms he was advised that AEC wwld take no action on his comnun i cation until he submitted prior clearance from the Food and from S tickle during the six months interim, It was proposed to incorporate No further communication has been received

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and Son, (Chemists-Toxicologists-Engineers), San Bernardino, California,visited the Mineralogical Laboratory of the Division o f Raw Materials, Mr, Greusel submitted two samples for radio - metric analysis, One sample, originating from a claim near The other sample, originating from a claim near Big Top Mountain, Big Bear, Cali for n la, assayed 0,06$. MrO Greusel seemed anxious t o determine whether these samples would assay below 0,05$ per - cent uranium, His remarks suggested that his principals might package and sell this material as a curative for arth ri tls and would make application for a license to transport it. are not being mined at present, 14, On April 10, 1953, the material attached as Exhibit "D" (and Annex there to),was brought to the attention of the Lice ns iw Controls Branch. This information discloses that the Lone Star Mining Company, Denver, Colorado, advertises the availability of their "Radon Gas Mine" for visitations by afflicted persons fora fee of $5.00 per 40 minutes, An AEC source material " producer ls " license, No, P-557, was issued to the Loce Star Mining Company i n November 19119 and was last renewed on April 1, 1953, fora one year period. Preliminary investigation indicates that this mine has prod!rced little if any ore during the past few years,A further study of the case will be made t o determine if ore i s actually being produced at the present time and whether steps should be taken to effect a cancellation or modification of the license. There has been no evidence received to date indicating that the Lone Star Mining Company 13 usicg the AEC license to attract customers tothe mine for health benefits,

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15, In general, it istne opinion of reliable people i n the medical profession that exposure to radioactive ore is of no' value inthe treatment of arthritis. Uafortunately, however, there is a lack of concrete clinical evidence t o give weight to this opinion, It is likely that until the views of the medical profess ion are widely disseminated among arthritic sufferers there will be an increasing number of these so - called " clinics " , Various State an8 Federal agencies are informed and concerned about the spread of these activities, There have been no reports of prosecutions or other retarding action, however. U , S, Public Ee al th Ser vlc e has been particularly concerned about this problem and has actually investigated some of these claims, 16, In this connection, the following i s quoted froma letter dated October 2, 1952, addressee to the Better Business Bureau of Spokane by Dr, G. D. Carlyle Thompson, Executive Officer, State Board of Iiealth, State of Montana: "In gumming up the situation for you, it might be said that some claim beneficial results from the visits to the mines, and some don ' t , There is, however, no evidence inthe medical or nuclear physics field which indicates any proof of the value of this type of alleged treatment, The matter is being studied by a number of groups, private and official, with regard to violation of law, both State and Federal, and as t o whether or not a fraud is being perpetrated. We are also sturlying the mines with regard to hazardous cond it iom which may exist, either for the visitors or the employees, asa resu ' l t of exposure to radioactive substances , which, incidentally, vary considerably in the mines i n question .,, So far as we know there is no medical participation in the handling of cases,either in making o r ccpfirmlng a diagnosis or in reviewing 17. The Licensing Controls Branch, Division of Constructio;: ~ n dSupply, i s following a policy of refusing licenses in …