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Show Page 2 Rocky Mtn. OIL & MINING JOURNAL Published weekly In Salt Lake City, Utah by Utah Scene Publishing Co., 4386 W. 3780 South, Salt L ake City, Utah 84120. Mailing address: P.O. Box 19243, Salt Lake City, Utah 84119. Serving the mining and oil Industries of the Rocky Mountain Region. Articles and Information contained herein are true and factual to the best knowledge of the publisher. Information and opinions published are the sole responsibility of the publisher and do not reflect the attitudes or opinions of the merchants, brokers, corporations and service firms who advertise herein or otherwise sponsor this publication. per copy 25$ AEC wont sell REDOX facility $2 col. Inch $2 for 20 wds Phone: 298 2403 or 298 3703 Editor & Publisher Chuck Hayward Enid J Hayward Circulation Manager Burned EDITORIAL the basis of a preliminary survey, the Atomic EnergyCom-misslo- n is making plans to restore and replace facilities heavily damaged as a result of a fire on May 11 at the aec's Rocky Flats, Colorado, plant. Preliminary estimates indicate that the cost of this work will be about $40 million to $50 mil- The 27 12 per cent oil depletion allowance, long considered one of the most entrenched of all special tax provisions, will be under serious attack this summer. There Is a growing feeling in Congress that the House Ways and Means Committee will Include a scale down of the rate In its package of tax reforms. lion. The fire was confined to one building - Building 776 - but a connected adjoining structure, Building 777, was damaged by water and smoke. The interior of both buildings was contaminated with plutonium, and decontamination efforts already are under- Once out of the committee, the fate of such a proposal In the House, and especially in the Senate, Is unpredictable. The Nixon Administration did not recommend any change in the rate of the allowance - a portion of the Income from an oil property which the producer is allowed to deduct on the theory that It representes the using up of underground assets. administration did recommend some tightening of collateral rules used by producers to obtain fuller advantage of the al- lowance. way. The fire is being investigated by a special AEC committee. The But now, in private conversation, administration officials talk as though they are expecting a committee slash at the depletion rate itself. he has said, the smaller depletion allowances granted may be trimmed as well. other natural resource industries Under its present schedule, depletion problem in about a month. tions, both in this country and abroad. In fact, the committee may tackle the Like their successors, Johnson Administration tax special- -. Ists did not recommend reducing the depletion percentage itself. But they did commission a study that strikes hard at the major arguments for the provision. President Lyndon B. Johnson never endorsed that study or any of his subordinates' other tax proposals. He simply left them without comment for the new administration. Those who want the depletion allowance left alone insist that without it exploration for untapped oil deposits in this country, already reduced, will drop drastically. The result, they say, will be ever increasing dependence on foreign oil supplies, unemployment in the industry and danger of a real crisis in case of war. the study made for the former administratio by the CON-SA- D Research Corp. of Pittsburgh concluded that "percentage depletion is a relatively inefficient method of encouraging exploration and the resultant discovery of new domestic reserves of liquid petroleum." Eliminating the percentage depletion would reduce existing serve levels by only 3 percent, the study estimated. CHICAGO BRIDGE & IRON CO. in these applica- interest As Members are expecting a flood of mail and visits from industry spokesmen when that time comes, and the pressure is sure to be revived at every juncture of congressional action. Several committee members, though far from a majority, are from major oil producing states. part of the reorganization, Plowshare activities and 12 to the assigned positions Special Projects Division in the AEC's San Francisco Operations Boyles Bros. Drilling; Go. CONTRACTING Phone 484-95- 5 Manager r 550 WEST 17th SOUTH There wer no injuries, and as previously reported, one fireman received an exposure above the prescribed levels. He received treatment and has been returned to duty. There is no appreciable amount of plutonium outside the buildthere is no known ing, and contamination off-si- te as a result of the fire. Book value of the buildings is $32 million, and the replacement value is estimated at about $60 million. The preliminary estimate of of the cost for decontaminating and restoring the two buildings and equipment includes allowances for engineering and contingencies. The estimate does not have been transferred to Washington. The Special Projects Division has had the primary responsibility for working with private industry in studying industrial application of peaceful nuclear explosions. These functions were incorporated in the Washington division effective Office le include the cost of reprocessing of the plutonium involved in the fire area. The quantity of plutonium that will have to be reprocessed through recovery operations has not yet been determined. Production operations will be resumed section by section in the two buildings as they are re. effect on current production schedules is being stored. The analyzed. Some sections of the damaged areas of the plant will be restored within a month. The more seriously damaged areas would take a year or more tore-stor- e. The facility is owned aec by the and is operated by the Dow Chemical Company. tration. projects. to be Assistant Director assisting in the overall administration of the program and also will serve in a daul capacity as Assistant Director for Program The reorganization does not affect the responsibility assigned to the AEC's Nevada Operations Office in Las Vegas for the field conduct of Plowshare John S. Kelly, who has head All Types & Sizes of STRUCTURAL STEEL Engineering Coro Drilling Tunnels BARS -- PLATES -- SHEETS A REINFORCING STEL Geology General Offices: OFFICES 1624 Pioneer Road Salt Lake City, Utah 84104 .801: 487-367- PLANTS-65- PHONE District Offices: P.O. Bok 944 Sparkt, Nmdi P.O. Boi Oil Auburn. Calif. P.O. loi 007 Spokana, Waih. Mil 05020 99202 95401 W. Stk Ava. OoMan, Colo. ISMS 00401 P.O. Boi 7495 Louiivilla, Ky. 40207 Foreign Offices: Reform 403-- 1 106 Moiico City 5 D.F. Caiilla 21-Cosilla SI 66 Chile Lime, Porn Santiago, -- 1 Crandall Bldg. West 17th So Salt Lake City, Utah 1 P.O. Boi 9571 Phoanis, Aril. Administration. COMPLETE WAREHOUSE SERVICE Grouting re- William Oakley will continue WESTERN STEEL SERVICE CENTER Rotary Drilling Shafts Soil Sampling ed the Plowshare program since its inception in 1957, will continue as Director of the division. Three members of Mr. Kellys staff will serve as assistant directors responsible for technical operations, program development, and program adminis- May 18. Mino Developing D P. O. Box 687 - Salt Lake City, Utah SERVICES Exploration . ROBERT M. PHELPS, full-sca- Plowshare revamped by AEC sion has reorganized its Division of Peaceful Nuclear Explosives. The reorganization will enable the AEC to administer more effectively it's Plowshare program to develop peaceful uses for nuclear explosions and to be more responsive to increas-i- n k., loads are more processing foreseeable. clearly REDOX is an acronym for the reduction - oxidation process used to recover uranium solvent extraction first built in the United States facility for this purpose. It was shut down in December of 1966 as a result of plutonium production cutbacks announced in early 1964. . The Atomic Energy Commis- The man in charge of the tax legislation. Chairman Wilbur D. has said repeatedly the depletion allowance has beMills, come a symbol of tax reform and that Congress would not be likely to accept a bill that left the allowance untouched. than to be rebuilt A-pla- nt On But fair market value the Commission has Therfore, not to decided issue a request at this tome but may for bids wish to again consider the matter when significant west coast re- less ant transportation cost penaltThe Atomic Eneragy Commission announced that it ies, which collectively would will not at this time seek to preclude their offering other dispose of the REDOX chemical than nominal bids for the plant. reprocessing facility located at Companies considering acquiring the Hanford plant near Richland REDOX have been studing the Washington .AEC had sought plant in terms of its competing for business from east expressions of intrest from coast nuclear power plants. industry about acquiring the plant which is no longer needSignificant reprocessing loads ed by the Commission. from west coast plants are beto be several years lieved Discussions with the companies which submitted statements further in the future than the of intrest in aqulrlng the REDOX loads from east coast plants. indicate The Commission does not that there are plant several important adverse econ believe it could justify disomlc factors, such as signific posal fo the REDOX plant for Subscriptions $10 per year Advertising rates: Display Advertising Classified Advertising D-Ar- June 9, 1969' OIL & MINING JOURNAL WtsHRii smi 328-05-41 Company "g?alrteatet4 of StuietwuU Steel" ALSO FABRICATORS OF PLATE AND REINFORCING STEa STEEL ERECTION A RIGGING Building the WEST with WESTERN STEa |