Remarks by John V. Vinciguerra Assistant General Manager for Administration U. S. Atomic Energy Commission Before the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management

I am honored to be the keynote speaker for this annual meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. I understand that the role of a \"keynoter\" is to sound as few sour notes as possible. I'll try to stay on key. My remarks will focus essentially on changes which are evolving in the nuclear materials management picture, or if you will--safeguards. You may recall that when I attended your meeting last year in Columbus I had just assumed my new job as Assistant General Manager for Administration which included responsibility for the Division of Nuclear Materials Management. During this past year Doug George and his col- leagues have attempted to \"educate\" me. Now that they have \"educated\" me, and for reasons I will discuss later, these materials management responsibilities will be shifted away from me to a new organization within the AEC. Those of you who have been in nuclear materials manage- ment over the past two decades will recall that for some years you were not candidates to win a popularity contest. Yours was, and is, a difficult and glamorless job. I don't know with certainty how your popularity stands today—but I suspect it is much better. Substitution of the word \"safe- guards\" as the description of your work may have something to do with it. Whatever the reason, we at the AEC are pleased with your ascendancy on the atomic totem pole.