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CONCENTRATES
WASHINGTON How vigorously the newly appointed head of the antitrust division will prosecute violators of the antitrust laws is a topic for debate. The reason is that Richard W. McLaren, named last week by Attorney General John N. Mitchell to be his antitrust prosecutor, is a specialist in defending businessmen charged with violating the antitrust laws. In recent years heads of the antitrust division have been either professors of law or judges. Mr. McLaren insists that he will be a "vigorous" antitrust enforcer. However, during the hearings prior to his confirmation by the Senate, he will no doubt be subjected to a searching cross examination of his views on enforcement. One thing is sure: He will have plenty of opportunity to demonstrate his philosophy immediately. Just before going out of existence, the Johnson Administration brought a rash of antitrust actions. In less than a week the Justice Department intervened to stop the merger between Atlantic-Richfield and Sinclair, charged that the big four auto makers and the Automobile Manufacturers Association conspired in a cooperative agreement to prevent timely development of antismog devices, and in a swan song accused IBM of monopolizing the computer business. DOT should not write new safety regulations for pipelines transporting hazardous materials, says the Manufacturing Chemists Association. Instead, the Department of Transportation's proposed new safety rules should preferably make reference to the nationally recognized USA Standards Institute safety code for piping. In a letter to DOT's hazardous materials regulation board, MCA president G. H. Decker says, "The proposal uses a desirable 'performance specification' format but nevertheless introduces, in effect, a separately written safety code." MCA points out that the USASI code is continually being updated but that the DOT rules might be difficult, if not impossible, to revise.
AEC has urged its uranium contractors to cut back deliveries of uranium concentrates by 3000 to 4000 tons of U 3 O s during the next two years. The Atomic Energy Commission explains that it has contracted for more concentrate than the agency can use. This is mainly because of previous reductions in military demands for fissionable materials, AEC says. Current AEC uranium procurement contracts, all of which expire by Dec. 31, 1970, call for delivery of about 14,000 tons of U 3 0 8 in uranium concentrate during this term. In view of the "rapidly expanding private demand" for the product as a fuel in nuclear power reactors, the commission feels that the "moderate reduction" in government uranium purchases will not seriously hurt industry.
Foreign trade zone issues dogged the Johnson Administration to the end. The day before he departed, former Interior Secretary Udall approved regulations to permit foreign oil to enter a foreign trade zone and to provide for shipment of low-sulfur fuel oil from a zone into a U.S. customs district. The new rules, which apply only to oil-deficient District V (states west of the Rockies including Alaska and Hawaii), apparently clear the way for Hawaiian Independent Refinery's plan to build a 30,000 barrel-a-day refinery within a proposed foreign trade zone in Hawaii and market the products there. Moreover, the move—reportedly stemming from an 11th hour dispute between Udall and President Johnson over park l a n d s further riled New England Congressmen, already up in arms over lack of action on the Machiasport, Me., trade zone. JAN. 27, 1969 C&EN 27
