Carter. NLC-7-31-7-19-3

The memorandum discusses the initial press reaction to a story in the morning Post regarding the Carter administration's reprocessing and the fast breeder reactor. Smith's speech contains two potentially problematic statements that deviate from the cleared version, including accepting INFCE's judgment not to generalize the comparative risks of different fuel cycles and the U.S.'s willingness to work cooperatively for an effective plutonium storage regime. Pickering tried to highlight the positive aspects of INFCE at a press conference but was non-committal on the report's pro-breeder bias when asked. There was extensive discussion of international plutonium storage, which could potentially legitimize the spread of plutonium.