The first privately‐financed research organization devoted primarily to the development of atomic power for industrial purposes, the Walter Kidde Nuclear Laboratories, has begun research operations at its recently constructed laboratory near Garden City, on Long Island. The new laboratory, housed in a brick structure of modern design, with laboratory area for work in physics, chemistry, metallurgy, radiochemistry, and materials testing, is expected to be in full operation by the latter part of 1953, by which time it is expected that a minimum staff of one hundred will be employed. The stated objectives of the organization are (1) the development of commercial atomic power, with particular emphasis on original research and development in the field of low‐cost nuclear reactors, (2) cooperation on a contract basis with government agencies and their contractors in the development and design of atomic facilities, and (3) collaboration with private industrial organizations, laboratories, and others interested in the application of the nuclear sciences to specific problems.