ATOMIC INSURANCE for industry will go on the market in a few weeks, offer disaster coverage up to $115 million for each nuclear plant. Separate pools of 135 stock companies each will sell maximum $50 million in property damage and $50 million in public-liability coverage, while third syndicate of about 100 mutual companies will write maximum $15 million in combined property-liability policy. Liability rates will vary with plant, starting with $500 per $1,000,000 for a year's coverage for a research reactor, $1,000 per $1,000,000 for power reactor.

WOMEN WORKERS will be in greater demand than ever in next few years, breaking into formerly all-male industrial fields to ease growing labor shortage. Half of 10 million new workers U.S. must add by 1965 will be women, says Labor Department.

NEW INDUSTRIAL CITY will rise along Mississippi River 30 miles upstream from New Orleans. William Zeckendorf's Webb & Knapp is break ing ground for $120 million townsite for 4,000 families, expects to finish first houses by July. Another $200 million will be invested in new plants there by Olin Revere Metals, Dow Chemical Co., Wyandotte Chemicals Corp., Kaiser Aluminum Corp., W. R.

Grace Chemical Co. Du Pont has contracted to buy 600-acre tract, plans to build plastics, chemical plant.

GERMAN PLANEMAKERS are getting back into military aircraft business, have just delivered first West German-built plane to country's new Luftwaffe. It is a single-engine Dornier Do 27 "air jeep" reconnaissance ship, first of a 469-plane order. First big foreign contracts are being let out by German armed forces. British and U.S. military suppliers will each get about $300 million in orders, France about $100 million.

NICARO NICKEL PLANT, controversial U.S. Government operation in Cuba, is going up for sale this year. If General Services Administration can find buyer, $100 million project will fall under private ownership for first time. Charges of favoritism in awarding Nicaro expansion contracts helped force resignation of GSA Administrator Edmund Mansure last year (TIME, Feb. 20).

EUROPEAN ROAD RACE is being won by West Germany, forging ahead of Britain in production and exports of cars, trucks and buses for first time. Bonn Republic's output last year was second only to U.S., increasing 15% to

1,073,084 units v. 1,004,544 for Britain. Exports reached 484,698 v. Britain's 463,164.

BRITISH POUND is rising in value, backing Washington's belief that Brit ish economy is climbing out of post-Suez slump. On New York market, pound sold last week briefly for more than $2.80 pegged rate for first time since June.

10,000-M.P.H. SPEEDS for intercontinental missiles will be studied at Cornell University under new $1,000,000 Air Force contract. School will build hypersonic wind tunnel and high-temperature research apparatus, test models at 15 times speed of sound and temperatures close to sun's surface (10,000DEGF.). Biggest job: to develop metals that can withstand such heat.

"LEASE-PURCHASE" PLAN, under which Government hoped to buy back new federal buildings from private contractors on installment plan, is be ing stalled by tight money. No acceptable bids have been found for eight of the nine planned buildings that were to be paid off over ten to 25 years. Reason: builders have trouble finding funds to finance projects, want more than Government's 4% maximum interest on deferred payments.

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