286 



such as those of the Middle East or the Soviet Union, Europe should be 

 less vulnerable to energy blackmail. 



Granted the historical validity of the reasons for U.S. foreign 

 policy toward commercial nuclear power in Europe, what of the 

 future? Are new issues emerging that are of sufficient urgency to 

 compete successfully for public and legislative attention ? 



No straightforward answer is at hand. It is easier to say what 

 may be theoretically possible in the world of physical sciences than 

 it is to predict the directions that men and their institutions may take. 

 Nonetheless, there are several probable future interactions between 

 nuclear power and U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. These inter- 

 actions can be categorized under the headings of nuclear power for 

 U.S. foreign policy, and foreign policy for U.S. nuclear power. 



Nuclear Power for U.S. Foreign Policy 



Likely issues having to do with nuclear power as an element of 

 U.S. foreign policy for the 1970's include : 3<54 



SUSTAINING U.S. TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE 19 7o's 



From World War II to Sputnik U.S. world technological leadership 

 went unchallenged and was sustained in large part, by advances in 

 nuclear science and technology. Rather than seek to monopolize 

 this leadership, the United States offered and supplied technological 

 assistance to many countries, especially in Furone, to develop their 

 own use of nuclear power. During the late 1960's, U.S. world leadership 

 was challenged by other nations. Looking to the 1970's and to an era 

 of greater peaceful rather than military competition, there are several 

 fundamental issues involving nuclear energy: To what extent should 

 U.S. foreign policv and diplomacy continue to foster commercial use 

 of nuclear power abroad? Can such a policy help enough with future 

 U.S. technological leadership to be worth the effort., or would the 

 required financial and other resources be more profitably dedicated 

 to some other venture? Would the benefits for U.S. technological 

 leadership be more than offset by economic losses through competition 

 from other countries receiving U.S. technological assistance? Most 

 important of all, are there any significant risks and dangers from the 

 standpoint of U.S. national security in continued U.S. support of 

 foreign nuclear power development? 



REDUCING EUROPEAN DEPENDENCE UPON IMPORTED ENERGY 



Assuming that U.S. foreign policv objectives continue to call for a 

 European community stirmg enough to withstand pressures from 

 other blocs of nations, and taking into account the si ill increasing 

 demand of European economies for energy, can development of 



aw There Is one .'isixi-t of national and International development of nuclear power 



which has nol I ii ii ti'ii in this ense-study, hut that should he mentioned. Tf is the 



expanding role <>f multinational cornoratlons In tin- nuclear Industry. Recently major 

 companies "f the U.S. nuclear Industry have been entering Into arrangements with their 

 counterparts In Europe and elsewhere that may presage the penetration <>f powerful 

 multinattoa.il corporations Into the world's nuclear market. Sucb ;i development could 

 pose problems of national and foreign policy. Multinational corporations In the nuclear 

 field could raise issues of uncontrolled export "r transfer of technology, or Questions of 

 control over movement of nuclear materials and associated safeguards, or the ability of 

 some government effectively to regulate use of nuclear power In the face of the resources 

 ami pressure from such powerful organizations. 



