161 



1955. Its function was to develop and direct a program of international 

 cooperation for peaceful applications of atomic energy. The division's 

 responsibilities included coordination of AEC activities relating to 

 various types of agreements for international cooperation; assistance 

 with negotiations for an International Atomic Energy Agency; and 

 liaison with the State Department, including direct participation with 

 the State Department in preparing proposals to be presented to the 

 United Nations. 61 In a subsequent AEC reorganization, the division 

 was renamed the Division of International Programs. 



The First Bilateral Agreements for Nuclear Cooperation 



The AEC moved quickly to use its new authority by opening nego- 

 tiations with 27 countries for bilateral agreements. By the end of 1955, 

 agreements with 22 countries had been comj^leted. 



The first agreements negotiated were those with the three wartime 

 nuclear collaborators of the United States. Each agreement reflected 

 the special and close relationship that had developed between the 

 United States on one hand and the United Kingdom, Canada, and 

 Belgium on the other. The differences among these agreements also re- 

 flected the stages of development of the nuclear science and technology 

 of the countries involved. 



PRESSURES TO PROMOTE XTJCLEAR POWER ABROAD 



The mid-1950s witnessed increased pressure to promote demonstra- 

 tion of U.S. nuclear power technology abroad. One example of this 

 pressure was a report of the Panel on the Impact of the Peaceful Uses 

 of Atomic Energy, which was appointed by the Joint Committee on 

 Atomic Energy in 1955 62 63 and was chaired by newspaper pub- 

 lisher Robert M. McKinney. It urged vigorous measures to encourage 

 the use of atomic energy abroad. The measures included convening a 

 series of regional conferences with bilateral partners of the United 

 States to establish realistic goals for nuclear power; U.S. supplying of 

 nuclear fuels and technological assistance for installation of at least 

 1000 megawatts of nuclear power capacity outside the United States 

 by I960 64 ; furnishing financial assistance through normal govern- 

 mental and private channels; and applying of safeguards to such 

 powerplants. 65 



The anticipated returns from encouraging foreign nuclear power 

 were seen as substantial for U.S. world leadership and also for the 

 domestic nuclear industry. According to the McKinney panel : 66 



61 U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Major Activities in the Atomic Energy Programs, 

 July-December 1955 ( Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1956), p. 85. 



w U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Report of the Panel on the Impact 

 of the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, S4th Cong., 2d Sess., January 1956. (Joint Com- 

 mittee print i . 155 p. 



84 One of the four principal instructions to the Panel was to "consider also the effects 

 of the application of atomic energy upon economies and industries abroad." The Joint 

 Committee instructed the panel to take into account the interlocking effects that such 

 development and application abroad might have on the United States economy and 

 industries. Ibid., p. v. 



81 More specifically, the Panel recommended that the United States, In issuing invita- 

 tions to such conferences, "announce that it Is prepared to furnish nnclear fuels, provide 

 necessary technological assistance and permit contracts for the installation of at least 

 1 million kilowatts of atomic generating capacity outside the United States as soon as 

 possible — we hope by 1960. The attention of the world should be called to the fact that 

 such a program would parallel and possibly exceed the capacity installed during the same 

 period at home." Ibid., p. 8. 



65 Loc. cit. 



66 Ibid., p. 95. 



