V. Bii-ateral Agreements for U.S. Technical Assistance to 

 Commercial Nuclear Energy in Europe 



Realization of the ambitious goals for Atoms for Peace by other 

 nations, particularly in Europe, required U.S. technical assistance in 

 nuclear energy. Two well established methods for pursuing this policy 

 were available. The United States could provide technical assistance 

 directly to individual countries or it could also support and work 

 through regional or international organizations. Each method had its 

 advantages. Direct assistance was quicker, credit for successes would go 

 to the donor nation, and there were the prospects of influence or lover- 

 age for the donor in dealing with the recipients. International bodies, 

 on the other hand, had a traditional function of setting standards 

 and providing a neutral ground for exchange of information and coop- 

 eration between nations of divergent policies and interests. In the case 

 of atomic energy, both methods were employed. The United States 

 through the Atomic Energy Commission has entered into many coun- 

 try-to-country agreements — more commonly known as bilateral agree- 

 ments. It also has cooperated with the European Atomic Energy Com- 

 munity (Euratom) and with the Nuclear Energy Agency of the 

 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 

 to open American nuclear technology to Europe, and is a principal 

 member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which also has 

 technical assistance functions. 



This section examines direct technical assistance from the United 

 States through the mechanism of bilateral agreements with individual 

 countries. It relies heavily upon two reports of the Atomic Energy 

 Commission which were submitted to the Joint Committee on Atomic 

 Energy in 1960 during that committee's review of the international 

 atomic policies and programs of the United States. 54 



Legislation for Technical Cooperation in Nuclear Energy 



At the time of the Atoms for Peace message, the authority of the 

 Government to provide technical assistance to foreign nations to 

 encourage their use of nuclear power was severely limited. While the 

 Atomic Energy Act of 194C> 55 provided for a program to share with 

 other countries, on a reciprocal basis, information concerning the prac- 

 t ical indusl rial applications of atomic energy, this could not be imple- 

 mented before ". . . effective and enforceable safeguards against its use 

 for destructive purposes [could] be devised." 56 With the failure of the 

 U.S. proposal for the international control of atomic energy, this con- 

 dition was never fulfilled and the restriction ended the notable col- 



423 I'M. 



P L. 585, 79th Cong., 60 Stat. 7. r ,r, 7:.. 

 id . section I. (b)(2). 



(158) 



