CHAPTER 4— COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR POWER IN EU- 

 ROPE: THE INTERACTION OF AMERICAN DIPLO- 

 MACY WITH A NEW TECHNOLOGY 



I. Reasons, Purpose, and Scope 



The interaction between American diplomacy and the new tech- 

 nology of unclear power during the past three decades illustrates how 

 the development of nuclear power has been a resource for U.S. diplo- 

 macy and. conversely, how diplomacy has helped the domestic devel- 

 opment of nuclear power in the United States. The purpose of this re- 

 port is to describe this interaction and to identify issues that may need 

 attention during- the 1970s. 



Some Reasons for the Study 



One of the most dramatic scientific discoveries of our time is that 

 of atomic energy. During the brief span of 30 years from the first 

 demonstration of a nuclear chain reaction in 1942 to date, a whole new 

 technology has been developed, demonstrated, and brought into practi- 

 cal use in such widely divergent applications as enormously destruc- 

 tive military weapons, naval propulsion, generation of commercial 

 electricity, and, most recently, the possible civil use of nuclear ex- 

 plosives in engineering, mining, ancl recovery of natural gas. There 

 exist today 38 working nuclear power stations in Europe in comparison 

 with 28 operable nuclear power stations in the United States. 1 



The applications of this new science and technology by public and 

 private bodies have inevitably interacted with American diplomacy. 

 On the one hand, American preeminence in military and civil use 

 of nuclear power has provided certain advantages ancl leverages for 

 U.S. diplomatic action. On the other hand, U.S. foreign policy deci- 

 sions have been made to further the progress of domestic use of nu- 

 clear power in the United States. These decisions have led to the 

 creation of not only one but three international organizations and 

 to the establishment of a complex network of bilateral agreements 

 for technical assistance by the United States to its allies and friends 

 to promote use of nuclear energy. 



As the United States and the industrial nations of the world stand 

 on the threshold of an anticipated massive deployment of civil nuclear 

 power during the coming years, further issues for diplomacy merit 

 attention before the pace of events so accelerates that there will be no 

 time for unhurried decisions. 



Scope and Limitations of the Study 



The immediate impact of nuclear energy upon American diplomacy 

 following World War II is to be found in the fruitless efforts of the 

 United States and the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission 

 to bring about the international control of this new science and tech- 

 nology. Although the UXAEC was to continue in existence until Janu- 

 ary 1952, it had for all practical purposes ceased to function in 1949 



1 These nuclear power stations are distributed among the nations of Europe as follows: 

 Federal Republic of Germany .">, France S, Italy 3, Netherlands 1, Spain 2, Sweden 2, 

 Switzerland 3. and the United Kincdom 14 



Note : This chapter was prepared in 1972 by Warren H. Donnelly. 



(131), 



