III. From Hiroshima to Atoms for Peace: Postwar Trends in 

 Regional Multinational Cooperation in Europe 



Nuclear power is capable of both military and peaceful applica- 

 tions. While the first research aimed at application of nuclear power 

 was for ship propulsion, the first actual application was a bomb. It 

 was the latter use that colored the impact of the atom upon U.S. 

 diplomacy for the later 1940's and well into the 1950's. 



The first postwar impact of nuclear power upon American 

 diplomacy was evident in the unsuccessful struggle of diplomats to 

 achieve international control of atomic energy through the United 

 Nations and the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission. As the effort failed, 

 the diplomats had to grapple with the implications of possession of 

 atomic bombs by the Soviet Union. And even as diplomacy was learn- 

 ing to accommodate to the military implications of atomic energy, 

 scientists and engineers were adding a new factor as their research 

 and development led to the expectation of early commercial use of 

 nuclear power. By the early 1950's this optimism began to affect the 

 foreign policy of the United States, as its diplomats and scientists 

 undertook initiatives that ultimately led to the creation of two regional, 

 multinational organizations to coordinate peaceful uses of nuclear 

 energy, a military alliance for its military use, a worldwide interna- 

 tional atomic energy organization, a network of bilateral agreements 

 by the United States with other countries for technical assistance 

 with nuclear energy, and a treaty to prevent proliferation of new 

 national capabilities to manufacture nuclear weapons. These develop- 

 ments evidence the impact of the discovery of fission upon American 

 diplomacy. 



In addressing the interaction between American diplomacy and 

 programs to foster commercial nuclear power in Europe, this study 

 gives limited attention to the role of the United Kingdom. While the 

 British were a principal partner of the United States in the wartime 

 development of the atomic bomb, this special relationship was dis- 

 solved by the restrictions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. There- 

 after the United Kingdom's government moved vigorously to estab- 

 lish a civil nuclear power program both to supply energy for domestic 

 use and in hopes of increasing future export trade. This they did 

 independently of the United States and also of the nations that were 

 later to form the European Common Market. The British tradition 

 of separation from and independence of Europe has persisted until 

 recently. Clearly the separation efforts of the British caused diplo- 

 matic interactions between the governments of the United Kingdom 

 and the United States. However, an analysis of these interactions is 

 not within the scope of this study. 



An Initial Prohibition of International Cooperation 



To maintain nuclear secrecy, Congress, in the Atomic Energy Act 

 of 1946, 13 terminated nuclear collaboration with the wartime allies 



13 Public Law 79-585, 60 Stat. 755. 



(141) 



