New York, 30 May 1946
UN 171. TOP SECRET MOST IMMEDIATE
After consultation with and full agreement of Professor Oliphant and Dr Briggs,1 we propose to proceed upon the following general basis in connection with atomic energy, having regard to the unanimous decision of the United Nations Assembly in London.2
- The general form of international control proposed in the Lilienthal—Acheson [sic] report3 should be supported but the stepwise process of implementation requires modification for several reasons.4
The report states that the proposals are designed to protect United States from atom bomb attack. It preserves her supremacy in atomic armament and industrial and scientific application for a considerable period. This will accentuate the disparity between the industrial power of the United States and other nations with smaller natural resources, such as Australia, in spite of the fact that the fundamental discoveries of atomic energy were made in Europe and the United States of America’s source of uranium are negligible. It is essential to ensure that the sequence of events involving control of raw materials, release of technical information, and finally the secrets of the bomb, to United Nations should occupy the minimum time in order satisfy other nations, particularly those possessing raw materials. While international control of raw materials is acknowledged as the essential basis, the Lilienthal report asks the Nations to hand over control of their raw materials in return for a promise of United States to reveal to United Nations at some indeterminate time, subject to congress, its ‘Knowhow’ factories and stocks of weapon.
[matter omitted]
[NAA: A1838, 720/1 part 1]
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Dr George Briggs, the scientific adviser to the Australian delegation to the United Nations in 1946 and 1947. Briggs was later to head the Physics Division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. ↩
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The UN General Assembly met in London in January 1946, where a unanimous decision was taken to entrust the Atomic Energy Commission with the responsibility of investigating and controlling the use of atomic energy. It was decided that the commission would consist of representatives of the members of the UN Security Council and of Canada, when Canada was not a member of the council. Current Notes on International Affairs (hereafter Current Notes), vol. 17, 1946, p. 60. ↩
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The Acheson-Lilienthal report, as its name indicated, was authored by the then Under Secretary of State, Dean G. Acheson, and the future Chair of the US Atomic Energy Commission, David E, Lilienthal, who recommended the creation of an international nuclear authority that would manage, control, inspect and license all atomic activities. However, the authority would have no specific power to apply sanctions against wrongdoers. See John H. Barton and Lawrence D. Weiler (eds), International Arms Control: Issues and Agreements, Stanford University Press, 1976, p. 70. ↩
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See Introduction. ↩