New York, 13 June 1947
UN 595. Secret
- We feel that in view of a number of recent developments, including the new Soviet proposals1 a general assessment of the position reached in the atomic energy commission and on our immediate course of action is urgently necessary.
- As we have indicated in previous telegrams the United Kingdom and to some extent other delegations (e.g. Canada and France) share our doubts whether the very wide powers which the United States Delegation are now proposing for the Central Agency2 would be justified or practicable. United States for example mention that the Agency itself shall determine the number and location of plants in any country.
[NAA: A1838, 720/1 part 2]
- 1 On 12 June 1947, the USSR presented a set of new proposals on the control of atomic energy. Among other things, they called for international control over all atomic energy facilities, periodic inspections, the prohibition of nuclear weapons and the creation of an international agency ‘which would consist of members of the Security Council [and] would have its own rules of procedure’. See Current Notes , vol. 18, 1947, pp. 369-70.
- 2 In accordance with Baruch’s original proposal, the US Government still balked at the USSR’s continued insistence on the prospective international agency’s close association with the Security Council. The United States recommended fully independent powers for the agency, including ‘complete control of source materials’, management of ‘all dangerous facilities’ and ‘thorough-going rights of inspection to detect clandestine operations’. See Current Notes , vol. 18, 1947, p. 236.