https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/2650def672caeb3111f388533af90c1d.pdf 71db4574bf5992d47d31073adc89b5e6 PDF Text Text m Duiumeiit UfoUuscU unUei tliB Alien, tulnJuimmtiuUB Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a lyUormik .. 180 C DUPLICATE OTTAWA FILE sp ....ft. Jlf.:./?&. '7 y? yy Despatch No Date.. November • ±±y • 1953?; SECURITY CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL FFOM: THE CANADIAN AMBASSADOR, WASHINGTON, D . C . TO: THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, CANADA Reference, .jiy. - t e l e t y p e - -No; • WA«2&82- -of -November 10 ;• -1953; Subject:.. Amendme-at-s • £e- -the • U n i t e d - S t a t e s • A-tomlts • Ene-rgy aAct • of • -19461. Copies Referred To.... No. of Enclosures 3 Post File No. In reporting on the proposal made informally by the Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, Admiral Strauss, that there should be an amendment to the tripartite modus vlvendi of 1948 to permit the communication of certain information in the atomic field to the Canadian and United Kingdom Governments, mention was made of certain amendments to the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 which would be sought at the next session of Congress. Apparently the President has now authorized the Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, in consultation with the Departments of State and Defense, to prepare certain legislative proposals which are to be submitted to the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy in order to facilitate co-operation with the allies of the United States in the military applications of atomic energy and to further atomic power development. This despatch reports the latest thinking on what the amendments to the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 might be, and is based upon an Interview with Mr. R. Gordon Arneson of the State Department. This despatch supplements the information contained in the Embassy Letter No. 2449 of November 25, 1952 and our despatches No. 1155 of June 8 and No. 1805 of September 18, 1953. 2. Mr. Arneson said that interdepartmental discussions had begun in the middle of October and had now progressed to the point at which there was substantial agreement in the Executive Departments concerned about the general nature of the amendments which should be proposed at the next session of Congress. The United States Atomic Energy Commission, which is the body charged under the Aot with primary administrative responsibility, la now working on the formulation of four main amendments. 3. First is the so-called military amendment to permit a greater freedom in the sharing of information with the allies relating to the utilization of atomic weapons and their effects. In co-operation with the Department of Defense, a recommendation for amendment has been worked out to change the language of Section 10,(b)(1) of the Atomic Energy Act.(All references to the Act in this despatch relate to the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, incorporating amendments made by the 82nd Congress - print of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 1952, forwarded under cover of Letter No. 2449 of November 25, 1952; three additional copies are attached for convenience of reference.) The term "restricted data" as at present defined by the Atomic Energy Act is taken to include •• •« 000058 �" ^ •' % . Document disclosed yhder the Access to Information Act - ^ Document divulgue eh vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information • .*v - 2 - t» "all data concerning the manufacture or utilization of atomic weapons, the production of fissionable material, or the use of fissionable material in the production of power, but shall not include any data which the Commission from time to time determines may be published without adversely affecting the common defense and security." What is now apparently contemplated is to delete the words "or utilization". 4. The Atomic Energy Commission also apparently has in mind to simplify sub-paragraph 3 of Section 10 of the Atomic Energy Act. This is a sub-paragraph which was amended by the 82nd Congress in 1952 to permit the U.S.A.E.G. to enter into specific arrangements with other countries involving the communication of restricted data on refining, purification, and subsequent treatment of source materialsj reactor development; production'of fissionable materials, etc. However, the conditions under which such information might be made available, as defined in this amendment in 1952, were of such a restrictive character that less rigid standards are now under consideration. This would involve loosening up the security conditions, the requirement about a unanimous decision by the Atomic Energy Commission and the requirement that there must be a finding that the arrangement vjould "substantially promote and would not endanger the common defence and security of the United States". In other words, the objective is to give the U.S.A.E.C, as Mr. Arneson said, "more elbow room" to interpret the Act in a manner which would facilitate international co-operation in the raw materials field. 5. The third amendment contemplated relates to Section 5(a)(3) of the Act. The present language places very restrictive limitations which are to be changed In order to facilitate oo-operation with foreign countries in power reactor programmes. He did not specify exactly what language v;aa under consideration, 6. The fourth amendment under consideration would specifically permit the export of fissionable materials to foreign countries and, like the preceding amendment, would be intended to facilitate international co-operation in the atomic power field. 7. Arneson explained that the information he had given should be regarded with a considerable degree of caution since these ideas had been considered only on a preliminary basis in interdepartmental discussions between officials. It was intended that the subcommittee on atomic energy of the National Security Council Joint Planning Board, which includes representatives of the U.S.A.E.C., Department of Defense, and the State Department, would shortly begin drafting the exact proposals which would be submitted to the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Ene rgy. 8. It was still, of course, too early to predict the exact nature of the recommendations on amendments which would emerge, still less the reactions of the Joint Congressional Committee. A factor which tends to create some uncertainty is that the President has apparently asked the Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission to give him a report on whether the time had now come to e e eO 000059 I �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a I'information '& ' ^ - 3 report to Congress under Section 7(b) of the Atomic Energy Act. This clause requires that "Whenever in Its opinion any industrial, commercial, or other nonmilitary use of fissionable material or atomic energy has been sufficiently developed to be of practical value, the Commission shall prepare a report to the President stating all thefectswith respect to such use, the Commission's estimate of the social, political, economic, and international effects of such use and the Commission's recommendations for necessary or desirable supplemental legislation. The President shall then transmit this report to the Congress together with his recommendations." 9. Mr. Arneson explained that the hearings before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy which were held at the last session of Congress on atomic power development, had apparently raised in the mind of the President the question of whether the time had not come for such a report. (These are the hearings on which we reported in our Despatch No. 1153 of June 8, 1953.) In these hearings, it will be recalled, Representative Holifleld (D. California) had attacked the idea of permitting a wider participation by industry in the atomic energy programme as an "atomic give-away programme". Apparently Mr. Holifleld was concerned lest private industry should prematurely be given certain rights by new legislation, before the Government, as well as the public, had fully grasped the complex implications (social, economic, as well as political) of the utilization of atomic energy for the development of power. And so the President apparently has asked for a report which would examine whether the time had arrived for the more comprehensive review of the existing elgislation envisaged in Section 7(b) of the Atomic Energy Act, assuming that Mr. Holifleld may be expected to raise objections against limited and peacemealrevisions of the Act. 10. Although the preparation of this report by the Chairman of the U.S.A.E.C. might further delay the submission of the recommendations to the Joint Congressional Committee, Mr. Arneson thought that on the whole the U.S.A.E.C. would be able to convince the President of the desirability of proceeding without delay with the more limited programme of legislative change which the Executive Departments concerned now have under consideration. 11. The prospect of even having such limited changes in the atomic energy legislation of the United States, especially taken in conjunction with the offer to extend technical co-operation with the British and ourselves under the modus vlvendi, is certainly very encouraging. It will no doubt be necessary to consider on our part how these changes may affect Canadian interests and our co-operation with the United States in the military applications of atomic energy, as well as in the atomic power field. I shall continue to keep you informed of developments hers. (signed) A.D.P. Heeney 000060 � Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDNW02191 Title A name given to the resource Memorandum from the Canadian Embassy, Washington DC to the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, Canada Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 11/11/1955 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "United Kingdom-United States-Canada - Security arrangements re." RG25-A-3-b, vol. 5956, 50219-AB-40, part 1, Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Department of External Affairs Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource Atomic energy, tripartite cooperation Description An account of the resource Ammendments to the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1946 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en