Part I: Proceedings of the Atomic Energy Commission From 1 January to 11 September

1947

HIS CHAPTER SUMMARIZES briefly the proceedings of the Atomic Energy Commission and its various committees during the period from 31 December 1946, when the First Report was submitted to the Security Council, to 11 September 1947, when the Second Report was submitted. A full account of the meetings of the Atomic Energy Commission is contained in verbatim records (unrestricted) and of the committees in summary records (partially restricted); a chronological list of the various meetings is contained in annex 1. The work of the Commission and of the committees during the period under consideration may be conveniently divided into the following several phases: (1) The consideration of the First Report in the Security Council during February and March; (2) The consideration by the Working Committee from March through July of amendments and additions to the First Report proposed by the representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; (3) The preparation and consideration of working papers by Committee 2 from March through August; (4) The procedural discussion in the Atomic Energy Commission and the Working Committee in June and the consideration by Committee 2 in August of the proposals for atomic control submitted by the representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on 11 June 1947; (5) The preparation of the Second Report in August and September.

Consideration of the First Report in the Security Council

Following the submission of the First Report, the Security Council debated the Report at the following eight meetings: 99th meeting on 4 February 1947; 105th meeting on 13 February; 106th meeting on 14 February; 108th meeting on 18 February; 110th meeting on 20 February; 112th meeting on 25 February; 115th meeting on 5 March; and 117th meeting on 10 March. During these meetings, the new members of the Commission and of the Security Council, Belgium, Colombia, and Syria, expressed approval of the Report. The repre

sentative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics expressed the views of his delegation on 14 February and 5 March, and, on 18 February, tabled twelve proposed amendments and additions (document S/283) to part II, C, General Findings, and part III, Recommendations, of the First Report. With regard to the disposition of the Report, there was informal agreement by the majority that it was not appropriate for the Security Council to amend the Report. There was unanimity on the opinion that the discussion of the Soviet Union amendments should be conducted in the Commission. The following resolution on the disposition of the Report was adopted by a vote of 11-0 on 10 March:

"The Security Council, having received and considered the First Report of the Atomic Energy Commission dated 31 December 1946, together with its letter of transmittal of the same date,

"RECOGNIZES that any agreement expressed by the members of the Council to the separate portions of the Report is preliminary since final acceptance of any part by any nation is conditioned upon its acceptance of all parts of the control plan in its final form;

"TRANSMITS the record of its consideration of the First Report of the Atomic Energy Commission to the Commission;

"URGES the Atomic Energy Commission, in accordance with the General Assembly resolutions of 24 January and 14 December 1946, to continue its inquiry into all phases of the problem of international control of atomic energy and to develop as promptly as possible the specific proposals called for by Section 5 of the General Assembly resolution of 24 January 1946 and by the resolution of the General Assembly of 14 December 1946 and in due course to prepare and submit to the Security Council a draft treaty or treaties or convention or conventions incorporating its ultimate proposals;

"REQUESTS the Atomic Energy Commission to submit a Second Report to the Security Council before the next session of the General Assembly."

(AEC/20)

Consideration by the Working Committee of Future Plans and of Soviet Union Amendments and Additions to the First Report

The Commission held no meetings during the period when the First Report was being considered by the Security Council. The Commission and its committees considered the formulation of working plans to carry out the resolution of the Security Council. The Atomic Energy Commission met on 19 March and adopted by a unanimous vote a reso

lution outlining the scope of the work to be undertaken by the Working Committee and by Committee 2, as follows:

"Having received the resolution of the Security Council of 10 March 1947, adopted in connection with the discussion of the Report of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Commission resolves:

"That its committees—and, in particular, the Working Committee and Committee 2-consider the questions following from the resolution and, in particular, the questions relating to the establishment of international control of atomic energy on which agreement among its members has not yet been reached."

(AEC/21)

The Working Committee held meetings on 25 and 31 March to consider further the method of proceeding with its work programme, and, on the latter date, adopted, by a vote of 10-0, a resolution further implementing the instructions given by the Atomic Energy Commission and the Security Council, as follows:

"Having received the resolution of the Security Council, dated 10 March 1947, and the resolution of the Atomic Energy Commission, dated 19 March,

"THE WORKING COMMITTEE RESOLVES to consider at its meetings the points of disagreement outlined in the statements of the representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the Security Council.

"At the same time, the Working Committee requests Committee 2 to proceed on its part by means of formal or informal meetings and conversations with the study of the various questions following from the resolutions of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Security Council, in particular, questions outlined in the last paragraph of Part I of the First Report of the Atomic Energy Commission and new questions not studied before, in order to implement the requirements of the General Assembly resolutions dated 24 January and 14 December 1946."

(AEC/C.1/14; AEC/C.2/14)

On 8 April, the Working Committee began its consideration of the points of disagreement with certain portions of the First Report which had been expressed by the representative of the Soviet Union in the Security Council and included in document S/283, which had been tabled by the Soviet Union representative on 18 February. During the following three and a half months, twenty meetings were devoted to the consideration of the Soviet Union amendments and additions. On 15 and 17 April, the representatives of Canada and Australia, respectively, submitted written questions to the represent

ative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (documents AEC/ C.1/20 and AEC/C.1/21). When the discussion of each amendment was completed, the results of such discussion were indicated by specific resolutions or by reference to the record. In some of the instances where the differences were not resolved, the issues were postponed for later consideration. On 23 July, the Working Committee instructed the Secretariat to prepare a synopsis of the discussions for approval by the Working Committee. (A detailed account of the consideration in the Working Committee of the Soviet Union amendments and additions is contained in part III of this Report.)

Preparation of Working Papers by Committee 2

On 10 April, Committee 2 considered a working plan for its future deliberations in the form of a summary of principal subjects to be incorporated in specific proposals for the international control of atomic energy. The chairman (United Kingdom) stated that, in adopting the programme, it would be understood that the order of topics was not rigidly binding and that subjects could be added, deleted, or amended as necessary. He also stated that the Committee should be prepared to revert to informal conversations, a method of procedure which had been used in the preparation of the First Report. On a show of hands, ten favoured the adoption of the following "Summary of Principal Subjects to be Incorporated in Specific Proposals for the International Control of Atomic Energy":

"A. Subjects required to establish the initial framework of a draft treaty or convention (many of these subjects might be discussed concurrently).

"1. Definition of terms to be used in the treaty.

"2. Operational and developmental functions of the international agency and its relation to planning, co-ordination, and direction of atomic activities.

"(a) Functions of the international agency in relation to research and development activities.

"(b) Functions of the international agency in relation to location. and mining of ores.

"(c) Functions of the international agency in relation to processing and purification of source material.

"(d) Functions of the international agency in relation to stockpiling, production, and distribution of nuclear fuels.

"(e) Functions of the international agency in relation to design, construction, and operation of isotope separation plants.

"(ƒ) Functions of the international agency in relation to design, construction, and operation of reactors.

"(g) Rights of and limitations on the agency and its personnel in respect to inspection, operation, and other control functions.

"3. Organization and administration of the international agency.

"(a) Organizational structure.

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"(b) Relations to other organs of the United Nations, to other international agencies, and to individual nations and their national agencies.

"(c) Status of the agency and its personnel in its operations within individual nations.

"(d) Definition of types of operating decisions subject to review and those not subject to review.

"(e) Determination of review body or bodies and of principles governing review.

"B. Subjects which can only be discussed effectively in the framework of decisions reached on subjects listed in A above.

"1. Principles governing geographical location of dangerous activities and stockpiling.

"2. Financial and budgetary organization.

"(a) Determination of source of funds and types of expenditures. "(b) Estimates of financial burden to be borne by individual

nations.

"(c) Principles governing allocation of expenses to individual nations.

"(d) Principles governing financing of both facilities owned and facilities not owned by the agency.

"3. Prohibitions and enforcement.

"(a) Definition of individual and national prohibitions. "(b) Examination of the nature of direct international jurisdiction over individuals and the principles governing the application of individual punishments.

"(c) Examination of the problems related to the application of sanctions against nations, including the veto problem.

"(i) Methods of determining violations.

"(ii) Application of economic and other non-military

sanctions.

"(iii) Application of military sanctions.