At the end of 1967, the United States had 34 Agreements for Cooperation in the civil uses of atomic energy in effect with nations or groups of nations. The number had been higher at one point but

bilateral agreements with individual members of EURATOM have been

allowed to lapse in an effort to channel fissionable materials from the United States through that regional organization.

The countries with which the United States had bilateral agreements 1/ at the end of 1967 are:

All of the agreements were for research purposes except those marked with an asterisk, which were for both research and power purposes. In addition, there is a special arrangement with the Soviet Union for information and personnel exchange on atomic power for desalination.

1/ Annual Report to Congress of the Atomic Energy Commission for 1967, January 1968. p. 345.

The International Organizations with which the United States has agreements are EURATOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Some cooperation in defense with nuclear weapons was also permitted under the 1954 act. Information could be communicated to another nation or to a regional defense organization to which the United States belonged if it was considered necessary for the development of defense plans, the training of personnel in the employment of and defense against atomic weapons, and the evaluation of the capabilities of potential enemies in the employment of atomic weapons. For these purposes, the law specifically excepted information regarding the external characteristics of weapons, including size, weight, and shape, yields and effects, and systems employed in their delivery or use, from the prohibition against communicating data relating to the fabrication or design of an atomic weapon so long as it did not contribute information about the design or fabrication of the nuclear components of an atomic

weapon.

In 1958 "the development of compatible delivery systems for atomic weapons" was added to the defense purposes for which information could be communicated and the restriction on design information was removed. The section on defense cooperation in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, now reads:

The President may authorize the Department of Defense, with the assistance of the Commission, to cooperate with another nation or with a regional defense organization to which the United States is a party, and to communicate to

that nation or organization such Restricted Data (including
design information) as is necessary to--

(1) the development of defense plans;

(2) the training of personnel in the employment of
and defense against atomic weapons and other
military applications of atomic energy;

(3) the evaluation of the capabilities of potential
enemies in the employment of atomic weapons and
other military applications of atomic energy; and
(4) the development of compatible delivery systems for
atomic weapons;

Whenever the President determines that the proposed cooperation
and the proposed communication of the Restricted Data will pro-
mote and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to the common
defense and security, while such other nation or organization
is participating with the United States pursuant to an inter-
national arrangement by substantial and material contributions
to the mutual defense and security: Provided, however, That the
cooperation is undertaken pursuant to an agreement entered into
accordance with section 123. (Sec. 144 b.)

Under this provision, the United States has Agreements for Cooperation for Mutual Defense Purposes with NATO, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. According to former Secretary of Defense McNamara, there are now some 7,000 tactical nuclear weapons on the soil of NATO allies in Europe, but these are solely under United States control or under a dual key system in which the use must be approved both by the host country and the United States.

The amendments of 1958 also enabled the Atomic Energy Commission to make agreements for the supply of information about the design of nuclear weapons and of material when the recipient country had made "substantial progress in the development of atomic weapons". It

authorized the Commission with the assistance of the Defense Department:

(1) to exchange with that nation Restricted Data
concerning atomic weapons: Provided, that communication
of such Restricted Data to that nation is necessary to
improve its atomic weapon design, development, or
fabrication capability and provided that nation has made
substantial progress in the development of atomic weapons; and

(2) to communicate or exchange with that nation Restricted Data concerning research, development, or

design, of military reactors, ... (P. L. 85-479) Sec. 144 c.

The United Kingdom is the only country for which an agreement has been made under this provision which authorizes the exchange of weapon design information or the exchange of nuclear materials for use in a weapons development or fabrication program.

U.S. Policy and the International Atomic Energy Agency

As part of its policy to promote the peaceful uses of atomic energy under international safeguards, the United States proposed and was the moving force in the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The proposal for such an agency was made by President Eisenhower in a speech to the United Nations on December 8, 1953. He proposed:

The Governments principally involved, to the extent permitted by elementary prudence, to begin now and continue to make joint contributions from their stockpiles of normal uranium and fissionable materials to an International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Atomic Energy Agency could be made responsible for the impounding, storage, and protection of the contributed fissionable and other materials.

...

The more important responsibility of this Atomic Energy
Agency would be to devise methods whereby this fissionable
material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits
of mankind.

At first the Soviet Union tried to block the establishment of the

IAEA. Later, however, after the United States proceeded with bilateral nuclear cooperation, the Soviet Union reversed its position and supported the establishment of the international agency. After a draft Statute had been prepared in smaller negotiating groups, an 81-nation conference was convened on September 20, 1956. The conference concluded its work and opened the Statute for signature on October 26, 1956.

The main objectives cited in the Statute were to encourage and assist research on and develop the peaceful applications of atomic energy throughout the world, to make provision for the materials and services to meet the needs of this research, to encourage the exchange of information and the exchange and training of scientists, and to establish and administer safeguards to ensure that the materials and information made available by the Agency were not used for military purposes and to apply similar safeguards on any other nuclear activities upon request.

At the conclusion of the conference establishing the IAEA, the

United States offered to provide the Agency with 5000 kg. of u235 to

carry out its functions and to match the sum of contributions by other nations until July 1, 1960. The Soviet Union stated it would contribute 50 kg. of fissionable material. Subsequently, on June 18, 1957,