Department of the Army Files
Agreement Relating to Atomic Energy
Articles of Agreement Governing Collaboration Between the Authorities of the U.S.A. and the U.K. in the Matter of Tube Alloys 1
Whereas it is vital to our common safety in the present War to bring the Tube Alloys project to fruition at the earliest moment; and whereas this may be more speedily achieved if all available British and American brains and resources are pooled; and whereas owing to war conditions it would be an improvident use of war resources to duplicate plants on a large scale on both sides of the Atlantic and therefore a far greater expense has fallen upon the United States;
It is agreed between us
First, that we will never use this agency against each other.
Secondly, that we will not use it against third parties without each other’s consent.
Thirdly, that we will not either of us communicate any information about Tube Alloys to third parties except by mutual consent.
[Page 1118]Fourthly, that in view of the heavy burden of production falling upon the United States as the result of a wise division of war effort, the British Government recognize that any post-war advantages of an industrial or commercial character shall be dealt with as between the United States and Great Britain on terms to be specified by the President of the United States to the Prime Minister of Great Britain. The Prime Minister expressly disclaims any interest in these industrial and commercial aspects beyond what may be considered by the President of the United States to be fair and just and in harmony with the economic welfare of the world.
And Fifthly, that the following arrangements shall be made to ensure full and effective collaboration between the two countries in bringing the project to fruition:
(a) There shall be set up in Washington a Combined Policy Committee composed of:
| The Secretary of War. | (United States) |
| Dr. Vannevar Bush. | (United States) |
| Dr. James B. Conant. | (United States) |
| Field-Marshal Sir John Dill, G.C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. | (United Kingdom) |
| Colonel the Right Hon. J. J. Llewellin, C.B.E., M.C., M.P. | (United Kingdom) |
| The Honourable C. D. Howe. | (Canada) |
The functions of this Committee, subject to the control of the respective Governments, will be:
- (1)
- To agree from time to time upon the programme of work to be carried out in the two countries.
- (2)
- To keep all sections of the project under constant review.
- (3)
- To allocate materials, apparatus and plant, in limited supply, in accordance with the requirements of the programme agreed by the Committee.
- (4)
- To settle any questions which may arise on the interpretation or application of this Agreement.
(b) There shall be complete interchange of information and ideas on all sections of the project between members of the Policy Committee and their immediate technical advisers.
(c) In the field of scientific research and development there shall be full and effective interchange of information and ideas between those in the two countries engaged in the same sections of the field.
(d) In the field of design, construction and operation of large-scale plants, interchange of information and ideas shall be regulated by such ad hoc arrangements as may, in each section of the field, appear to be necessary or desirable if the project is to be brought to [Page 1119] fruition at the earliest moment. Such ad hoc arrangements shall be subject to the approval of the Policy Committee.
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These Articles of Agreement are typed on four pages of stationery on each of which appears the letterhead “The Citadel Quebec”. For a photocopy of the British signed original of these Articles, see Articles of Agreement governing collaboration between the authorities of the U.S.A. and the U.K. in the matter of Tube Alloys (Cmd. 9123; London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1954). The text of the articles printed by the Department of State in 1954 as Treaties and Other International Acts Series No. 2993 was prepared from a photocopy of the British signed original. The United States signed original used as the source text for the document printed here is identical with the British signed original except that (a) the three United States members of the Combined Policy Committee appear in typed form in the United States original whereas they are in Roosevelt’s handwriting in the British original; (b) the form of the date at the end of the document (in Roosevelt’s handwriting on both copies) reads “August 19 1943” in the British original and “Aug. 19th 1943” in the United States original (in which also the first digit of 19th appears to have been written over a figure 2, presumably because Roosevelt began to write 20th and then corrected it to 19th); and (c) there is a period in the United States original after the surname of C. D. Howe.
The source text of the Articles of Agreement is attached to a memorandum from Churchill’s Principal Private Secretary to Roosevelt’s Naval Aide, dated at Quebec, August 19, 1943, which reads as follows: “Admiral Wilson Brown. I attach, for retention, one of the two copies of the Articles of Agreement relating to Tube Alloys , signed by the President and Mr. Churchill today. J. M. Martin”.
↩ - In Roosevelt’s handwriting in the source text.↩
- In Roosevelt’s handwriting in the source text.↩