Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, National Security Affairs, Foreign Economic Policy, Volume I

Department of State Atomic Energy Files

Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. Charles H. Russell, Adviser, United States Mission at the United Nations

Confidential

[New York,] June 1, 1949.

US/AEC/32

Subject: Work of the Atomic Energy Commission; Six Power Consultations

Participants:	General McNaughton, Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Starnes, Major Pierce-Goulding; Canadian Delegation
	Dr. Hsioh-Ren Wei; Chinese Delegation
	M. de Rose; French Delegation
	Sir Terence Shone, Mr. Laskey; United Kingdom Delegation
	Mr. Osborn, Mr. Russell; United States Mission

A meeting was held at the United States Mission on the afternoon of June 1, further to consider atomic energy matters.

I. The meeting of the Working Committee which had been held at Lake Success that morning was discussed. It was evident that the Soviet representative had nothing new to offer and it was felt that the only course open to the majority at the meeting of the Working Committee to be held on June 3, would be to reject by majority vote the U.S.S.R. draft resolution (AEC/37).¹

II. Comparative table showing the positions of the majority and the minority in the Atomic Energy Commission upon the topics which have so far been discussed; working paper prepared by the Secretariat pursuant to the resolution of the Atomic Energy Commission of 18 February 1949 (document AEC/35).²

There was considerable discussion of this paper in view of the fact that it was an interpretation by the Secretariat of what the majority and minority positions were. The value of the paper was not minimized nor was the difficulty of the task which the Secretariat had been asked to undertake. It was felt that the paper would be valuable as a working paper, but could not be accepted as an official document. General McNaughton urged that delegations submit their comments upon the paper to the Secretariat or the Working Committee. The fact was mentioned that the Soviet Delegation had shown considerable interest in the paper and had been critical of it in the fact that the majority position was so much more detailed than their own; it was known that they had transmitted the paper to Moscow.

M. de Rose felt that the paper would have considerable merit in making clear to the delegations at the Fourth General Assembly what the real position was, and Dr. Wei urged that the paper be accepted on the understanding that it would be regarded as a working paper.

Mr. Osborn emphasized the point, upon which all were in agreement, that the position of the majority was to be found only in the original documents, and he questioned whether the Secretariat had made this sufficiently clear in their introductory note from which he made the following quotation:

“This table does not attempt to provide a substitute for the extensive documentation which shows the development of the positions of the majority and the minority but only to furnish a summary which will assist future discussion. For the authoritative formulation of the respective positions, reference should be made to the three reports of the Commission, the proposals presented by the representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the statements made in the Commission and its committees by all representatives, which are to be found in the records of the Commission.”

III. Statement to be used in the consultation of the six sponsoring powers who are the Permanent Members of the Atomic Energy Commission, requested by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution of 4 November 1948; draft paper prepared by H. R. Wei and A. G. L. McNaughton.³

A detailed examination was made of this draft paper which took into account the various preceding drafts which had been prepared by Messrs. Osborn and de Rose.⁴ A number of changes were tentatively agreed upon and it was also decided to await the receipt from the United Kingdom Delegation of additional material to be inserted in the opening paragraphs relating to the events leading up to the Six-Power Consultations.

It was decided to hold a further meeting at the United States Mission on Friday afternoon, June 3, when the revised texts would be ready. For this reason the draft is not attached hereto, but copies were sent to the Department of State on the evening of June 1.

C. H. Russell

June 2, 1949.

Note: On the day following the meeting and after further discussion between the representatives of delegations mentioned above, it was decided, with reference to section I of this memorandum, that instead of rejecting the Soviet proposals in the working Committee by majority vote, a draft resolution, which the Canadian Delegation has prepared, would be presented, concluding that no useful purpose can be served by further discussion of the Soviet proposals in the Working Committee which have already been considered and rejected by the appropriate organs of the United Nations. The draft resolution concludes with the words: “The Working Committee reports to the Atomic Energy Commission accordingly”.

This will avoid any question of the competence of the Working Committee to reject the Soviet draft resolution.

C. H. R.

1. The Soviet draft resolution, reintroduced at the 45th Meeting of the Working Committee, June 1, is printed in part in footnote 6, p. 37.
2. Resolution AEC/35 is described in footnote 4, p. 36. The comparative table is not published. Two other documents prepared by the Secretariat pursuant to AEC/35 were approved by the Working Committee at its 45th Meeting, June 1, by a vote of 9 to 2 (the Soviet Union and the Ukraine). The first document was “Recommendations of the Atomic Energy Commission for the international control of atomic energy and the prohibition of atomic weapons as approved at the third session of the General Assembly as constituting the necessary basis for establishing an effective system of international control of atomic energy to ensure its use only for peaceful purpose and for the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons.” The second was “Index to the Three Reports of the Atomic Energy Commission to the Security Council, 1946–1948.” At its 23rd Meeting, July 20, the Atomic energy Commission approved the two papers by a 9-to-2 vote (the Soviet Union and the Ukraine). They are printed as United Nations, Official Records of the Atomic Energy Commission, Fourth Year, Special Supplements No. 1 and No. 2 (hereafter cited as AEC, 4th yr., Special Suppls. No. 1 and No. 2).
3. Not printed.
4. None printed.