148. Memorandum From the Director of the International Cooperation Administration (Hollister) to the Secretary of State1
SUBJECT
- Misunderstandings Concerning U.S. Assistance in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy
Recent dispatches from our Missions in Europe, certain reports in American papers as well as oral inquiries and representations from members of European missions in Washington indicate that your position on U.S. aid to EURATOM is not fully understood. The Journal [Page 390] of Commerce of December 28, page 7A for instance carries the following paragraph:
“Secretary of State Dulles told European ministers here this month the United States favors the supranational approach and is ready to help it with raw materials and technical skills. He said the United States would not extend such aid to individual governments or to an institution lacking supranational powers.”
The Chief of the OEEC Washington office queried us on this with some concern. Similar questions were raised with us and with USRO by Swiss representatives.
You probably feel as I do that a delicate balancing will be needed in order to prevent the EURATOM approach and the efforts made by OEEC in the nuclear energy field from degenerating into harmful rivalries. In view of the fact that things are moving towards decisions in Paris as well as in Brussels, I feel that an opportune public statement by you would be a great help. The main point to stress, in my view, would be the fact that the U.S. atomic aid effort is equally intended for all our friends and that differences in form and scope are primarily due to the inevitable differences in the ability of aid receiving countries or organizations of countries to make effective economic use of such aid and to guard it against undesired military use.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 840.1901/1–1355.↩