Office of the Historian

148. Letter From the Secretary of Defense (Wilson) to the Secretary of State1

Washington, August 2, 1956.

Dear Mr. Secretary: The Department of Defense has reviewed the revised draft Statute for the International Atomic Energy Agency of April 18, 1956,2 and considers the provisions of the Statute generally acceptable. However, the Joint Chiefs of Staff consider, and I agree, that the revised draft Statute provides functions for the Agency which are more comprehensive and less desirable militarily than those previously favored by the Department of Defense. It is the Department’s position, at this time, that any further changes in the Statute should limit rather than expand the Agency functions.

The Aide-Mémoire of June 1, 1956, to the USSR3 on the application of standardized safeguards to bilateral agreements and the USSR reply of July 3, 1956,4 have been noted. In this connection the Joint Chiefs of Staff consider, and I agree, that membership in the International Atomic Energy Agency should not preclude bilateral or multilateral arrangements in the atomic field outside of the framework of the Agency. A requirement that all bilateral or multilateral agreements be made within the framework of the Agency is undesirable from a military point of view.

It is also noted that Ambassador Wadsworth has recommended that at the opening of the September conference, the United States should be prepared to announce an initial substantial commitment of fissionable material to the Agency pool. I reiterate my view as expressed on February 24, 1956,5 that regardless of the amounts of fissionable material and source materials which supplying nations agree to contribute, the amounts held in the physical custody of the Agency should be limited to the minimum necessary to uphold the international pool concept.

Sincerely yours,

C.E. Wilson6
  1. Source: Department of State, Atomic Energy Files: Lot 57 D 688, IAEA—General. Confidential.↩
  2. For the revised draft Statute of the IAEA, agreed upon by the working group at its April 18 meeting, see Department of State Bulletin, May 21, 1956, pp. 852–859.↩
  3. The U.S. aide-mémoire to the Soviet Union, June 1, is printed ibid., October 22, 1956, p. 629.↩
  4. The Soviet reply to the United States, July 3, is printed ibid.↩
  5. Wilson’s February 24 memorandum to Dulles is not printed. (Department of State, Central Files, 398.1901/2–2456)↩
  6. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩