Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Volume III, National Security Policy; Arms Control and Disarmament, Microfiche Supplement

380. Letter From Acting AEC Chairman to Eisenhower¹

Washington, September 4, 1958

Dear Mr. President:

On August 19, 1958 a joint letter, which was signed by Deputy Secretary of Defense and by Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, was sent to you recommending an initial exchange of information with the United Kingdom for the promotion of weapons research, design and fabrication. This exchange was to be effected under the authority of the new Section 144c(1) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the new bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom. The letter proposed to you the scope of the information to be exchanged in the initial meetings and requested your determination that the communication of the proposed Restricted Data would promote and would not constitute an unreasonable risk to the common defense and security.

I wish to report to you that the initial exchange meetings with the United Kingdom were held in Washington on August 27, 28 and 29, 1958.

The information transmitted by the United States was within the scope authorized by you in your letter of August 21, 1958 to the Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission. Certain of the information transmitted to us by the United Kingdom representatives generally paralleled the information which we transmitted to them. They, however, went further and gave us an indication of their general state of weapons development. The United Kingdom representatives also indicated to us their developmental requirements in the atomic weapons fields.

[text not declassified].

Attached for your information is a report on the joint U.S.–U.K. meeting which was signed on August 29, 1958 by the two leading representatives from each country. This report indicates the requirements of the British Government in atomic weapons and it indicates, in general terms, areas of exchange which are desired by both sides at the next joint meeting. Such a joint meeting has been tentatively scheduled to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico starting September 15, 1958. The Restricted Data which the Commission and the Department of Defense will desire to communicate to the United Kingdom at that meeting is being prepared. Your determination that communication of such Restricted Data will promote and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to the common defense and security will be requested in the near future.

Respectfully yours,

H.S. Vance
Acting Chairman

Enclosure:

Report of Joint U.S.–U.K. Meeting

1. Source: Initial U.S.–U.K. information exchanges. Secret; Restricted Data. 2 pp. Eisenhower Library, White House Office Files, Project Clean Up, Presidential Actions–Atomic.