1945
Statement on Atomic Energy
By the United States, United Kingdom, Canada
November 15, 1945
1. We recognize that the application of recent
scientific discoveries to the methods and practice of
war has placed at the disposal of mankind means of
destruction hitherto unknown, against which there can be
no adequate military defense, and in the employment of
which no single nation can in fact have a monopoly.
2. We desire to emphasize that the responsibility for
devising means to insure that the new discoveries shall
be used for the benefit of mankind, instead of as a
means of destruction, rests not on our nations alone,
but upon the whole civilized world.
Nevertheless, the progress that we have made in the
development and use of atomic energy demands that we
take an initiative in the matter, and we have
accordingly met together to consider the possibility of
international action: (a) To prevent the use of atomic
energy for destructive purposes; (b) To promote the use
of recent and future advances in scientific knowledge,
particularly in the utilization of atomic energy, for
peaceful and humanitarian ends.
3. We are aware that the only complete protection for
the civilized world from the destructive use of
scientific knowledge lies in the prevention of war. No
system of safeguards that can be devised will of itself
provide an effective guarantee against production of
atomic weapons by a nation bent on aggression. Nor can
we ignore the possibility of the development of other
weapons, or of new methods of warfare, which may
constitute as great a threat to civilization as the
military use of atomic energy.
4. Representing as we do the three countries which
possess the knowledge essential to the use of atomic
energy, we declare at the outset our willingness, as a
first contribution, to proceed with the exchange of
fundamental scientific literature for peaceful ends with
any nation that will fully reciprocate.
5. We believe that the fruits of scientific research
should be made available to all nations, and that
freedom of investigation and free interchange of ideas
are essential to the progress of knowledge. In pursuance
of this policy, the basic scientific information
essential to the development of atomic energy for
peaceful purposes has already been made available to the
world. It is our intention that all further information
of this character that may become available from time to
time shall be similarly treated. We trust that other
nations will adopt the same policy, thereby creating an
atmosphere of reciprocal confidence in which political
agreement and cooperation will flourish.
6. We have considered the question of the disclosure
of detailed information concerning the practical
industrial application of atomic energy. The military
exploitation of atomic energy depends, in large part,
upon the same methods and processes as would be required
for industrial uses.
We are not convinced that the spreading of the
specialized information regarding the practical
application of atomic energy, before it is possible to
devise effective, reciprocal, and enforceable safeguards
acceptable to all nations, would contribute to a
constructive solution of the problem of the atomic bomb.
On the contrary we think it might have the opposite
effect. We are, however, prepared to share, on a
reciprocal basis with others of the United Nations,
detailed information concerning the practical industrial
application of atomic energy just as soon as effective
enforceable safeguards against its use for destructive
purposes can be devised.
7. In order to attain the most effective means of
entirely eliminating the use of atomic energy for
destructive purposes and promoting its widest use for
industrial and humanitarian purposes, we are of the
opinion that at the earliest practicable date a
commission should be set up under the United Nations
Organization to prepare recommendations for submission
to the organization.
The commission should be instructed to proceed with
the utmost dispatch and should be authorized to submit
recommendations from time to time dealing with separate
phases of its work.
In particular the commission should make specific
proposals: (a) For extending between all nations the
exchange of basic scientific information for peaceful
ends; (b) For control of atomic energy to the extent
necessary to ensure its use only for peaceful ends; (e)
For the elimination from national armaments of atomic
weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass
destruction; (d) For effective safeguards by way of
inspection and other means to protect complying states
against the hazards of violations and evasions.
8. The work of the commission should proceed by
separate stages, the successful completion of each one
of which will develop the necessary confidence of the
world before the next stage is undertaken. Specifically
it is considered that the commission might well devote
its attention first to the wide exchange of scientists
and scientific information, and as a second stage to the
development of full knowledge concerning natural
resources of raw materials.
9. Faced with the terrible realities of the
application of science to destruction, every nation will
realize more urgently than before the overwhelming need
to maintain the rule of law among nations and to banish
the scourge of war from the earth. This can only be
brought about by giving wholehearted support to the
United Nations Organization, and by consolidating and
extending its authority, thus creating conditions of
mutual trust in which all peoples will be free to devote
themselves to the arts of peace. It is our firm resolve
to work without reservation to achieve these ends.
The City of Washington,
The White House.
November 15, 1945.
HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States
C. R. ATTLEE, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
W. L. MacKENZIE KING, Prime Minister of Canada
Source:
Pamphlet No. 4, PILLARS OF PEACE
Documents Pertaining To American Interest In
Establishing A Lasting World Peace:
January 1941 - February 1946
Published by the Book Department, Army Information
School,
Carlisle Barracks, Pa., May 1946
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