Instrument of Peace

So consistent has been the U.S. attitude of generosity on the peaceful atom since World War II that foreign policy critics rarely think to take it into account in assessing U.S. world position. Beginning with the Baruch Plan (sabotaged by the Russians), the U.S. has again and again offered to make the peaceful atom available to other qualified nations on almost any reasonable basis. Last week President Eisenhower took one more unprecedented step in the same direction by authorizing the release of 88,000 Ibs. of uranium 235 for long-range power development and research in the U.S. and abroad.

The U-235, valued at $1 billion, will be split between private and public power groups (which will lease their share from the Government) and foreign developers (who will either buy or lease). No U-235 will be consigned to nations already producing it, e.g., Great Britain, or under present terms, the Soviet Union and its satellites. "Prudent safeguards" will be taken to ensure that the uranium is not diverted to nonpeaceful uses, said the President.

The Atomic Energy Commission has already approved seven U.S. atomic power projects that are ready to use the U-235, is now studying seven more applications. The foreign share will probably go to most of the 26 nations with which the U.S. now has bilateral agreements for cooperation in atomic research. (Scientists from 29 nations are being or have been trained in reactor technology at the AEC's Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago.)

The President's move, decided upon at Gettysburg weeks ago, was announced right on the heels of Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin's bombastic boast that the Soviet Union now leads the world in the peaceful use of atomic energy. But its real significance lay in reaffirming the humanitarian position taken by the U.S. as a matter of principle long before the Russians knew how to split an atom. Said the President: "This action demonstrates the confidence of the United States in the possibilities of developing nuclear power for civilian uses. It is an earnest of our faith that the atom can be made a powerful instrument for the promotion of world peace."

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