501.BC Atomic/6–2947: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Douglas) to the Secretary of State
3566. Before leaving for Paris, Bevin informed me he had had brief conversation with Prime Minister regarding international control atomic energy. They had been so preoccupied with other matters that it had been impossible to give consideration to matter at Cabinet level but that he and Prime Minister felt that we should not press for definite action which would force Soviet to accept or reject at September meeting. He also said Makins would give me more detailed report.
This Makins subsequently did. He confirmed what Bevin had told me and said that probably Ministers would consider matter within two weeks and would talk with me.
In the meantime, Mr. Bevin hoped we on our part would not press our plan and said that the British on their part would come to no conclusions of their own. They thought that Arneson’s visit had been extremely helpful and had clarified our position. I again emphasized that anything short of ownership would be unpalatable in the United States for the reasons which had already been explained to him. He said that they understood our view and were impressed with the arguments which we had advanced but implied that it might be difficult for them to accept agency ownership of plants. He, however, was not able to express a view until the Cabinet had reviewed the matter. He recalled that in a personal conversation I had asked him whether the British [Page 540] doubts about our plan arose from fear that it would be used to prevent the use of nuclear energy as a source of power for commercial purposes in the UK.
Since that conversation, he had talked with representatives of the interested ministries and was able to confirm his original opinion that they had no apprehension on this score with the following qualification, that while it was believed that we had devised our plan with the thought in mind that it might be used to prevent the establishment of plants in countries other than the UK, it could be applied similarly to the UK.
Repeat to Osborn New York.