150. Editorial Note
The International Atomic Energy Agency held the 10th regular session of its general conference in Vienna September 21-28, 1966. In his remarks to the conference on September 22, Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, delivered a message from President Johnson, emphasizing the U.S. commitment to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s safeguards over peaceful uses of atomic energy as a principal instrument for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. (U.S. Participation in the UN: Report by the President to the Congress for the Year 1966 (Washington, November 1967), page 182) Seaborg’s biweekly letter to President Johnson on October 11 highlights the proceedings of the conference as follows:
- “(a) The Polish and Czech delegates announced the willingness of their governments to place all of their nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards [Page 365] provided West Germany would do the same. The USSR delegate endorsed the Polish-Czech offer, which is now under consideration. The West German reply stressed the fact that all of their nuclear facilities are already under effective Euratom safeguards.
- “(b) The Conference approved the 1967 regular (assessed) budget of $9.5 million and the 1967 operational (voluntary) budget of $2.4 million. For the first time pledges to the operational program were made by Soviet Bloc countries (USSR—about $111,000; Poland—$25,000, and Czechoslovakia—$14,000).
- “(c) The Conference approved the membership applications of Sierra Leone, Singapore, and Uganda, which will raise the number of IAEA countries to 99.
- “(d) The IAEA Board of Governors approved the application of IAEA safeguards to the U.S. bilateral agreements with Spain and Australia.” (Seaborg, Journal, Volume 13, pages 372-373)