economically underdeveloped areas of the world has heretofore confronted the unyielding obstacle of extremely high cost power. Within our lifetime, however, the peacetime atom can provide a way out. It can bring power to the economically underdeveloped nations at a fraction of the cost of conventionally-derived electricity. In fact, atomic power should give such nations their first real hope of breaking the age-old cycle of poverty begetting poverty. The international pool gives the world an opportunity and let us pray it will be wise enough to seize it-to use the atom for the purposes God surely intended it to be used, for fighting poverty wherever men now want, and for curing disease wherever men now suffer. Is there some obvious formula, which somehow now eludes the statemen of the world for achieving true peace? I fear not. Is there some bold new course of action which, if only we followed it, would bring absolute military security to this and succeeding generations? Again I fear not. Peace in this atomic age, like peace in any age, will be won only through the slow working of a wise diplomacy which errs neither toward craven appeasement not unseemly arrogance. Peace in this atomic age, like peace in any age, will never be secured overnight. Peace in this atomic age, like peace in any age, will be won only if our statesmen can draw upon the support and collective wisdom of a united people. Peace in this atomic age, like peace in any age, is a pearl of great price which can never be bought cheaply. Yet one thing, in this atomic age, is different. Today, there exists a new instrumentality for waging peace a material force of unrivaled power which can be man's valiant ally in his efforts to build a future nearer to our heart's desire. I refer to atomic energythe same atomic energy which now threatens to split the world asunder. In his magnificent speech before the United Nations in December 1953, President Eisenhower pointed the way to making the atom the touchstone for a better tomorrow. He urged the nations to pool their resources in a great program to use atomic energy in a world-wide fight against poverty and disease. His challenge was eagerly accepted by the free nations and we must never give up hoping that the Soviet Union may also see fit to join in this splendid enterprise. During the course of revising the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, the United States Congress voiced its approval of the objectives of President Eisenhower's peacetime international atomic pool plan. Following this, our Government announced its willingness to contribute important quantities of atomic materials to such a pool, and our British and Canadian friends made similar offers. For all those with eyes to see, the President's great plan makes it clear that the atomic future is open. It is not preordained that atomic ruin must inevitably befall the world. It is only preordained that man will reap as he sows that selfishness and smallness will receive their just deserts, and that generosity and greatness will receive their just rewards. You, as teachers of science, could say with good reason that man's problem, in the atomic age, is a problem of learning of learning how to live with the elemental force of the atom, and of learning how to use the atom so that it will not destroy all he holds dear but instead make for a more bountiful life. If the atomic dilemma is resolved-and that dilemma consists of the world's clear cut choice between unparalleled destruction and unparalleled abundance it will be resolved largely through those of your vocation. I am thinking here of the tremendous educational job which needs to be done in acquainting the peoples of the world with the true nature of atomic energy, so that they will neither despair of grappling with the problems posed by the atom nor feign indifference to the most important physical fact of our time. Yet your mission-the mission of the world's teachers surely goes deeper than this. Beyond all else, your task is surely that of reminding men that new scientific laws do not obsolete old moral laws. Your task, even more than explaining the new scientific truths of this atomic world, is that of championing those eternal moral truths by which the good society has lived in the past, and by which it must live in the future. Your task is that of liberating the coming generation from temporal provincialism, and of relating its problems to those great questions of right and wrong confronting all men in all ages past and all ages yet to come. Your task, and there is no greater task, is the mission of vindicating anew the truth which matters above allthat our lives have meaning and dignity and reward only when they are lived in harmony with the purposes of our Creator. Press release by United States Atomic Energy Commission, "India to Purchase Heavy Water for Research Reactor Near Bombay," February 12, 1955 Chairman Lewis L. Strauss announced today that the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission has agreed to the request of the Government of India for the sale to that country of ten tons of heavy water to be used in a research reactor to be located near Bombay, India. "I hope the sale of this heavy water to India is only a first important step in a broader collaboration in this field," Chairman Strauss said. "It is in keeping with the program of the United States in developing arrangements with friendly nations to promote the peaceful uses of atomic energy as announced by President Eisenhower in his United Nations speech." Research reactors are an essential instrument for the training of scientists in reactor technology and, in addition, develop good neutron fluxes for nuclear experiments. These machines also make readily available isotopes for use in research, agriculture, medicine and industry. Press release by Department of State and Atomic Energy Commission, "Plans Announced for United States Participation in Geneva Conference on Atomic Energy," February 23, 1955 Preliminary plans for participation by the United States in the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy at Geneva, Switzerland, August 8-20, 1955, were announced today. The United States Government has accepted the invitation to participate in the Conference, which was extended by the United Nations to 84 nations, including 9 from the Soviet bloc. Enclosed with the invitations were several documents, including the Topical Agenda for the Conference and the Conference Rules of Procedure. (Text of the United Nations invitation, together with the enclosed documents, and a list of the invited nations are attached.)1 Primary responsibility for the technical planning and preparation for United States participation in the Conference has been assigned to the United States Atomic Energy Commission. The Commission has named Dr. George L. Weil, former Assistant Director of its Reactor Development Division and now a consultant to the Commission, as Technical Director for United States Participation in the International Conference. President Eisenhower's proposal for a world-wide conference to promote the dissemination of new information on peaceful uses of atomic energy was first announced by Chairman Lewis L. Strauss of the United States Atomic Energy Commission on April 19, 1954. It will be held under the auspices of the United Nations, which authorized the meeting by formal resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on December 4, 1954. The Conference is an outgrowth of the atoms-for-peace proposals laid before the United Nations on December 8, 1953 by President Eisenhower when he urged that the atomic resources of the world be mobilized to apply the benefits of atomic energy to the cause of peace. The Conference will be devoted to the presentation of information on reactor technology, atomic power, radiation protection, applications of atomic energy to biology, medicine, and agriculture and the industrial uses of radioisotopes. The Atomic Energy Commission is assembling through key United States educational institutions, industrial establishments and research centers (government and private) technical information in the fields appropriate to the Conference Agenda. It is believed that papers presented by United States scientists and engineers will make substantial contributions to all segments of the Topical Agenda. The Commission also is planning a technical exhibit at the Conference site at Geneva. More than 60 institutions and firms already have signified interest in participating in this United States Government exhibit. In addition to heading up the Commission staff assigned to the planning and preparation of the meeting, Dr. Weil will undertake to coordinate the technical participation in the meeting by other interested agencies. Invitations are being issued requesting that abstracts of papers be submitted prior to March 11 for consideration for the United States program which in turn will be submitted to the United Nations Secretary General. Interested individuals should contact their organizations for copies of the Conference Topical Agenda and Rules of Procedure. I See p. 489 for revised agenda, released June 28, 1955 for a schedule later than the topical agenda which had been listed as of February 23, 1955. 1 February 1955 The SECRETARY OF STATE, Department of State, Washington 25, D. C. SIR: I have the honour, in pursuance of Resolution 810 (IX) of 4 December 1954, to invite your Government to participate in the international Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. The Resolution, ***, provides in its Part B that "all States members of the United Nations or of the specialized agencies" are to be invited to participate in the Conference. The Advisory Committee established by the General Assembly Resolution has now concluded its first session at the Headquarters of the United Nations, and with its advice the following actions affecting the Organization and procedure of the Conference have been taken: The Conference is to convene in Geneva on 8 August 1955, and will continue in session for twelve working days, that is through 20 August 1955. The Topical Agenda which constitutes the general programme of the Conference has been prepared, and is enclosed as Annex I.2 The Rules of Procedure for the Conference have been formulated, and are enclosed as Annex II. The Agenda and Rules of the Conference have been prepared in pursuance of the above-mentioned Resolution of the General Assembly. The Secretary-General has informed the Advisory Committee of his decision, in accordance with his understanding of the views of the Committee, to name Dr. Homi Bhabha of India as President of the Conference. Six Vice-Presidents will be appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations following designation of individual nominees by the following States: Brazil, Canada, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. Their names will be announced as soon as possible. The Chairmen and Rapporteurs of Sections will be appointed and their names announced in due course. Professor Walter G. Whitman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been engaged by the Secretary-General as an officer of the United Nations Secretariat and assigned to serve as Conference Secretary-General. A Deputy to him will be announced in due course. The Secretary-General has appointed a United Nations internal working party to assist him on matters relating to the Conference. The members of this working party are: Mr. Ralph J. Bunche, Mr. Gunnar Randers and Mr. Ilya S. Tchernychev. May I draw your attention particularly to certain provisions in the Rules of Procedure for the Conference to the effect that: Each participating State "may be represented at the Conference by no more than five representatives, . The representatives may be accompanied by such number of advisers as may be required, in the general interest of the Conference, to ensure adequate presentation and discussion of technical papers". (Rule 2.) See footnote, p. 343 The lists of representatives and proposed advisers of each participating State are to be submitted not later than fourteen days before the opening of the Conference. (Rule 4.) In view of the limited time available for preparation of the Conference, the titles and the requested 500-word abstracts of all papers intended to be presented at the Conference are to be submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, if possible, not later than 15 May, while the full texts of the papers themselves are to be submitted to him not later than 1 July. (Rule B, Annex.) The travel and other expenses of participants in the Conference are not to be an obligation of the United Nations. (Rule 24.) With regard to the representation of each participating State, it should be noted that in paragraph 3 of Part B of the General Assembly resolution and in Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure for the Conference, reference is made to the inclusion among the representatives, where possible, of "individual experts competent in the atomic energy field". Having in mind the urgency of the time-factor, I would like to emphasize the necessity that the Secretary-General be informed at your Government's earliest convenience as to the nature and probable number of papers relating to the Agenda which it may expect to submit. In this latter connexion, I may refer to a notification from the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which is enclosed as Annex III. I would appreciate notification, at an early date, of your Government's intention with regard to participation in the Conference in response to this invitation. Accept, Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration. DAG HAMMARSKJOLD, ANNEX 13 TOPICAL AGENDA FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY Plenary SESSIONS ANNEX II RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY To be convened in Geneva on 8 August 1955, in pursuance of resolution 810 (IX) of the General Assembly of the United Nations of 4 December 1954 Rule 1 CHAPTER I—AGENDA, PARTICIPATION, AND CREDENTIALS The Conference shall consider items included in the detailed Agenda and Programme prepared by the Secretary-General of the United Nations with the advice of the Advisory Committee in accordance with paragraph 5 of resolution 810 (IX) of the General Assembly 3 See footnote, p. 343. |