The Acheson-Lilienthal Report
The Report On The International Control Of Atomic Energy (informally
known as the "Acheson-Lilienthal" Report) was published March 16,
1946. It was America's first effort to define a policy on the control
of atomic energy. Its premise, which was enthusiastically endorsed
by Acheson's committee, was that there should be an international
"Atomic Development Authority" which would have world-wide monopoly
over the control of "dangerous elements" of the entire spectrum
of atomic energy. This included mining of materials such as uranium,
through research and development, to manufacturing.
The report proposed international cooperation and control rather
than outlawing atomic weapons or establishing some unworkable means
of inspection. It was felt this approach would promote and reinforce
energetic research and development in a constructive form. The first
US proposal to the United Nations on international controls on nuclear
material, named the Baruch Plan for its author Bernard Baruch, drew
heavily on the information in the Acheson-Lilienthal Report. |
