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The Soviet Union and International Co-Operation in the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy: Bilateral Agreements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2017

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Notes and Comments
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Copyright © American Society of International Law 1960

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References

1 Pravda and Izvestia, Jan. 18, 1955, p. 1. The beginnings of the idea of international co-operation in the non-military utilization of nuclear energy are generally traced back to President Eisenhower's “Atoms for Peace” speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Dec. 8, 1953. Some Soviet sources, however, credit the U.S.S.E. with having originated the idea, citing the Soviet draft project of June 19, 1946, of a convention on prohibiting the production and use of nuclear weapons. See Vneshnyaya politika SSSR, 1946 god, dokumenty i materialy (The Foreign Policy of the Soviet Union in 1946, Documents and Materials) 634 (Moscow, 1952); and V. A. Tarasenko, Atomnaya problema vo vneshnei politike SShA (The Atomic Problem in the Foreign Policy of the United States) 225 (Kiev, 1958).

2 For a survey of East European uranium production and related Soviet policies, see Levitsky, S. L., “The Soviet Union and Satellite Uranium,” 4 Bulletin of the Institute for the Study of the U.S.S.R. 37-41 (Munich, 1957)Google Scholar. There is no reliable data on Sino-Soviet relations in this field. However, Moscow's statement would indicate that the U.S.S.R. is, or at least was, receiving considerable amounts of fissionable raw material from Red China, probably under the terms of the agreement of March 27, 1950, concerning the establishment of a Soviet-C.P.R. joint stock company “Sovkitmetall” to prospect for and extract nonferrous metals in Sinkiang (Izvestia, March 29, 1950; Vneshnyaya torgovlya, 1950, No. 4, p. 34, and 1954, No. 2, p. 2). Since this company was transferred to Peking's ownership by agreement of Oct. 12, 1954 (Izvestia, Oct. 12, 1954; People's China, Nov. 1, 1954, Supp., pp. 7-8), and no announcement was then made with regard to future arrangements, it is not known under what rules the deliveries of uranium from the C.P.R. to the U.S.S.R. took place after that date.

3 E.g., Pravda, Jan. 21, 1955, p. 4; Jan. 23, p. 3; Jan. 25, p. 3; Feb. 1, p. 3; Izvestia, Feb. 1, 1955, p. 4; Pravda, Feb. 3, p. 6.

4 For the text of the communiqué concerning the results of the March-April conference, see Pravda and Izvestia, April 30, 1955, p. 2. The texts of the bilateral agreements may be found in Soglasheniya o sotrudnichestve i pomoshchi y oblasti mirnogo ispolzovaniya atomnoi energii, zaklyuchennye Sovetskim Soyuzom s drugimi stranami (Agreements on Collaboration and Assistance in the Field of Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy Concluded between the Soviet Union and Other States) (Moscow, 1958) (hereafter cited as Soglasheniya). The author wishes to express his gratitude to Mr. Robert M. Slusser of the Soviet Treaty Project, Hoover Institute, Stanford University, for bringing to his attention the existence of this publication.

5 Agreement of Oct. 25, 1950, with the C.P.R., Vneshnyaya torgovlya SSSR s sotsialisticheskimi stranami (Foreign Trade of the U.S.S.R. with the Socialist States) 44 (Moscow, 1957); Agreement of July 1, 1952, with the G.D.E.; Protocol of Jan. 25, 1950, with Poland; Protocol of Sept. 26, 1950, with Rumania; Protocol of Nov. 29, 1950, with Czechoslovakia.

6 For the Chinese People's Republics, Agreement of Dec. 6, 1951; for the German Democratic Republic, special agreements would be concluded, couched in the form of protocols, between the interested organizations of the two parties; for Poland, Agreement of Jan. 25, 1950; for Rumania, Agreement of Feb. 17, 1950; for Czechoslovakia,, Agreement of Feb. 22, 1950.

7 The first U. S. agreement of this type, concluded with Turkey, was formally signed on June 10, 1955, 33 Dept. of State Bulletin 55-57 (1955). In the meantime a large number of similar pacts were temporarily initialed with other nations, 32 ibid. 865, 1018 (1955). De facto, therefore, U. S. diplomatic negotiations in this field antedate the first Soviet measures by many months, and in most respects the precipitous conclusion of the Soviet-satellite pacts clearly seems to be a last-minute effort to wrest the initiative from the West.

8 S. A. Malinin, ‘'Pravovye f ormy mezdunarodnogo sotrudnichestva v oblasti mirnogo ispolzovaniya atomnoi energii” (Legal Forms of International Cooperation in the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, 1957, No. 7, pp. 122 ff.; V. Larin, Mezhdunarodnoe Agenstvo po Atomnoi Energii (International Atomie Energy Agency) 9 (Moscow, 1957); and M. M. Lebedenko, “TJstav Obyedinennogo Instituta Yadernykh Issledovanii” (Statute of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo, 1957, No. 2, pp. 116-118.

9 For text, see Soglasheniya 7-9.

10 All these states, however, participate in the work o£ the Communist regional organization devoted to nuclear research for peaceful purposes, the so-called Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, created on March 26, 1956.

11 For text, see Soglasheniya 22-24.

12 For example, under Art. 4, the prices for the various materials to be supplied by the U.S.S.R. were to be established in special protocols signed not later than one month prior to the delivery of the goods. The training of Yugoslav specialists in the U.S.S.R. and the commandeering of Soviet technicians to Yugoslavia were to be the subject of subsequent agreements, etc.

13 For text, see Soglasheniya 25-27.

14 Some such provisions were also inserted in general agreements on economic assistance between the Soviet Union and other states, in addition to which there were verbal offers to foreign governments. Thus the General Agreement on Economic and Technical Co-operation of Sept. 15, 1956, signed between Moscow and Djakarta, provided in general terms for Soviet-Indonesian co-operation and the training of Indonesian specialists in the U.S.S.R. in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes—in medicine, science and engineering. International Affairs (Moscow), 1956, No. 10, p. 118, and Vneshnyaya torgovlya SSSR so stranami Azii, Afriki i Latinskoi Amerikt (Foreign Trade of the U.S.S.R. with Countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America) 49 (Moscow, 1958). On Oct. 7, 1957, at the I.A.E.A. Conference in Vienna, the Soviet Union offered to help train technicians and render assistance in organizing work on the peaceful use of atomic energy, in designing nuclear projects and power and experimental installations, in prospecting for uranium and mining uranium deposits. Izvestia, Oct. 18, 1957, p. 4. A separate offer was also made to India, but with no immediate results. Izvestia, Aug. 9, 1955, p. 3.

15 Izvestia, April 10, 1956; International Affairs, 1956, No. 7, p. 135; Deklaratsii, zayavleniya i kommyunike Sovetskogo pravitelstva s pravitelstvami innostrannykh gosudarstv, 1954-1957gg. (Declarations, Statements and Communiques of the Soviet Government with the Governments of Other States, 1954-1957) 187-189 (Moscow, 1957) (henceforth cited as Deklaratsii).

16 Thus, in 1959 a Soviet source wrote that “ in April of that year [1955] was signed an agreement under which was foreseen the construction in China of a nuclear pile with a thermo-capacity of 6,500-10,000 kw,” thus revising upward the original specifications (5,000-6,000 kw.) for the reactor. On the other hand, the dimensions of the cyclotron were downgraded to 12.5-25 million electronvolt instead of the earlier firm commitment to one of 25 MeV capacity (the same adjustment took place in the case of Rumania). See P. K. Figurnov and M. I. Sladkovskii (eds.), Razvitie ekonomikii vneshneekonomicheskikh svyazei Kitaiskoi Narodnoi Respubliki The Development of the Economy and Foreign Economic Relations of the Chinese People's Republic 457 (Moscow, 1959).

17 N. Pavlov, ‘’ Edinstvo stran sotsialisticheskogo lagerya i ikh mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya” (Unity of the Countries of the Socialist Camp and Their International Relations), Voprosy vneshnei politiki stran sotsialisticheskogo lagerya (Sbornik statei) (Questions of Foreign Policy of the States of the Socialist Camp, Collection of Articles) 19-20. The author adds that “tremendous successes have been achieved by the Chinese people in the development of science and technology, in particular in the utilization of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.” Soviet technical assistance to China seems to have been much greater than is generally realized or publicized, for in October, 1959, Liao Cheng-chih, an important Party member, claimed that “ a t present China is making rapid progress in the peaceful uses of atomic energy. As a consequence, China has outstripped Britain in the output of isotopes.” New York Times, Jan. 16, 1960, p. 10. Such rapid progress cannot be explained otherwise than through a massive injection of Soviet aid into the Chinese scientific program.

18 Kozik, A. A.(ed.), Ekonomicheskoe sotrudniehestvo i vzaimopomosheh mezhdu Sovetskim Soyuzom i Evropeiskimi stranami narodnoi demokratii (Economic Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Soviet Union and the European Countries of People ‘a Democracy) 226-227 (Moscow, 1958)Google Scholar; Soglasheniya 9.

19 In the Soviet Union the first such installation went into operation in the summer of 1954. According to V. Larin, op. cit. 7: “ Already in the summer of 1954 the world's first industrial atomic power station was built and put to use. Since then this nuclear power station has been functioning without interruption, producing electric energy for industry and agriculture.” For the future, the Sixth Five-Year Plan (since superseded by Khrushchev's 7-Year Plan), envisaged the construction of atomic power plants with a total capacity of 2-2.5 million kw., including 5 stations with capacities of 400-600 thousand kw. each, and a few smaller installations of up to 50,000 kw. apiece. V. Larin, op. cit. 6, and V. A. Tarasenko, op. cit. 224. It was also projected to build an atomic ice-breaker, since completed and put into service.

20 Mentioned in the Joint Statement concerning negotiations between the U.S.S.E. and the German Democratic Republic, July 17, 1956, in Moscow. See Deklaratsii 114-119.

21 See Joint Declaration by the U.S.S.E. and Czechoslovakia on political and economic questions, signed in Moscow, Jan. 29, 1957. New Times, 1957, No. 6, pp. 37-43, and Pod znamenem proletarskogo internationalizma, sbornik materialov (Under the Flag of Proletarian Internationalism, Collection of Materials) 290-303 (Moscow, 1957).

22 Pravda and Izvestia, March 29, 1957; Deklaratsii 81-98.

23 Tomashevskii, D. G., “Vneshnyaya politika Narodnoi Polshi” (The Foreign Policy of People's Poland), 15 let Narodnoi Polshi (15 Years of People's Poland) 145 (Moscow, 1959).Google Scholar

24 Izvestia, Feb. 13, 1957; Vneshnyaya torgovlya, 1957, No. 7, p. 34. This agreement supplemented the agreement of Jan. 28, 1956, concerning collaboration between the two countries in the field of nuclear physics.

25 New York Times, Dec. 29, 1959, p. 3.

26 Cf. Report of the Soviet Delegation on ‘'Assistance by the Soviet Union to Other States in the Field of Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy,” submitted at the first Geneva Conference on the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy, August, 1955, Proceedings of the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (New York, 1956), “Vol. 16, pp. 43-45. By comparison the United States by 1957 had already concluded 42 treaties of this type. Protocol of the 10th Meeting of the First Special Session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Oct. 11, 1957, General Conference Doc. GC.1(S)/OE.10, p. 23.

27 S. A. Malinin, loc. cit.; V. Larin, op. cit. 10-11; M. M. Lebedenko, op. cit. 116.

28 S. A. Malinin, loc. cit., stresses the purely commercial nature of Soviet aid to other states in nuclear development. On the other hand, V. Larin, op. cit. 9, and “Mezhdunarodnoe sotrudnichestvo v oblasti mirnogo ispolzovaniya atomnoi energii (International Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy), Sovetskii Ezhegodnik Mezhdunarodnogo Prava, 1958 (Soviet Yearbook of International Law, 1958), p. 371 (Moscow, 1959), emphasizes that “ t h e Soviet Union in no way considers the grant of assistance in the peaceful use of atomic energy as a commercial enterprise or as a means for establishing its control over the nuclear industry of other States.”

In his article “Atoms for Peace and Progress,” New Times, 1957, No. 8, pp. 11-12, the same author strongly objected to the idea of operating the I.A.E.A. as an essentially commercial enterprise.

All Soviet commentators extol the superiority of the Soviet approach over that of the United States on the basis that “ in contrast to the United States, the Soviet Union does not demand that the recipient countries report on the use to which the aid is put, hand over their patents, discoveries and inventions in the sphere of atomic energy and permit foreign inspectors to visit their enterprises.” As for the alleged conditions of U. S. aid, Soviet publicists derive them from clauses in U. S. treaties with other states (Art. 6 C of the Agreement with Turkey, for example), and other documents, especially the “ Aide-Memoire handed by the State Department to the Embassy of the U.S.S.R. in Washington on August 15, 1956,” and the attached “Text of the Article on Safeguards incorporated in the bilateral agreements of the United States for extending assistance in relation to the peaceful use of atomic energy,” International Affairs, 1956, No. 10, pp. 149-150.