Fifty years of 'Atoms for Peace'

Fifty years ago, on December 8, 1953, the then U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his famous speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed his 'Atoms for Peace' program, which was to initiate a policy of international cooperation. The event had been preceded by a policy of the United States intended to guarantee to the United States the monopoly in the production and use of nuclear weapons, which ultimately failed because of the resistance of the Soviet Union. The doctrine of a technological monopoly in the nuclear field was to be changed in favor of cooperative ventures under the rigorous control of the United States. The 1954 Atomic Energy Act clearly formulated the will to cooperate. Following a U.S. initiative, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was founded in 1956 to assist in transfers of nuclear technology and assume controlling functions to prevent abuse for non-peaceful purposes. Quite a number of countries used the 'Atoms for Peace' offer to develop nuclear power in very close cooperation with American industry and depending on U.S. nuclear fuel supply. On the whole, 'Atoms for Peace' has paved the way to a worldwide peaceful use of nuclear power. (orig.)