. First Report of the Atomic Energy Commission to the Security Council, December 30, 1946

The report of the Scientific and Technical Committee on Scientific and Technical Aspects of the problem of Control, included in its entirety as Part IV of this report, was accepted by Committee 2 as a basis for its future work. The Commission now records its approval of that report and incorporates in its present findings the conclusions summarized therein in Chapter 6, as follows: “The substances uranium and thorium play a unique role in the domain of atomic energy, since as far as we know these are the only raw materials from which the nuclear fuel required for the development of atomic energy can be obtained. There is an intimate relation between the activities required for peaceful purposes and those leading to the production of atomic weapons; most of the stages which are needed for the former are also needed for the latter. The character of the different stages of the activities has been discussed in order to explore at each stage the elements of danger and to some extent the problem of safeguards against these dangers. “With respect to mining operations, which are of special significance as the first step in these activities, it appears hopeful that safeguards are not too difficult. Particular attention should be paid to the installations in which concentrated nuclear fuel is produced since the product lends itself immediately to the production of bombs. Unless appropriate safeguards are taken at each of these stages, it will be difficult to ensure that no diversion of material or installations will take place.