ABSTRACT
The Atoms for Peace program had its beginning with President Eisenhower's plea for international nuclear cooperation before the U.N. General Assembly. On that occasion, he stated that "... the United States pledges ... to devote its entire heart and mind to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life." It was a unique gesture of sharing on the part of the leading industrialized nation, and has very few parallels in modern history. No other new technology has been launched in a comparable manner. The U.S. initiative induced other developed countries to take similar measures. The USSR assisted the East European countries, and the United Kingdom, France, and Canada started their own international cooperation and training programs. A European Atomic Energy Community was formed with West European membership. And a series of conferences were held in Geneva, during which large amounts of nuclear energy information were declassified for the first time. In short, a veritable movement of international nuclear cooperation was born, with the United States as the pacesetter.
