Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file
The Chairman of the United States Atomic Energy
Commission (Dean)
to Robert Cutler,
Special Assistant to the President
Washington, March 30, 1953.
Dear Mr. Cutler: When the Commission’s power policy was
presented to the National Security Council on March 11, 1953,1 the President suggested that a preamble might be
added to the policy statement,2 with special reference to
Section 7 (b) of the Atomic Energy Act and the development of industrial
interest in the potentialities of nuclear power.
Enclosed, for addition to the proposed Statement of Policy for Nuclear Power
Development, is a Preamble which has been approved by the Commission. It
might be helpful if this could be distributed to the panel of consultants
and other participants in the meeting on this subject scheduled for March
31, 1953.3
Sincerely yours,
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[Enclosure]
Preface to Statement of Policy on Nuclear Power
Development
- 1.
- From the time the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reactor was
demonstrated ten years ago, the eventual technical feasibility of
nuclear power has been accepted. Developments in nuclear reactors
since that time, including submarine power plants and production of
token quantities of electric power by the Experimental Breeder
Reactor and the Homogeneous Reactor Experiment, have served to
reinforce confidence in the ultimate commercial practicability of
nuclear power. Additional evidence of this confidence is reflected
in the increasing interest on the part of industry to contribute
more fully to this development.
- 2.
- However, the general availability in this country of relatively
inexpensive sources of energy such as coal, oil, and hydro power,
places a severe economic requirement on competitive nuclear power. A
nuclear plant built on the basis of today’s technology could not
compete with conventional power. Yet it would be misleading to
evaluate the future prospects for economic nuclear power on the
basis of estimates of near-future performance. We must understand
that the nuclear reactor research of the past years served
specialized military needs and was not aimed specifically at the
production of economic power. Although a difficult development
period lies ahead, there is considerable optimism that economic
nuclear power can be attained within a few years.
- 3.
- It is the judgment of the Commission that now is the time to
announce a positive policy designed to recognize the development of
economic nuclear power as a national objective. An important element
of this policy is to promote and encourage free competition and
private investment in the development work, while at the same time
accepting on the part of Government certain responsibilities for
furthering technical progress in this field to provide a necessary
basis for such development.
- 4.
- While we conclude that atomic power has not yet been developed to
the point of economic use, and that the time is not yet at hand for
the report called for in Section 7 (b) of the Atomic Energy Act, we
do believe it is imperative that we create a favorable atmosphere
which will hasten that day. We believe that the United States should
continue in its present position of leadership among
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those nations striving to promote
the peacetime applications of atomic energy. As a nation we should
not delay the development of this great potential source of energy
for constructive purposes until circumstances force us to attempt
its practical realization on a short time scale.
- 5.
- To this end, the Atomic Energy Commission has endorsed, as a basis
for discussion with other executive agencies and the Congress, the
attached statement of policy on the development of nuclear
power.
