Date

Nov 7, 1956

Description

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, White House Office, Office of the Staff Secretary. Subject Series, Alphabetical Subseries, box 17, Miscellaneous (2)

The same day that State Department officials made the nuclear weapons training proposal to higher-ups at the Department, Defense Department officials were trying out an idea that they would support in the years ahead: amending the Atomic Energy Act so that it would be possible to transfer the “custody of atomic weapons” to select NATO countries and other allies. In this way they could achieve a state of “atomic readiness.”

Defense officials envisaged transferring weapons and weapons information first to the British and the Canadians (air defense weapons), then to NATO countries (“defensive weapons”), and later “defensive weapons” to other allies including Australia and New Zealand, and possibly to Japan and the Philippines. To make such transfers possible, the Atomic Energy Act would be amended to “vest the authority for transfer of information in the Secretary of Defense and for the transfer of custody of atomic weapons in the President.”

The memorandum noted the dissenting view of the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission who questioned the “wisdom” of the proposal and whether Congress would support it. One of the chairman’s concerns was “the possibility of serious breaches in U.S. security with respect to atomic information.” According to the draft memorandum “notwithstanding these difficulties, the proposal merits any possible effort to secure favorable Congressional action.” Moreover, the “net advantages militarily and politically … warrant the calculated risk of a possible breach of U.S. atomic information security.”

The Defense Department would make more proposals for the transfer of custody of atomic weapons, and it would meet similar objections from the AEC and also the State Department (see document 25).

Document published in following posting(s):

The U.S. Nuclear Presence in Western Europe, 1954-1962, Part I

Jul 21, 2020

Memorandum from the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to the President, “Provision of Nuclear Capability to U. S. Allies,” Draft, 7 November 1956, Top Secret, Prepared by Office of International Security Affairs, Department of Defense, attachments not available