Rept'CIdu ed ton fie UIdassJ ied I Dadassified Hoicf'Ilg5 d tie Nablal ArdIiom LASSIFItD I AuthoritylJND l1'tzQ 10 DEPARTMENT OF STATE - Memorancilim of Convenotion SUBJECT I German Atomic Energy Program PARTICIPANTS British Embassy - Sir John Cockcro1't Mr F J LeisbJllan French Fmbassy - Ifr Jacque Martin German Diplomatic Hi don - Dr W Heisenberg Dr Helmut Sigrist ' I Dr Eduard Hess I Atomic Energy Camnia ion - Mr John Hall Dr Paul Fine Dr nneth Dans Dsparbnent 01' Stats - Mr Philip J Farlo - Mr Gerard C Smith COPIES TO Mr George Spisgel S AH Mr W Jr Hiller GEA 5 I 1 Hz BUR IIBrchant GER - Mr on lEA - Mr Margolies CEA - Mr HillBr HIeOO Bonn 1 GPA - Mr Auchinclo s J HA - Mr Wolr vDefenoo - Col Frank Elliott OSD c-Embassy London V Embassy aria v j '' slAH - 2 ARC - 2 'Ii' is c Xl -_ The ting was arranged to permit Sir John cockcroi t to qne tion Dr Hei enberg concerning German plan in t ' atomic ensrgy field in order that some limitation on German production of nucloar fuel might be arranged tfl- I 1'10' Dr Heisenberg aid in reply to Sir John' quo tion that Ge vOllld 0 not dewlop an atomic progr Genum r however would want to bn1ld a o reactor in tho near future within two years producs hoavy water refine apOtlS I OJ uranitDII and latsr perltape mild a chemical soparation plant for enriching urani1l 1l Planning to date has kept in mind the proposod Eoo restrictions i o limitation of production or nuclear fue to saO grams per year and a reactor with no grsatsr output than 10$ Megawatts Without tho Ene re trictions h_ver it v1ll now be pos iblo to build a larger reactor In no ewnt would this reactor have a heat output exceediDg 10 Megaloratts a1nce Get1laIl y' l aclas the experillnce to build a larger reactor at this time Heisenterg indicated that 0el'mal T would keep its partners in omed of its plans cr' Mr Leishman noted that under tho Eoo Ge would have been ablB to 0 produce no more than sex grams of nuclear fuel a year and this was re4tec1 to a reactor havillg an output of DO more than 10$ Hagawatto He then inquired about the relationship of production of Ducloar fuel to a 3D IIBgawatts reactor Professor Heisenberg indicated that there vas a direct ratio and that ablut 6 pound ot plutonium Il d thus be produced en - _ _ Sir Jolm inquired concerning German plans tor 18otope separation Dr 0 o _Heisenberg indicated that thsrs have bean oxporiJoents with c9ntriblgal 0paratiOD la which is usoful in producing small quant1tis of enriched uromi a gaseO l --II J 9 i - '- --_ _ - ' - CONADENnAL 1 ' i i' Reproduced from me Undass 'ved 10mm Holdings oi the National am Authorityw igf' a NEWER 2 - diffusion plant would be necessary to produce any large quantity of enriched material He said the construction of such a plant would be out of the question at the present time Dr Heisenberg then inquired whether Germany might acquire natural uranium enriched uranium below 2 1 percent and heavy water and in that amount Sir John said that arrangements for the procurement of such materials could probably be made under the aegis of the proposed International Atomic Energy Agency Sir John after noting that he had neither consulted with his Govermnent nor had instructions on this subject suggested that it would be useful for Heisenberg to make inquiries of the Us and UK concerning procure- ment of these materials and that it was within the realm of possibility that Germany might get than if the desired momts were not too large In any event inquiries should be addressed to the us and UK before Germany would under-tales the production of an isotope separation plant Dr Davis inquired whether the German reactor would be designed for any Specific use Dr Heisenberg said that the proposed air-cooled grawite moderated natural uranium reactor would be for research radiation experiments production of isotopes etc He said there is no immediate interest in going into production of power until experience has been gained Hr Suith inquired about limitations on German industry Dr Heisenberg was not sure what restrictions would be placed on German industry under the proposed German atomic energy law He said he would be surprised if any German com-Jan could build a reactor within two years or build it independently of the Government since industry is associated with the Government in this field Perhaps after two years or so German industry would be interested in producing power reactors On the other hand German industry will be interested in producing heat- 9r water pore uranium metal zimmimu etc It was agreed that any letter that would be forthcoming from the Chancellor concerning a self- imposed lindtation on production in Gemany of nuclear fuel would be meaningless if a German company such as Siemens should be in a position to construct a 100 Megawatts reactor at the same time the Government had undertaken not to construct one greater than 10 Hegawatts Sir John indicated that his Government would probably be satisfied if the Chancellor would indicate by letter that Germany would not plan to construct a reactor with an output greater than 10 Megawatts within the next two or three years and would consult with the other countries before building an isotope separaticm plant Professor Heisenberg sugested at one point in the conversation that there might be another exchange of letters after two years                     National Security Archive    Suite 701  Gelman Library  The George Washington University    2130 H Street  NW  Washington  D C  20037    Phone  202 994‐7000  Fax  202 994‐7005  nsarchiv@gwu edu