Atomic Energy Act of 1946 - Control of Information and Allies' Reaction

Control of Information and Allies' Reaction

SEC. 10. (a) Policy-It shall be the policy of the Commission to control the dissemination of restricted data in such a manner as to assure the common defense and security. Consistent with such policy, the Commission shall be guided by the following principles.


(1) The term “restricted data” as used in this section means all data concerning the manufacture or utilization of atomic weapons, the production of fissionable material, or the use of fissionable material in the production of power, but shall not include any data which the Commission from time to time determines may be published without adversely affecting the common defense and security.

The new control of "restricted data" excluded the United States' allies from receiving any information or data. This displeased the British and Canadian governments, whose countries, before contributing technology and manpower to the Manhattan Project, had made agreements with the United States about the post-war sharing of nuclear technology. Those agreements were formalized in the 1943 Quebec Agreement. In the case of the United Kingdom, these were developed further in the 1944 Hyde Park Agreement, which was signed by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt.

The provisions of the Act were substantially modified by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

Read more about this topic:  Atomic Energy Act Of 1946

Famous quotes containing the words control of information, control of, control, information and/or reaction:

    “Knowledge in the form of an informational commodity indispensable to productive power is already, and will continue to be, a major—perhaps the major—stake in the worldwide competition for power. It is conceivable that the nation-states will one day fight for control of information, just as they battled in the past for control over territory, and afterwards for control over access to and exploitation of raw materials and cheap labor.”
    —Jean François Lyotard (b. 1924)

    “Only one thing is certain: if pot is legalized, it won’t be for our benefit but for the authorities’. To have it legalized will also be to lose control of it.”
    —Germaine Greer (b. 1939)

    “There are many things children accept as “grown-up things” over when they have no control and for which they have no responsibility—for instance, weddings, having babies, buying houses, and driving cars. Parents who are separating really need to help their children put divorce on that grown-up list, so that children do not see themselves as the cause of their parents’ decision to live apart.”
    —Fred Rogers (20th century)

    “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.”
    —Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

    “More and more, when faced with the world of men, the only reaction is one of individualism. Man alone is an end unto himself. Everything one tries to do for the common good ends in failure.”
    —Albert Camus (1913–1960)