ATOMIC ENERGY


Department of State Atomic Energy Files
Mr. F. TV. Marten, First Secretary, British Embassy, to Mr. R. Gordon
Arneson, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State (Webb)

TOP SECRET                           VASHINGTON, October 18, 1950.
  DEAR GORDON: I spoke to you yesterday on the subject of the South
African request for "a special position".
  2. I have now received from London further views on this subject.
These can be summarised as follows:
  (a) There are some indications that what the South Africans want
is to be "a member of the club", i.e. a member of the Combined
Policy
Committee on a par with Canada. In the British view we should make
plain to the South Africans from the outset that there can be no ques-
tion of their becoming members of the Combined Policy Committee
and that Canadian membership of that body arises not from her posi-
tion as a producer of uranium but from her wartime participation
in the allied project for producing an atomic weapon and from the
work being done at Chalk R~iver.
   (b) We feel, however, that South Africa as a producer of uranium
would be entitled to a position on a par with Belgium, i.e. she should
have the same special positlon as Belgium has under the Agreement
of 1944 and under the current conversations regarding the imple-
mentation of the 1944 Agreement.
  (c) In talking to the South Africans about "a special position"
we should not, however, mention the Belgian Agreement or the Bel-
gian negotiations, nor should we do anything to suggest that the
concessions offered to them were equivalent to those accorded to the
Belgians. Instead we should suggest that whatever we offered them
in the way of a special position was merited by their position as a
uranium producer. In point of fact what we offered them should cor-
respond to what the Belgians have.
  3. We understand that you may discuss the South African request
for "a special position" when Dr. Donges visits Washington. In
that
case we believe it would be useful if a British representative could
participate in the discussion.
  4. We imagine that any discussion with Dr. Donges during his
forthcoming visit to Washington will be largely exploratory. As
regards further more formal negotiations regarding the South African
"special position" we believe that the right forum would be Pretoria.
The question is largely a political one for the South Africans and
is being handled by their Ministry of External Affairs. We therefore
believe that it could most suitably be discussed by the Union Ministry
of External Affairs, the United States Ambassador, and the United
Kingdom High Commissioner in South Africa.
  5. I would be grateful for your views on this matter.


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Yours ever,