ATOMIC ENERGY


   Mr. van Zeeland called on Mr. Acheson at Mr. van Zeeland's request.
 He apologized for disturbing the Secretary at this busy time but
 said that he had a serious problem with his Parliament which opens
 on Tuesday.2 He said that he would, when Parliament opened, be
 under pressure for information on the status of negotiations in the
 atomic field. He said that he had been able to postpone this for nearly
 a year and could possibly delay a little longer although he felt he
 could get away with more in view of the atmosphere left by our
 recent meetings than he would have expected. He said that the Bel-
 gians had concluded it was best to accept our views in these nego-
 tiations. He then asked Ambassador Silvercruys to report on the
 discussions which he had had with Mr. Arneson and Mr. Perkins.3
 The Ambassador said that he assumed Mr. Acheson had received a
 report on these discussions. Mr. Acheson said that he had been filled
 in on that. The Ambassador said that these discussions had resulted
 in practical agreement and there was only one point which was in
 dispute. He said that the discussions had led to complete agreement
 on the draft communique and that there was substantial agreement on
 the aide-menmoire. He said that if Belgium expects to carry out the
 program she has set up for herself, it will be essential to raise addi-
 tional funds. He said they regarded that the ore was being sold at a
 very cheap price and wanted to increase the export tax on it. In order
 to meet the one point of disagreement, Mr. van Zeeland and the
 Ambassador suggested that the aide-mezmoire include a statement that
 the tax which the Belgian Government wanted was "not to exceed
 175 francs per kilo." They suggested that it be understood that the
 actual amount of this tax would not be determined without consul-
 tation with the United States.
 Mr. Acheson said that we considered the tax an internal matter and
 were sympathetic to the Belgians' needs for funds. He said that there
 was not complete agreement in the United States Government on
 certain technical matters but he expressed the belief that these could
 be solved. He suggested that further conversations be held with
 Ambassador Silvercruys in Washington. He said that he would ask
 Mr. Arneson to get in touch with the Ambassador.
 As he was leaving, Mr. van Zeeland urged again that the Secretary
 not forget the necessity for Mr. van Zeeland's going to Parliament
very soon and strongly urged that we come to agreement on this as

  2.October 3.
  'Reference is presumably to the conversation of September 21; see p. 577.


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