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ABSTRACT
Drawn from the archives of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the British National Archives, and other sources, the present essay analyzes nuclear technical assistance in central Asia, focusing largely on Pakistan. It discusses collaborations with American and British institutions in the 1960s and later efforts to work under the auspices of the IAEA. The essay suggests that the IAEA’s mission in the 1960s and early 1970s, namely its leaders’ desire to demonstrate the relevance of the IAEA in economic development, aligned with Pakistan’s stated goals of constructing a robust reactor program. Rather than see technical assistance solely as a donor/recipient binary relationship, the essay encourages us to consider the mutuality of interests between a major international organization and a budding nuclear program. Archival documents suggest that the IAEA provided the endorsement for a major nuclear program for electricity production that Pakistan was unable to find with other partners.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Accounts of Pakistan’s bomb program include Weissman and Krosney, The Islamic Bomb, and Khan, Eating Grass.
2. Corera, Shopping for Bombs.
3. On the connection between the IAEA and the origins of the NPT, see Popp et al., Negotiating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
4. Roehrlich, “The Cold War.”
5. Brown and Kaplow, “Talking Peace.”.
6. On radioisotope distribution see Herran, “Spreading Nucleonics,” and Creager, Life Atomic.
7. On the Atoms for Peace speech and its relationship to US propaganda, see Osgood, Total Cold War. On the origins of the IAEA, see Fischer, History of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
8. Blackton, “The Colombo Plan,” 27–31.
9. On reactions to US behavior, see (in Japanese, long abstract in English) Tomotsugu, “The Initiative and Setback.”
10. J. C. A. Roper, British Embassy, Washington, to I. F. Porter, Foreign Office, 2 April 1956, UK National Archives, DO 35/5779.
11. “CENTO Institute of Nuclear Science, Biennial Report for 1959/61 (Second Draft),” n.d., UK National Archives, FO 371/157486.
12. C. R. A. Rae to Sir William Slater, 30 May 1962, UK National Archives, FO 371/164058.
13. Ibid.,058.
14. Smith, The Role of Science.
15. F. J. Leishman to S. J. Whitwell, 9 February 1961, UK National Archives, FO 371/157484. Material about American participation is located in UK National Archives, FO 371/170247.
16. “Future of the CENTO Institute of Nuclear Science, Tehran,” n. d., UK National Archives, FO 371/157484.
17. F. J. Leishman to S. J. Whitwell, 9 February 1961, UK National Archives, FO 371/157484.
18. W. J. A. Wilberforce to C. R. A. Rae, 23 September 1963, UK National Archives, FO 371/170247.
19. C. R. A. Rae to W. Morris (Foreign Office), 12 June 1964, UK National Archives, FO 371/175,630.
20. S. A. Hasnain, “Dr. I. H. Usmani and the Early Days of the PAEC,” The Nucleus 42 (2005), 13–20.
21. I. H. Usmani, “Working Paper on The Future of the CENTO Institute of Nuclear Science, Tehran,” for discussion at the Ninth Session of the Scientific Council of CENTO, to be held in May 1961, n.d., UK National Arvhives, FO 371/157485.
22. Architecture played an important role in both India and Pakistan in the immediate postcolonial era, as officials attempted to embed a sense of both national identity and modernity into the built landscape. See Kapila, “The Enchantment of Science in India.”
23. On the US State Department’s role in using architects such as Stone in embassy projects, see Loeffler, “The Architecture of Diplomacy”
24. Hasnain, “Dr. I. H. Usmani.”
25. American scientists and administrators helped countries in central Asia in numerous ways to pair their ideas of modernization with institutes of high technology. See for example Leslie and Kargon, “Exporting MIT.” Leslie’s other work highlights the role of architectural design in facilitating visions of modernity. See Knowles and Leslie, “Industrial Versailles.”
26. Hasnain, “Dr. I. H. Usmani,” 17–18.
27. See note 19 above, 630.
28. Hamblin, “Let There be Light… and Bread.”
29. Quoted in Braut-Hegghammer, “Pakistan, Uranium,” 1037.
30. On the Portuguese uranium company, see Gowing, Independence and Deterrence, 386–389. A description of Cameron can be found in J. Kuba (IAEA Department of Technical Assistance) to the Governor from the United Arab Republic to the IAEA, 23 December 1965, Folder TA/EGY-26 Prospection Geology, IAEA Archives, Vienna, Austria.
31. “Request from the Government of Pakistan, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, for United Nations Development Programme Special Fund Assistance in “The Development of Uranium Resources of Pakistan (West),”” no date, Folder “TA/PAK-53 vol 5 Exploration of Uranium Resources,” IAEA Archives, Vienna, Austria.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid.
34. See Khan, Eating Grass, 62–63.
35. Sisson and Rose, War and Secession.
36. On the Multan meeting, Usmani’s ouster, and Khan’s appointment, see Khan, Eating Grass, 87–92.
37. On the role of uranium prospecting in the Pakistan’s plans for a bomb, see Braut-Hegghammer, “Pakistan, Uranium.”
38. P. H. Grattan, “Pakistan Nuclear Power Plant,” 21 November 1972, FCO 55/937 Nuclear UK Pakistan, UK National Archives.
39. Bhutto’s 1972 remarks are quoted in Statement by the Leader of Pakistan Delegation Munir A. Khan, Chairman, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, 17 September 1974, FCO 66/607, UK National Archives.
40. Chaudhri, “Pakistan’s Nuclear History.”
41. G. P. C. Macartney, “Reprocessing Plan for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission,” 14 August 1972. FCO 55/937 Nuclear UK Pakistan, UK National Archives.
42. Faruqui, “A Review,” 8.
43. J. W. Hoadley, “Project Manger’s Final Report on UNDP-IAEA Project PAK/70/553, Detailed Exploration of Uranium and Other Radioactive Occurences in the Siwalik Sandstones in the Dera Ghazi District,” 21 June 1974, Folder “TA/PAK-53 vol 5 Exploration of Uranium Resources,” IAEA Archives, Vienna, Austria.
44. Woite, “The Potential Role of Nuclear Power.”
45. United Nations Development Programme and International Atomic Energy Agency, “Exploration for Uranium in the Siwalik Sandstones, Dera Ghazi Khan District, PAK-70-553/PAK-74-002, Pakistan, Project Findings and Recommendations,” 1976. Folder “TA/PAK-53 vol 5 Exploration of Uranium Resources,” IAEA Archives, Vienna, Austria.
46. Ibid.
47. For an overview of Canada’s reactor strategies, see Bratt, “CANDU or CANDON’T.”
48. D. J. Cahill, “Exploration for Uranium in the Siwalik Sandstones, Dera Ghazi Khan District, Pakistan,” May 1978. Folder “TA/PAK-53 vol 5 Exploration of Uranium Resources,” IAEA Archives, Vienna, Austria.