Article ID: CBB419739482

Three tons of uranium from the International Atomic Energy Agency: Diplomacy over nuclear fuel for the Japan Research Reactor-3 at the Board of Governors’ meetings, 1958–1959 (2021)

unapi

Kenji Ito (Author)


History and Technology
Volume: 37
Issue: 1
Pages: 67-89


Publication Date: 2021
Edition Details: Special Issue: Nuclear Diplomacies
Language: English

This paper combines renewed attention to science diplomacy with the rising interest in material and ontological aspects of science studies. It examines nuclear diplomacy by reviewing negotiations over three tons of natural uranium that the Japanese government requested from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1958. The uranium was half the amount required for the Japan Research Reactor-3, which reached criticality in 1962 and became Japan’s first domestically developed nuclear reactor. Japan’s request provided an opportunity to reaffirm the IAEA’s raison d’être and set in motion the process of establishing a safeguarding system against the military use of atomic energy. The IAEA Board of Governors deliberated on the issue from October 1958 to April 1959. Although Japan’s request was generally welcomed, it sparked confrontations between countries that accepted IAEA safeguards and those against them. By analysing the IAEA Board’s official records, this paper shows how the negotiations transformed the uranium into a ‘diplomatic object’.

...More
Associated with

Article Kenji Ito; Maria Rentetzi (2021) The co-production of nuclear science and diplomacy: Towards a transnational understanding of nuclear things. History and Technology (pp. 4-20). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB419739482/

Similar Citations

Article Gisela Mateos; Edna Suárez-Díaz; (2021)
Atomic Ambassadors: The IAEA’s First Preliminary Assistance Mission (1958) (/isis/citation/CBB489453603/)

Article Kenji Ito; Maria Rentetzi; (2021)
The co-production of nuclear science and diplomacy: Towards a transnational understanding of nuclear things (/isis/citation/CBB708080714/)

Article Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis; Maria Rentetzi; (2021)
From lobbyists to backstage diplomats: How insurers in the field of third party liability shaped nuclear diplomacy (/isis/citation/CBB957001662/)

Book Johnson, Robert R.; (2012)
Romancing the Atom: Nuclear Infatuation from the Radium Girls to Fukushima (/isis/citation/CBB001251283/)

Book Krige, John; Callahan, Angelina Long; Maharaj, Ashok; (2013)
NASA in the World: Fifty Years of International Collaboration in Space (/isis/citation/CBB001421352/)

Book Elisabeth Roehrlich; (2022)
Inspectors for Peace: A History of the International Atomic Energy Agency (/isis/citation/CBB775978058/)

Article Hamblin, Jacob Darwin; (2012)
Fukushima and the Motifs of Nuclear History (/isis/citation/CBB001232552/)

Article Tolliday, Steven; (2012)
Crumbling Dream: Japan's Nuclear Quest, 1954--2011 (/isis/citation/CBB001211687/)

Article Uekoetter, Frank; (2012)
Fukushima, Europe, and the Authoritarian Nature of Nuclear Technology (/isis/citation/CBB001232551/)

Article Pritchard, Sara B.; (2012)
An Envirotechnical Disaster: Nature, Technology, and Politics at Fukushima (/isis/citation/CBB001232549/)

Chapter Daniel P. Aldrich; (2013)
Postcrisis Japanese Nuclear Policy (/isis/citation/CBB068758484/)

Book Yuko Fujigaki; (2015)
Lessons From Fukushima: Japanese Case Studies on Science, Technology and Society (/isis/citation/CBB681578186/)

Article Langston, Nancy; (2012)
Japan Forum: Introduction (/isis/citation/CBB001232548/)

Article Gabriella Ivacs; (2021)
From paper files to terabytes: The evolution of IAEA documentation in the nuclear age (/isis/citation/CBB434171598/)

Article Gisela Mateos; Edna Suárez-Díaz; (2020)
Creating the need in Mexico: The IAEA’s technical assistance programs for less developed countries (1958-68) (/isis/citation/CBB486458390/)

Authors & Contributors
Mateos, Gisela
Suárez-Díaz, Edna
Rentetzi, Maria
Fujigaki, Yuko
Gabriella Ivacs
Alexandros-Andreas Kyrtsis
Concepts
Nuclear power; atomic energy
Nuclear reactors
Foreign relations; diplomacy
Disasters; catastrophes
Nuclear industry
Environmental pollution
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
20th century, late
Places
Japan
United States
Europe
Latin America
China
Pennsylvania (U.S.)
Institutions
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment