Pyramids of Nuclear Power: Canada Poised Between a Splintered Anglo-American Atomic Partnership

Abstract

The scientific accomplishment to build an atom bomb during the Second World War was monumental, but, there is little published work that links the importance of Canada to the wartime Anglo-American atomic research projects, immediate post-war nuclear policies and defects.[i] Therefore, one is inclined to underscore Canada’s position in the atomic energy field as somewhat of little consequence. Canada’s membership of the ‘inner ring’ was derived from the fact that (1) it had been closely associated from the very start with nuclear research and the development of atomic energy, and, (2) the technological advances of atomic energy brought the the Arctic region into play.[ii] These factors set in motion a chain of events that piloted Canada into the thick of the post-war energy discussions on the future of the global nuclear system.[iii] As a United Nations/NATO member, both the American and British positions on nuclear policy were vital to Canada’s strategic defence and national interests.[iv] Thus, Canada was caught in a conflicting crossroad: how to maximize national security and minimize risks originating from their nuclear energy policies whilst trying to promote disarmament objectives. Therefore, this study will first seek to fit Canada back into the story of Anglo-American atomic diplomatic relations during the Second World War; secondly, it will appraise the direction of Canada’s nuclear policy and international control at the end of the war. This paper raises the question: Did Canada fulfil its obligations under the United Nations charter for the maintenance of international peace and security effectively?  Canada, an emerging voice in international politics, highly advocated for nuclear disarmament in the post-1945 era. There is an irony here. After the war, Canada, strengthened by the impetus of nuclear industrial developments, became ‘the uranium factory supplier of choice of atomic commodities to stable and unstable countries’.[v]

[i] Brian Villa, in his article “Alliance Politics and Atomic Collaboration, 1941-1943” The Second World War as a National Experience (Ottawa, 1981; Sidney Astor, ed.) looked mainly at the genesis of the atomic project. Two historians, David G. Haglund and Joel J. Sokolsky limited their work to the American-Canadian defence relationship. David Holloway, Stalin And The Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956 (New Haven, 1994). Holloway’s extensive study only notes that Canada had uranium deposits that in part helped speed up Soviet atomic research, 105, 129. Also, see, John Charmley, Churchill’s Grand Alliance: Anglo-American Special Relationship 1940-57 (London, 1995); David Stafford, Roosevelt & Churchill: Men of Secrets (London, 1999); Septimus H. Paul, Nuclear Rivals: Anglo-American Atomic Relations, 1941-1952 (Columbus, 2000). Important Canadian documents and letters are: LAC Mackenzie Diary (9 June, 1942), King Diary (15 June, 1942); LAC Charles J. Mackenzie Diary, 9 June & 29 September, 1942, NRC Vol. 284.

[ii] TNA PREM.3 139/9, ‘Collaboration between UK, USA and Canada: Action Recommended to Operate the Anglo-American Agreement,’ 9 October 1943; LAC Howe Papers, S-8-2 vol. 13, Canadian Member, Combined Policy Committee, to Minister of Munitions and Supply and of Reconstruction, 10 August 1945. Also, see: Peter Boyle, ‘The Special Relationship: an Alliance of Convenience?’ Journal of American Studies 22 (December 1988), 457-65; Timothy J. Botti, The Long Wait: the Forging of the Anglo-American Nuclear Alliance, 1945-1958 (New York, 1987), 25-6; Michael Byers, Who Owns the Arctic: Understanding Sovereignty Disputes in the North (Vancouver, 2009).

[iii] For information on post-war issues of atomic energy, see: Ernie Regeht and Simon Rosenblum, Canada and the Nuclear Arms Race (Halifax, 1983); D. E. Lilienthal (Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority), The Journals of David E. Lilienthal II (New York, 1964); Benjamin P. Greene, Eisenhower, Science Advice, and the Nuclear Test-Ban Debate, 1945-1963 (Stanford, CA, 2007). For Canada’s membership on the Combined Policy Committee, see: LAC Howe Papers, MG 27111 Vol. 47 Folder S-11-4:2, Howe to [H. J.] Carmichael, 24 August 1943; LAC Howe Papers, MG 27111, B20 Vol. 13, Canadian Member, Combined Policy Committee, to Minister of Munitions and Supply and of Reconstruction, 10 August 1945; TNA PREM 3/139/8A-316, Churchill to Roosevelt, 15 August 1943; Ibid, Anderson to Prime Minister, 13 August 1943; Robert Wolfe, “Canada’s Adventures in Clubland: Trade Clubs and Political Influence,’ Canada Among Nations 2007: What Room for Manoeuvre? (Montreal, 2008; Jean Daudelin and Daniel Schwanen, eds.), 181-197.

[iv] TNA CAB 126/276 C403480, 10 November 1945; TNA PREM 8/466 C 403480, (NOCOP ZO 152), 6 February 1947, Field Marshal Wilson to General Hollis. Document refers to the question of standardization of armaments in early 1947; Disarmament Treaty 1954: TNA FO 371/112387 C516117 (UP 232/3000) United Nations Political Department (UP) from Foreign Office to United Nations Pol[itical] dept[artment] dated 4 June 1954 received in registry, 10 June 1954. References to later relevant papers are: UP 232/301 and 302; TNA CAB 129 /92 C (58)77, copy 46, 218 F, 10 April 1958. For a comprehensive analysis of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (HCDAC) report entitled ‘Global Security: US-UK relations’, released on the 70^th anniversary of the Destroyers-for Bases deal, see: Steve Marsh, ‘Global Security: US-UK relations’: lessons for the special relationship? Journal of Transatlantic Studies Vol. 10 No. 2 (June 2012), 182-99. Also, see: William Lee Miller, Two Americans: Truman, Eisenhower, and A Dangerous World (New York: 2012), 184; LAC Mackenzie Diary (9 June, 1942), King Diary (15 June, 1942); LAC Charles J. Mackenzie Diary, 9 June & 29 September, 1942, NRC Vol. 284.

[v] Neville Sloane, ‘The North Atlantic Triangle: Anglo-American-Canadian Atomic Diplomacy, 1941-45’, Paper presented at the Trans-Atlantic Studies Association Conference, The University of Dundee, Scotland, 14 July 2011. The trail of uranium sales runs toBritain,America,Russia,France,Israel,India,Pakistan, and Communist China.