The Atomic Energy Commission: Promoting Peace and Advancement

The dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan caused the world to understand the power of such weapons, moreover realizing the danger such weapons could have if the “wrong people” controlled them. The United States government worked to construct a committee or commission that could successfully control the development and management of both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. To put it simple, the United States government wanted to establish a system that would both control the supervision and progression of nuclear power/nuclear weapons, as well as exemplifying to other nations that nuclear power has more uses other than to use them in a time of war, thus promoting peace. For that reason, The Atomic Energy Commission was established.

At the conclusion of World War II, “debates over the domestic (at home in the United States) control of atomic energy began. Two major bills affected the debate over atomic energy: the May-Johnson Bill and the McMahon Bill. The May-Johnson Bill, the earlier of the two bills, was proposed on October 3rd, 1945. This bill advised that only the United States government have control over the use of atomic power, simply because that would be the only way to prevent the misuse of atomic power. Yet, other aspects of the May-Johnson Bill were more radical. In other words, the bill was devised as a means to preserve military control over nuclear research, a situation that would be acceptable during wartime, but was most certainly undesirable during a time of peace when free science exchange should be carried on. Though this specific aspect of the May-Johnson Bill is one that I strongly disagree with, I do believe that this bill paved the way for the suitable McMahon Bill.

Due to the organization of scientific opposition, the development of the May-Johnson Bill was slowed to the point where it was evident that the May-Johnson Bill would not pass, forcing the construction of another bill, one that would be upheld within all the branches of the government. As a result, the McMahon Bill was proposed. In doing so, the United States government concluded how they would manage and control the nuclear technology it was developing. The McMahon Bill, also known as the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, concluded that both nuclear weapon development and nuclear power management would be under civilian control, not military control. Moreover, the McMahon Bill aimed to permit the exchanging of atomic and nuclear information with other nations, specifically those that were allies of the United States. As a whole, the McMahon Bill was a safer and smarter strategy towards the control over atomic power and the interchanging of information. President Truman signed the bill on August 1st, 1946, and the McMahon Bill went into effect on January 1st, 1947, thus establishing what became known as the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was established more than a year after the conclusion of World War II. The chief objection of the AEC was to promote and control the peacetime advancement of atomic science and technology. Most importantly, the AEC successfully removed the control over atomic energy from the military, placing complete control in civilian hands. In addition, the Atomic Energy Commission revealed the United States postwar hopefulness. The United States wanted to show the world that atomic power could and should not be utilized only in the form of nuclear weapons as a means of defense, but also promoting world peace, ultimately as a means to better civilization.