Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

IMaGINING aN aerOSpaCe aGeNCY IN the atOMIC aGe
every efort should be made to secure their elimination in the Senate.” 35 the
inclusion of the liaison committees in the house bill suggests a strong tendency
to adopt portions of the aeC paradigm wholesale. It is particularly remarkable
in this case because the civilian-military boundary proposed for NaSa was
quite diferent than the model in the aeC. that is, NaSa would by default
carry on the bulk of aerospace research, but the Department of Defense, by
sufciently justifying its need directly to the president, could develop its own
aerospace projects. this is in stark contrast to the complete monopolization of
basic atomic research by the aeC, which necessitated a reliable and clear avenue
of communication to and from the military.
the diferences between NaSa’s and the aeC’s relationships with the
military deserves elaboration. From the beginning, the aeC was to encompass
all levels of nuclear research, nuclear materials production, reactor design,
and bomb construction. this centralization was a result of the realities of
atomic energy. First, the Manhattan District was already in place during the
establishment of the aeC and maintaining its internal confguration was
necessary for the uninterrupted production of atomic weapons. Second, and
more important, atomic energy as a technology is unique for a material reason:
the regulation of atomic technology is in large part the regulation of a single
element and its derivatives. Indeed, the atomic energy act categorically
transferred “all right, title, and interest within or under the jurisdiction of the
United States, in or to any fssionable material, now or hereafter produced” to
the Commission. In efect, all atoms on U.S. territory with 92 or more protons
were declared to be the property of the federal government. In addition, an
entire new class of information was created. termed “restricted Data,” this
wide umbrella automatically “classifed at birth” any and “all data concerning
the manufacture or utilization of atomic weapons, the production of fssionable
material, or the use of fssionable material in the production of power.” 36
regulation of fssionable material was also the assumed primary task of early
atomic weapons nonproliferation eforts. Containment of atomic technology
was seen as synonymous with ownership of nuclear materials.
From the inception of the aeC the production and control of nuclear
materials was the prime directive of the organization. Fissionable material was
simultaneously obviously dangerous, necessary for national defense, and could
be relatively easily collected and controlled. the implication of this material
reality was tremendous for the bureaucratization of atomic technology in a
central governmental agency. In the case of aerospace technology, such a clear
compartmentalization was not a natural outgrowth of the relevant technology.
35. Letter from alan L. Dean to Wiliam Finan, June 2, 1958, folder 12400, NaSa historical
reference Collection, NaSa headquarters,Washington, DC.
36. atomic energy act, 1946. public Law 585, 79th Congress, http://www.osti.gov/atomicenergyact.pdf.
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