Message to the Congress Transmitting Eighth Annual Report on U.S. Participation in the International Atomic Energy Agency.

To the Congress of the United States:

The Third International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, which was held at Geneva, Switzerland, from August 31 to September 9, 1964, yielded much evidence that the world is on the threshold of an exciting new era of nuclear power. The work of the International Atomic Energy Agency at Vienna, since its establishment in 1957, has contributed to the development of the capabilities of many countries to cross this threshold. The programs of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as they were carried forward during 1964, gave promise that the Agency will contribute in growing measures over future years to the application of the atom to the constructive works of man.

Particularly noteworthy was the progress made by the International Atomic Energy Agency during 1964 in laying the foundations for restricting the use of nuclear energy exclusively to peaceful purposes. In February 1964 the Agency adopted a system of safeguards, applicable to all nuclear reactors, designed to guard against the diversion of nuclear materials to military use. In September 1964 the Agency's Director General reported that agreements had been negotiated with 17 of the 38 countries of the world possessing nuclear reactors, whereby some or all of their nuclear facilities would be placed under the safeguards of the Agency.

The United States has supported these activities, and looks to the Agency to play an increasingly significant role in developing the use of atomic energy for the benefit of the peoples of the world. United States participation in the International Atomic Energy Agency during the year 1964 is the subject of this eighth annual report which I am transmitting to the Congress pursuant to the provisions of the International Atomic Energy Agency Participation Act.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON

The White House

September 30, 1965