Statement by the President Upon Signing the Euratom Cooperation Act.

I AM ESPECIALLY PLEASED to approve the Euratom Cooperation Act of 1958, which enables the United States Government to begin active preparation for the Joint United States-Euratom Program to develop nuclear power in Europe.

Euratom (The European Atomic Energy Community), which came into being on January 1, 1958, was formed by six of our European friends--Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Italy and the Netherlands--in order to combine their efforts in developing the peaceful uses of atomic energy. It holds great promise, not only as a means to this end, but also as a means of furthering European unity.

Our Joint Program, which is Euratom's first major program, is designed to achieve the construction in Europe of about six nuclear power reactors with a total installed capacity of about one million kilowatts of electricity and to improve power reactor technology through a research program of great scope. This Joint Program should prove highly beneficial both to Europe and to the United States.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER