The following were regarded as the basic considerations which, even on a technical level, made the U.S.S.R. position untenable:
I. The powers provided for the International Control Commission by the Soviet Union proposals, confined as they are to periodic inspection and special investigations, are insufficient to guarantee against the diversion of dangerous materials from known atomic facilities, and do not provide the means to detect secret activities.
II. Except by recommendations to the Security Council of the United Nations, the International Control Commission has no powers to enforce either its own decisions or the terms of the convention or conventions on control.
III. The Soviet Union Government insists that the convention establishing a system of control, even so limited as that contained in the Soviet Union proposals, can be concluded only after a convention providing for the prohibition of atomic weapons and the destruction of existing atomic weapons has been “signed, ratified, and put into effect.” [Italics in original.]
The Commission’s work had come to a standstill.
Atomic energy negotiations since 1948
Meeting in Paris in the fall of 1948 the General Assembly, by a vote of 40 to 6, approved the general findings and recommendations of the FIRST REPORT and the specific proposals of part II of the SECOND REPORT “as constituting the necessary basis for the establishing of an effective system of international control of atomic energy.” However, it called upon the UNAEC to continue its work and to study such subjects as it deemed “practicable and useful,” and asked that the permanent members of the Commission “consult in order to determine if there exists a basis for agreement....” The permanent members were requested to transmit the results of their consultations to the General Assembly.
In the meanwhile, the Soviet Union had served notice of what appeared to be a significant change in its position. In a draft resolution dated September 25, 1948, the Soviets proposed—
To elaborate draft conventions for the banning of atomic weapons and conventions for the establishment of international effective control over atomic energy, taking into account that the convention for the banning of atomic weapons and the convention for the establishment of international control over atomic energy must be signed and implemented and entered into force simultaneously.
It was the last word of this resolution that marked a change in the U.S.S.R. stand. Previously, the Soviets had demanded that atomic weapons production be prohibited and stock piles be destroyed before a control plan was discussed.