Abandoning Nuclear Weapon Plans: 1961–75

Jonter, Thomas

doi:10.1057/978-1-137-58113-6_6

Thomas Jonter²

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Abstract

This chapter analyses the nuclear reversal process, explaining how the central players—politicians, military and responsible scientific organizations—changed their views and how these altered perceptions led to the rollback of nuclear weapons plans. An important part of this reversal process was the Swedish engagement in the international arena to promote nuclear disarmament. In this context, the relationship to the United States became important, and it affected the way in which Sweden acted to move forward in the field of disarmament with the goal of reducing the incentives to acquire nuclear weapons.

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Notes

1.
See for example, U. Bjereld, Kritiker eller medlare? Sveriges utrikespolitiiska roller (Critics or mediator? Sweden’s foreign policy roles) 1945–1990 (Nerenius & Santérus, 1992): Jerneck, Kritik som utrikespolitisk medel: En studie av den amerikanska reaktionerna på den svenska Vietnamkritiken (Criticism as a foreign policy tool: A study of the American reactions to the Swedish criticism of Vietnam) (Lund: Dialogos, 1983); H. Lödén, För säkerhets skull. Ideologi och säkerhet i svensk aktiv utrikespolitik (For safety’s sake. Ideology and security in Swedish active foreign policy) 1950–1975 (Nerenius & Santérus, 1999); K. Salomon, Rebeller i takt med tiden. FNL-rörelsen och 60-talets politiska ritualer (Rebels in step with the times. UN movement and 1960s political rituals) (Stockholm: Rabén Prisma, 1996); K. Östberg, 1968 när allting var i rörelse. Sextiotalsradikaliseringen och de sociala rörelserna (1968 when everything was in motion. 1960s radicalization and social movements) (Stockholm: Prisma, 2002).
2.
Lödén, För säkerhets skull.
3.
About the treaty and its background history, see L. S. Wittner, Looking Back: Norman Cousins and the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963, Arms Control Association, https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2012_12/Looking-Back-Norman-Cousins-and-the-Limited-Test-Ban-Treaty-of-1963, Accessed 9 January 2016.
4.
On the Undén plan, see Andersson, Den första grinden (2004), pp. 86–144; Norlin, Undénplanen, ett lyckat misslyckande (The Undén Plan, a successful failure), 1998.
5.
Östen Undén, October 28, 1961, Notes 1952–1966, pp. 633–4.
6.
U. Lindström, Om regeringen satt kvar: ur min politiska dagbok (If the government still remained: out of my political diary) 73–4 (Stockolm: Bonniers förlag, 1970).
7.
Östen Undén, October 28, 1961, Ö. Undén, Anteckningar. 1952–1966 (Stockholm: Kungl. Samf. för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia, 2002), pp. 633–4.
8.
Undén, Anteckningar, pp. 633–4.
9.
Alva Myrdal, The Game of Disarmament (1976).
10.
Alva Myrdal, ‘P.M. angående vissa utgångspunkter för eventuellt deltagande i debatt om nedrustningsfrågan i FN’, (‘Press release regarding some starting points for potential participation in the debate on the disarmament issue in the United Nations’), August 29, 1961, UD HP 48:441, Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UDA).
11.
L. S. Wittner, Confronting the Bomb. A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009), pp. 52–3.
12.
Andersson Den första grinden, pp. 66–7.
13.
Fischer, History of the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna: IAEA, 1997), pp. 18–23.
14.
On the Baruch Plan, see J. P. Baratta, ‘Was the Baruch Plan a Proposal of World Government?’ The International History Review, 7 (4), Nov. (1985).
15.
B. J. Bernstein, ‘The Quest for Security: American Foreign Policy and International Control of Atomic Energy’, Journal of American History 60, March (1974).
16.
Fischer, History of the International Atomic Energy Agency, pp. 19 et passim.
17.
Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 67.
18.
C. D. Blacker and G. Duffer, International Arms Control: Issues and Agreements, Stanford Arms Control Group (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1984), p. 109.
19.
Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 73.
20.
Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 347.
21.
US State Department, Diplomacy in Action, Address to UN General Assembly, 25 September 1961, http://www.state.gov/p/io/potusunga/207,241.htm, Accessed 9 January 2016.
22.
G. Möller, Östen Undén: En biografi (Stockholm: Nordstedts förlag, 1986), p. 485.
23.
U. Albrecht and M. Vale, ‘The Political background of the Rapacki Plan of 1957 and its Current Significance’, International Journal of International Politics, 13 (1/2), Spring–Summer 1983.
24.
Norlin, Undénplanen, pp. 20–21, pp. 117–33.
25.
Norlin, Undénplanen, p. 23.
26.
Norlin, Undénplanen, pp. 22–3.
27.
Statement by the minister for foreign affairs, Mr Östen Undén in the First Committee, October 26, 1961, UD, HP 48:443.
28.
Norlin, Undénplanen, p. 34.
29.
Andersson, Den första grinden; Myrdal, The Game of Disarmament; Norlin, Undénplanen.
30.
Norlin, Undénplanen, p. 30.
31.
Letter to U Thant, Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations from foreign minister Östen Undén, Stockholm, 16 February 1962, UD, HP 48:444 (UDA).
32.
Sverker Åström, ‘P.M.’ Press Release Cipher Telegram Washington, UN report. 20 June 1961, UD, HP 48:441, UDA.
33.
‘Likelihood and Consequences of the Development of Nuclear Capabilities by Additional Countries’ [Includes Tables], Secret, National Intelligence Estimate, NIE 100-4-60, 20 September 1960, 14p. Collection: Weapons of Mass Destruction, National Security Archives.
34.
See for example, J. Bergenäs and R. Sabatini, ‘The Rise of a White Knight State: Sweden’s Nonproliferation and Disarmament History’, Nuclear Threat Initiative, (10 February 2010), http://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/swedens-nonproliferation-history/, Accessed 9 January 2016; J. Prawitz, ‘Det svenska spelet om nedrustningen’ (The Swedish game on Disarmament). (Stockholm: Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut (FOI) 2001); Prawitz, ‘Non-nuclear is Beautiful: Or Why and How Sweden Went Non-Nuclear’, Krigsventenskapsakademiens Handlingaroch Tidskrift, 198 (Stockholm: National Defence Research Establishment, June 1994).
35.
For a good summary of the ENDC and what the organization brought about, see V. Mastny, ‘The Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee, 1962–1969. Could it Have Done Better?’ (Unpublished paper presented at the conference ‘Uncovering the Sources of Nuclear Behavior: Historical Dimensions of Nuclear Proliferation’, Zurich, June 18–20, 2010).
36.
‘Pressmeddelande måndagen den 5 mars 1962, ang. Medlemmar i den sv. del. i nedrustningskommissionen’ (‘Press release Monday 5 March 1962, regarding members of the Swedish delegation to the disarmament committee’) UD, HP 48:445, UDA.
37.
H. Karman Jacobson and E. Stein, Diplomats, Scientists and Politicians. The United States and the Nuclear Test Ban Negotiations (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1966), p. 359.
38.
Jacobson and Stein, Diplomats, Scientists and Politicians, p. 360.
39.
Möller, Östen Undén, pp. 505–8.
40.
Diary citation is from Stellan Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 198.
41.
Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 199.
42.
The head of the US disarmament delegation to Geneva, Ambassador Arthur D. Dean, tried to postpone the presentation of the resolution proposal that was planned to take place on 31 October but failed to do so. The Soviet deputy minister of foreign affairs, Valerian Zorin approached the Swedish UN ambassador, Agda Rössel, and Sweden’s ambassador to Moscow, Rolf Sohlman, during a dinner on the evening of 16 October. He remarked sarcastically that the proposal by the neutral states was a paper tiger and would not lead anywhere, Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 171.
43.
Cipher Telegram United Nations New York to Foreign Ministry/Pel Lind 1962-10-20, UD HP 48 V 68 (UDA).
44.
Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 200.
45.
Press Release from the meeting with McCloy and Torsten Nilsson, 23 October 1962, Utlandsmyndighet Repr. (Foreign Affairs Report) Archive New York, 1960–1963, UD HP 48.
46.
Press Release from the meeting with McCloy and Torsten Nilsson, 23 October 1962, Utlandsmyndighet Repr. (Foreign Affairs Report) Archive UN New York, 1960–1963, UD, HP 48, UDA.
47.
Cipher Telegram no. 157 Washington (Rössel) to Foreign Department, 23 October 1962. UD HP 48 V 68, UDA.
48.
Per Lind Press Release, 24 October 1962. UD HP 48 V 68, UDA.
49.
Andersson, Den första grinden, pp. 201–3.
50.
The Treaty on Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water was signed in Moscow on 5 August 1963.
51.
Nilsson speech is quoted from Andersson, Den första grinden, pp. 203–5.
52.
Cipher telegram from Jarring to Cabinet, November 13, 1962; Press Release by Sverker Åström, 13 November 1962 regading Torsten Nilsson’s visit with Rusk, UD, HP 48 V 70, UDA.
53.
On nuclear weapon tests, see O. Rabinowitz, Bargaining on Nuclear Tests: Washington and its Cold War Deals (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014).
54.
Several useful contacts were used in this lobbying process. For example, the husband of Alva Myrdal, the world famous economist and Nobel prize winner Gunnar Myrdal, called his friend, the Vice President of the United States, Lyndon Johnson and other influential figures in the US administration and informed them about the latest scientific developments in the detection technology field that the US disarmament delegation seemed to ignore. Jan Prawitz, ‘The FOA and nuclear weapons’. Documentation from a seminar on November 16, 1995, 97. Jan Prawitz, who served as a scientific expert in the Swedish disarmament delegation at the time, confirmed this when Thomas Jonter talked to him on the phone on 18 August 2013. In her diary on 4 November 1962, Alva Myrdal also wrote that the Cuban missiles crisis and the efforts made by the ENDC and her interventions including her speech at the UNGA, on 31 October had a positive impact on the US position. Even though it can be argued that Alva Myrdal had reasons to exaggerate her own impact on the positive outcome, there is no doubt that the US modified its views during the negotiations and in the end came very close to the Swedish position, with the result that the resolution was adopted. Alva Myrdal, Alva Myrdal’s archive, volume 3.1.4:014, Arbetarrörelsens arkiv (Labour Movement´s Archive and Library, ARAB). For more information about Sweden and the Cuban missile crisis, see Thomas Jonter, ‘Between Proliferation, Security Seeking and Neutrality: Swedish Perspectives on the Crisis of 1962’ (Unpublished paper presented at the workshop ‘Revisiting the Global Nuclear Crisis of 1962: Alternative Perspectives’, Global Insecurity Centre, University of Bristol), headed by Dr Benoit Pelopidas.
55.
The entire discussion at the meeting of the Committee of Foreign Affairs is taken from Andersson, Den första grinden, pp. 233–5.
56.
Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 275.
57.
Andersson, Den första grinden, p. 278.
58.
Andersson, Den första grinden, pp. 281–4.
59.
Bill 1960:1, Appendix 6, p. 27 et seq and 292 et seq.
60.
Directive I of 5 May 1960; letter dated 17 June 1960.
61.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, p. 262.
62.
Executive archive, Studsvik AB ‘Rapport över Etapp III av utredningsuppdrag beträffande reaktorer för produktion av plutonium av vapenkvalitet’ (‘Report about Phase III of investigation missions regarding the reactors for the production of weapons-grade plutonium’), 28 April 1960; ‘Tillägg till rapport över Etapp III av utredningsuppdrag beträffande reaktorer för produktion av plutonium av vapenkvalitet’ (‘Supplement to the report about Phase III of the investigation missions regarding the reactors for the production of weapons-grade plutonium’), 17 November 1960; ‘En rapport över etapp IV beträffande val av reaktor för plutoniumtillverkning av vapenkvalitet.’ (‘A report on Phase IV concerning the choice of reactor for the production of weapons-grade plutonium.’) The reports are still classified as secret, except the following report which is an open source article: ‘Svensk plutoniumfabrik under 1960-talet’ (‘A Swedish plutonium factory in the 1960s’), 20 June 1960, H 4162-434; ‘Rapport över Etapp V av utredningsrapport beträffande reaktorer för produktion av plutonium av vapenkvalitet’ (‘Report on Phase V of the investigation report concerning reactors for the production of weapons-grade plutonium’); ‘Rapport över Etapp VI av utredningsrapport beträffande reaktorer för produktion av plutonium av vapenkvalitet’ (‘Report on Phase VI of the investigation report concerning reactors for the production of weapons-grade plutonium’), 14 September 1961; ‘Rapport över Etapp VII av utredningsrapport beträffande reaktorer för produktion av plutonium av vapenkvalitet’ (‘Report on Phase VII of the investigation report concerning reactors for the production of weapons-grade plutonium’), 12 December 1962.
63.
‘Beträffande D₂O-försörjning genom import eller inhemsk production’ (‘Concerning D₂O support through import or domestic production’), 9 January 1960; ‘Anteckningar från sammanträde med representanter för FOA’ (‘Notes from the meeting with the representatives from the FOA’) 9 February 1960’; ‘AE Utredningar om tungt vatten (‘AE Investigation of heavy water’) 1957–1967, 1970–1974 (SKI tillstånd). Uranium 1956–1962, General 1957–1959, Prognosis 1960’, VD-arkivet, CA, Studsvik AB (The Director’s archive, DA).
64.
‘Svensk plutoniumfabrik under 1960-talet. Kortfattad utredning’ (‘Swedish plutonium plants during the 1960s. Brief Investigation’), by Erik Haeffner, June 20, 1960, FOA H4162-434, FOAs archive (FOA).
65.
‘Svensk plutoniumfabrik under 1960-talet’.
66.
T. Jonter, ‘Sweden and the Bomb. The Swedish Plans to Acquire Nuclear Weapons, 1945–1972’, SKI Report 01:33 (Stockholm, 2001), pp. 51–52.
67.
‘Kärnkemisk anläggning. Förprojekt. Sammanställning. Aktiebolaget Atomenergi’ (‘Nuclear Chemical facility. Preliminary project. Compilation. AB Atomenergi’), 2 April 1962, Centralarkivet, Studsvik AB, (Central Archives, Studsvik).
68.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, pp. 281–7.
69.
‘Svenska kärnstridsmedel’ (Swedish nuclear armaments) by Bror von Vegesack, H 4149.
70.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, p. 282.
71.
Jonter, T., ‘Sverige, USA och kärnenergin. Framväxten av en svensk kärnämneskontroll 1945–1995’, SKI Report 1999:2, 24 et seq.
72.
‘Svenska kärnstridsmedel’.
73.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, pp. 283–7.
74.
‘Kärnladdningsgruppens betänkande’ (Report of the Nuclear Device Group), HH 006, FOA.
75.
‘Kärnladdningsgruppens betänkande’.
76.
‘Kärnladdningsgruppens betänkande’.
77.
‘Kärnladdningsgruppens betänkande’.
78.
ÖB 62, p. 66.
79.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, pp. 226–38.
80.
Aggrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, p. 286.
81.
Olof Forssberg’s study (basis), p. 145 et seq.
82.
Jonter, Sverige, USA och kärnenergin, p. 37 et seq.
83.
‘Samtal med doktor Seaborg’ (Conversation with Dr Seaborg), January 29, 1963, H 4020-412, FOA.
84.
Bill 1965:1, Appendix 6.
85.
Olof Forssberg’s study (basis), p. 190.
86.
Olof Forssberg’s study (basis), p. 190.
87.
Olof Forssberg’s study (basis), p.195 et seq.
88.
Bill 1966:1, Appendix 6, 188 et seq.
89.
On these plans, see Olof Forssberg’s study (basis), p. 195.
90.
Swedish National Defence Research Institute, Planning office, 0013-H 385:1, FOA.
91.
See Olof Forssberg’s study (basis), p. 209 et seq.
92.
Olof Forssberg’s study (basis), p. 209 et seq.
93.
Royal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, ‘Speech given by the Swedish foreign minister, Mr Torsten Nilsson, at the United Nations’ General Assembly on Friday January 22, 1965’, Utdrag ur Aide-mémoire, Bilaga 6, Alva och Gunnar Myrdals arkiv, Handlingar från Alva Myrdals verksamhet: Fred och nedrustning, (Excerpt taken from the Aide memoires, Attachment 6, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal’s archive, Documents from Alva Myrdal’s activities: Peace and disarmament, 1961–1980. Vol. 4.1.16:108, ARAB.
94.
‘Statement By ambassador Alva Myrdal at the United Nations Disarmament Commission on 10 May 1965’, Utdrag ur Aide-mémoire, Bilaga 6, Alva och Gunnar Myrdals arkiv, Handlingar från Alva Myrdals verksamhet: Fred och nedrustning, (Excerpt taken from the Aide memoires, Attachment 6, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal’s archive, Documents from Alva Myrdal’s activities: Peace and disarmament, 1961–1980. Vol. 4.1.16:108, ARAB).
95.
Sverige. Utrikesdepartementet. ‘Speech by Mrs Myrdal at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva’, 10 August 1965, Documents on Swedish foreign policy 1965, (Stockholm, Allmänna förlaget, 1965).
96.
Sverige. Utrikesdepartementet. ‘Speech by Mrs. Myrdal at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva’.
97.
Sverige. Utrikesdepartementet. ‘Joint Memorandum on Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons’, Documents on Swedish Foreign Policy 1965 (Stockholm, Allmänna förl. 1965).
98.
Sverige. Utrikesdepartementet. ‘Government statement in the foreign affairs debate; March 23, 1966’, Documents on Swedish Foreign Policy 1966 ( Stockholm, Allmänna förl. 1966), p. 20.
99.
Sverige. Utrikesdepartementet. ‘Government statement in the foreign affairs debate; March 23, 1966’.
100.
Inga Thorsson, Letter to prime minister Tage Erlander, ‘P.M. med vissa synpunkter på nedrustningsfrågan’ (‘Memo on some standpoints on the disarmament issue’), 7 March 1967, Alva och Gunnar Myrdals arkiv, Handlingar från Alva Myrdals verksamhet: Fred och nedrustning, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal’s archive, Documents from Alva Myrdal’s activities: Peace and disarmament, 1961–1980. Vol. 4.1.16:108, ARAB.
101.
Letter from Alva Myrdal to Östen Undén, ‘Kära Östen’ (‘Dear Östen’), Geneva, 16 March 1967, Alva och Gunnar Myrdals arkiv, Handlingar från Alva Myrdals verksamhet: Fred och nedrustning, Alva and Gunnar Myrdal’s archive, Documents from Alva Myrdal’s activities: Peace and disarmament, 1961–1980. Vol. 4.1.16:108, ARAB.
102.
Proposition no. 110, 1968, p. 65.
103.
Proposition no. 110, 1968, p. 65.
104.
Proposition no. 110, 1968, p. 36.
105.
I Proposition no. 110, 1968, p. 51.
106.
Motion no. 1131, Första kammare, First Chamber, December 2, 1969.
107.
‘Ang. fördrag om förhindrande av spridning av kärnvapen, första kammaren’ (‘Regarding the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons’, 9 First Chamber, December 16, 1969, pp. 81–96.
108.
Ang. fördrag om förhindrande av spridning av kärnvapen, första kammaren.
109.
May 24–25, 1960, John V. Vinciguerra, AEC to Christer von Essen, AE. ‘Uranredovisning AEC tom 1962’ (‘Accounting of Uranium AEC until 1962’) Central archives in Studsvik AB (CA).
110.
‘Beträffande inspektion och kontroll av anrikat uran och plutonium’ (‘Regarding inspection and control of enriched uranium and plutonium’) April 27, 1965, ‘Uranredovisning kontroll’ (‘Uranium Accounting Control’), CA. With the former Associate Professor at the FOA, Anders Fröman’s help, I was able to obtain information about the inspections made by the FOA.
111.
Orneman to Hagsgård, September 24, 1968, ‘Safeguardredovisning till AEC’ (‘Description of the safeguards to the AEC’) CA.
112.
Van Dassen, Lars, ‘Sweden and the making of Nuclear Non-proliferation: From Indecision to Assertiveness’. SKI Report 98:16.
113.
Swedish National Defence Research Institute, January 14, 1972, 0012-H 12:2.
114.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, p. 315.
115.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, pp. 320–21.
116.
Agrell, Svenska förintelsevapen, pp. 320–21.
117.
‘Berättelse över verksamheten vid Försvarets forskningsanstalt under budgetåret 1971/72’ (‘Report on activities at the Swedish National Defence Research Institute during fiscal year 1971/72’), 0013-H 340.

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Jonter, T. (2016). Abandoning Nuclear Weapon Plans: 1961–75. In: The Key to Nuclear Restraint. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58113-6_6

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