COORDINATING COMMITTEE RECORD OF DISCUSSION ON NEW ELECTRICAL AND POWER-GENERATING ITEM NO. 1 16TH DECEMBER 1959 AND 5TH JANUARY 1960

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP62-00647A000100030004-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 6, 1999
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: January 7, 1960
• Content Type: MIN

Approved For ReleaseM999/09/16 : CIA-RDP62-00647AW0100030004-5
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COORDINATING COMMITTEE
COCOM Documemt No. 3712 NI 1/3
RECORD OF DISCUSSION
ON
NEFV ELECTRICAL AND POWF:GENERATING ITEM NO. 1
16th December 19519 .nd 5th January 1960
Present: Belgium (Luxembourg), France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States.
References: COCOM Documents Nos. 3700.5, 3712.00/1, 3712.NI 1/1 and 2,
New Item No. 1/V3.P.1 and 2.
1. At the opening of the third round of discussion, the CHAIRMAN
enquired whether the United States Delegation had now reneived their
authorities' reply on the question of a possible cut-off which would
enable other Delegations to consent to an embargo on electron beam
welders.
2. The UNITED STATES Delegate stated his authorities' view that the
range of equipment in this area was so restricted that a cut-off did
not appear feasible. In their view, while this technique was recent,
it was on tho verge of a considerable expansion which would load to the
development of larger sizes. The Delegate repeated that the definition
they had proposed referred solely to equipment which would be identified
as welding equipment.
3. The FRENCH Delegate explained that the technique concerned was of
recent origin and had first been employed in France two or three years
previously, following the discovery that the electron microscope could
be used for point welding at high temperatures. As yet, it was true,
very few machines were in use, and only one patent had been sold to one
factory in the United States. However, other firms, in Germany and
the United States, had developed their own machines independently of the
first inventors of the technique. Among existing civilian uses, the
export cited the welding of tungsten filaments. There were already
numerous other civilian applications, however, and the use of this
technique would spread rapidly into all fields of industry. If, moreover,
the technique was new, the characteristics were neither new nor of a
strategic nature. In the Bloc countries, any manufacturer of an electron
microscope would soon be able to evolve the technique in the same way as
the Western manufacturers had done: it was a simple matter of adaptation.
The only effect of an embargo would be to draw the Bloc's attention to
the value of this machine and induce them to set their engineers to work
on the problem sooner than might otherwise be the case. The French
Delegation therefore did not fool that an embargo was justified,
4. The GERMAN Delegate stated that his authorities could not concur
with the proposal to put an embargo on this item as they believed the use
of this equipment in Enrope to be alzoet exclusively civilian. They would
however, be prepared at any future date to study new supplementary
arguments put forward by any Delegation.
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5. The UNITED STATES Delegate responded to certain points made by the
frerman and French Delegations. He stated that this equipment was relatively
view and did not exist in large numbers or in a wide variety of types or sizes.
Although some civil applications for the welded materials using this process
existed, cost and other factors led to the use of other well-established wel-
iing methods for civil applications. More important was the fact that electron
beam welding equipment was used predominantly for welding the more advanced
sigh alloy steels, certain,non-ferrous metals and alloys most of which were
Uow embargoed because of the predominance of military and strategic use. Thus,
in countries with large military prog;rarames the use of such equipment would be
predominantly strategic;. this was now clearly so in the United States and the
Bloc. He said that Free World technical developments in this field were more
advanced than those in the Bloc. He noted that many of the uses of such equip-
aent were public knowledge, and the Bloc was well aware of its significance;
therefore, addition of the item to national control lists should not be viewed
as inducing further Bloc developmental effort. He assumed that other Govern-
ments would wish to review the records of discussion on this item, and trusted
that they would then be able to agree to the embargo of electron beam welders.
6. The ITALIAN Delegate, confirming their previous willingness to join
the majority, expressed his conviction that the Committee would always, as in
the past, be prepared to listen to the United States Delegation should they
decide to raise the question again in the future.
7. The BELGIAN, JAPANESE and NETHERLANDS Delegates associated them
selves with the Italian Delegate's statement.
8. The UNITED KINGD01v1 Delegate said that, on the basis of the inf orma-
tion adduced to the Committee, he felt that the case must be regarded as not
proven. If, however, the United States Delegation should wish to have the
matter debated in January, he was sure that all Delegations would give it
sympathetic consideration in the light of any additional information which
might be produced.
9. On the 5th January, 1960, the UNITED STATES Delegate drew the
Committee's attention to the information given in the document submitted on the
23rd November, 1959 under the heading "Electrical and Power Generating Equip-
rient New Item No. 1/i~.P.2" (reproduced as an appendix hereto). The Delegate
believed that, taken in conjunction with the present and previous records of
discussion, this should provide an adequate basis to enable the authorities of
Xember Governments to give further and favourable consideration to the United
States Delegation's embargo proposal.
CONCLUSION : The C01MITTEE was unable to agree to place this item under
embargo at present. It was agreed, however, that discussion
would be resumed on the 1st February, 1960.
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