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Governor Stassen added still another point. He felt that
the Soviets were very concerned about the possible proliferation of
muclear weapons into other hands. They fear that if this occurs
some other nation will trigger a wer which would ultimately involve
all-out nuclear conflict between the United States and the USSR.
Secretary Dulles expressed his agreement with this point, but added
that the nuclear cut-off was the surest defense Seninst that kind
of situation.
The President expressed the hope that we could advance
rapidly in our discovery of detection devices. Dr. Killian indicated that we could not surely detect all nuclear tests. Secretary
McElroy pointed out that, as compared to certain other nations, the
population of the United States was relatively small. Accordingly,
we were compelled to rely on greater fire power. The continued de-
velopment of small "clean" nuclear weapons, therefore, was of the
very greatest importance to the United States.
The President com-
mented that certainly we were in the midst of an arms race, and the
burdens of armament hung heavy everywhere.
of disarmament before the world.
We must keep the hope
At the conclusion of the discussion of this subject,
Mr. Cutler gave his view as to the consensus, and suggested a possible Council action, which was subsequently modified in part by
proposals from the President, Secretary Dulles, and Dr. Killian.
The National Security Council:
a.
Noted and discussed the enclosure to the reference
memorandum of December 26, 1957, prepared by the
Special Assistant to the President for Disarmament;
in the light of the views of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff thereon, transmitted by the reference memorandum of January 3, 1958.
b.
Noted the President's decision that the United States
should continue to adhere to the Four-Power proposals
of August 29, 1957 (Annex D to the reference memorandum of December 26, 1957) for the time being; having
in mind the importance > in any further consideration
of this subject, of such matters as determining the
Congressional attitude to changes in the Atomic En-
ergy Act of 1954.
Noted the President's approval of the recommendation
of the Science Advisory Committee Panel on Disarma-
ment (as summarized by Dr. Killian at the meeting)
that the following technical studies be made by representatives of the Science Advisory Committee, the
Department of Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission,
and the Central Intelligence Agency:
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