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3.
POSSIBLE SALE OF A VAN DE GRAAFF ACCELERATOR TO SOUTH AFRICA
The Committee had before them a note by the Secretaries (OPD (67) 74) covering a minute by the Minister of Technology about the
possible sale of a Van de Graaff accelerator to South Africa.
THE MINISTER OF TECHNOLOGY said that the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) had received an approach through Vickers for the sale of a
Van de Graaff accelerator to the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. The accelerator was a recognised (research) standard tool which
would be used by the South Africans for academic high energy physics;
it had no more direct connection with atomic weapons than many other pieces
of standard laboratory equipment. It was not required for current
programmes in the United Kingdom. Two special features of the machine, including a tritium source which was the only part of the equipment related specifically to weapons technology, would not be included in the sale. Such equipment was not subject to export licence control and the South
Africans would probably not have any difficulty in getting a machine from
either the United States or Japan. But since this particular machine had been built for work at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE)
connected with the weapons programme, there might be an implication in the
public mind that we were assisting South Africa towards nuclear weapons
production. Before agreeing to the sale he therefore wished to consult
his colleagues.
In discussion there was general agreement that there was no objection
to the proposed sale except for the risk of public criticism arising from
the sale to South Africa of a machine from the AWRE. It was suggested that
this difficulty might be met if the accelerator were sold by the United
Kingdom AEA to Vickers and then by them to South Africa.
But it was
pointed out that a previous proposal, which had fallen through, to sell the
same accelerator to the United States had been criticised in the Press at
the time.
THE PRIME MINISTER, summing up the discussion, said that the Committee were agreed that there was no objection to the proposed sale; the Foreign
Secretary who would be returning to London later that week and who had had discussions with the South African Minister for Foreign Affairs during his
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