1 - The Development of Pretoria’s Nuclear Industry and Relations with the IAEA, 1950–1977

Summary

Chapter 1 begins with a brief sketch of the development of the domestic nuclear energy sector in South Africa (1950–1977). It illuminates how scientists were able to tap into sources of cooperation and funding to advance the nuclear energy industry during the 1960s and 1970s, following the Ploughshare Programme initiated under US President Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace initiative. Part of this chapter is devoted to the cooperation between South African, French and German firms. Recently obtained primary sources show how these collaborations enabled apartheid scientists to realize their vision of erecting the nuclear infrastructure to produce enriched uranium locally, ultimately feeding their nuclear weapons. I show how internal South African opposition to subjecting its nascent nuclear infrastructure to the emerging global non-proliferation regime manifested itself during that period, with repercussions for the coming decades.