UN General Assembly
1948

Apart from that, the United States proposal for control did not present an opportunity for the control of atomic production proper. The Second Report of the Atomic Energy Commission to the Security Council dated 11 September 1947 stated the United States position on that question as follows: « ... effective international control of atomic energy in order to prevent its use for destructive purposes must begin with strict control over these two key substances » — that is, uranium and thorium — and «the starting point of any system of control lies with the raw materials which are the source of these two key substances». That statement indicated that all attention was concentrated on the mining of raw materials. It would be futile however, to look in that report for any indication as to the necessity for a simultaneous establishment of control over the industrial production of atomic energy.