Myron Kratzer worked for much of his career (1951-1971) at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. From there he joined the State Department, focusing on nuclear matters. He talks at some length about the Atoms for Peace program of the 1950s, its objectives and methods, the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and other related topics. He recalls that for those involved with Atoms for Peace, India, as the worlds largest democracy, inspired a special interest in helping the country succeed economically and in other ways. For their part, China and Israel generated concerns about proliferation. After describing the effects of disseminating information to non-nuclear states, and what is required to build a bomb, he discusses the Tarapur reactor project, and explains the inadequate heavy water and Canadian agreements that allowed India to produce plutonium and from there build a bomb. He recalls the period between the Geneva conference of 1964 and the Geneva conference of 1971 as one of optimism on nuclear issues. The subsequent 1973 oil crisis, contrary to popular belief, did not give a boost to the nuclear energy sector because the resulting reduction in demand for power meant less impetus for nuclear energy as well. He states that the 1975 French and German sales to Latin American and Asian markets were unpopular with American firms because they were perceived as unfair. Finally, he calls Jimmy Carters non-proliferation policy a significant setback because it caused countries to become reluctant to rely on the United States as a nuclear supplier.
![Interview with Bertrand Goldschmidt, 1986 [2]](https://bpldcassets.blob.core.windows.net/derivatives/metadata/commonwealth-oai:5q47tk56h/image_thumbnail_300.jpg)
