In August 1945, shortly after the June 1945 signing of the UN Charter by the Heads of State, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing an end to World War II. Subsequently, fears arose that atomic weapons could spread, and with them the potential for mass destructive power never before seen on such a scale.

With international attention focused on the atom, on 8 December 1953 before the 470th Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly, US President Eisenhower delivered an address titled ‘Atoms for peace’.[22] During the course of his speech, he stated:

I therefore make the following proposal. The governments principally involved, to the extent permitted by elementary prudence, should begin now and con­tinue to make joint contributions from their stockpiles of normal uranium and fissionable material to an international atomic energy agency. We would expect that such an agency would be set up under the aegis of the United Nations.