How the United States learned to commodify the transnational atom

Abstract

ABSTRACT In consultation with The Department of State and the USAEC, and other state and non-state actors – including the Atomic Industrial Forum Inc. and the Fund for Peaceful Atomic Development – organized the first international missions to investigate if and how nuclear technologies could be mobilized as commodities and symbols of possible futures to the rest of the world, with a special focus on underdeveloped countries. Nevertheless, they soon realized that selling atomic development required a set of skills, tools, and knowledge not found in the usual and tested aid programs for agriculture and public health. Based on John Krige’s reflections on the co-production of knowledge and the writing of transnational history, we will explore how knowledge for nuclear development was co-produced in countries like Egypt, Turkey, Mexico, and the United States.