ABSTRACT
The first nuclear power plant in the world went into operation at Obninsk in July 1954. One year later, the Soviet Academy of Sciences held a large-scale international conference, the Session of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR on the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy, to demonstrate their scientific achievements in nuclear science. Soviet scientists subsequently challenged the United States’ nuclear advancement at the First United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy at Geneva. Could the Soviet scientists succeed in gaining self-confidence? The graphite reactor was already somewhat out-of-date for the ambitious scientists. Furthermore, the absence of a number of eminent scientists due to the poor arrangement by the Academy of Sciences and the attendance of some not very earnest participants who were not so interested in the achievements of Soviet science made the Session unsuccessful. In addition to this, the Session provided an occasion for some Western scientists who were skeptical or critical of the Soviet Union to take advantage of the unguarded openness of the Soviet scientists. And then, at the Geneva Conference, the U.S. delegation overwhelmed Soviet scientists, and “the atomic diplomacy” practiced by Soviet Scientists came to a bitter end.
