Japan and the United States clashed with each other over nuclear inspection provisions with the International Atomic Energy Agency in the late 1960s because of Washington's demand that it and other countries possessing nuclear weapons be treated differently, according to newly declassified diplomatic documents.
In 1969, one year before signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Japan argued for the need to maintain equality with the United States and other nuclear "haves" in the face of an IAEA position that only those without nuclear weapons must submit themselves to mandatory inspections under its safeguards provisions.
But amid strong resistance from the United States, Japan instead sought to be treated like the European Atomic Energy Community, also known as Euratom, which made use of inspections conducted by individual NPT member states as IAEA inspections, according to the documents declassified Wednesday.