toward disarmament for nuclear weapon countries; 2. France and China do not participate in the negotiations; 3. there are great perspectives in the use of nuclear explosives in mining, opening of ports, canals, and earthmoving, as has been demonstrated by U.S. experiences of the Plowshare program; 4. the knowledge of the technique leading to the construction of nuclear explosives, since subject to the international account and limited to specific objectives of economic development, neither constitutes proliferation nor is necessarily stimulated." Accordingly, in a CSN meeting, President Artur da Costa e Silva voiced arguments in favor of "doing research, mining and building devices that can explode" and added: "We will not call them bombs, we will call them devices that can explode. In 1968 a new CPI assessed existing mineral resources in Brazil for the nuclear program. Two years later, the parliamentary commission completed its work and concluded that the Brazilian booming industrial growth meant a rising demand of electricity in the country, which confirmed the necessity of nuclear energy. Also in 1968, the government issued a secret "National Strategic Concept" arguing that the acquisition of nuclear science and technology was a means to overcome Brazil's peripheral position in world affairs. According to this perspective, Brazil could not accept the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an international accord perceived by Brazil as an instrument to curtail the national development of nuclear energy in non-nuclear weapon countries, which did not solve the problem of nuclear weapons. After a large economic growth, Brazil invited different companies and consortiums to present projects for the construction of its first nuclear power plant. After receiving five different proposals, Brazil chose the one made by U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Company involving pressurized water reactors (PWR). Simultaneously, Brazil started conversations with West Germany and a nuclear cooperation agreement was established between Brasília and Bonn. While CNEN was finalizing the details of the contract with Westinghouse between May 1971 and April 1972, the United States Atomic Energy Commission (USAEC) approved the supply of nuclear fuel for Brazil's first nuclear power plant, Angra 1. The contract between CNEN and Westinghouse was signed in April 1972 and the construction of Angra 1 began. 1973–78 The military continued to push for development in the nuclear sector. The government attempted to acquire all phases of the nuclear cycle through international cooperation. In 1974, the Brazilian Company for Nuclear Technology (Companhia Brasileira de Tecnologia Nuclear –