The papers, February-May 1946, relate to the McMahon Bill, which referred to the Special Committee on Atomic Energy, and was introduced in the Senate of the United States on 20 December 1945. The measure provided 'for the development and control of atomic energy'. The papers include an analysis of the McMahon Bill, 6 May 1946, prepared by the Committee on Atomic Energy of the New Commonwealth.

Many of the papers relate to the McMahon Bill, an atomic energy bill sponsored by the Army in the USA which failed to get through Congress.