NPEC’s Executive Director Signs Letters to House and Senate Urging Support for Nonproliferation Gold Standard

The Honorable Ed Royce

United States House of Representatives

Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs

2185 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Royce:

We are writing to urge you to support passage of H.R. 3766, which Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Brad Sherman introduced last December to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. H.R. 3766 would require Congressional approval of agreements for peaceful nuclear cooperation that fail to meet the Gold Standard as well as certain subsequent agreements to enrich or reprocess US-origin nuclear materials. This bill is identical to H.R. 1280, which you co-sponsored during the last Congress.

We believe passage of this legislation is necessary to assure Congress plays its proper role to assure that U.S. civil nuclear assistance is not misused for nuclear weapons. While we are not all in agreement about the substance of the administration’s current nuclear diplomacy with Iran, we all agree that we must avoid future Irans – states that claim to be engaging in peaceful nuclear activities that the U.S. starts to cooperate with only to find that they are developing a nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium or reprocessing plutonium. We believe that unless Congress asserts its prerogative to vote on certain agreements that fail to meet certain nonproliferation conditions, it will not be in the strongest position to assess the adequacy of future civil nuclear cooperation agreements. We also believe, in light of reports that the U.S.-Vietnam agreement is of an indefinite duration, that it is essential that Congress insist that all U.S. nuclear cooperative agreements be of fixed duration and require a periodic Congressional reauthorization.

After the Indian test explosion in 1974, Congress in 1978 amended the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to mandate tougher bulwarks against the diversion of U.S. nuclear assistance for military uses. The amendment put in place nine new provisions, including the requirement that recipients of U.S. civil nuclear cooperation have in place full scope safeguards. Agreements with states that were not members of the NPT would require a Congressional vote of approval. The Atomic Energy Act has not been updated since 1978.

After our experience with Iran, as well as (1) the growing interest in nuclear power in geopolitically sensitive regions of the globe, (2) the promulgation of the Gold Standard in the UAE and Taiwan agreements, and (3) new NSG rules that make it highly unlikely that other nuclear suppliers can even offer to transfer enrichment or reprocessing technology or equipment to these states, we believe it is time to revise the Atomic Energy Act again to reflect the proliferation realities of today.

We stand ready to assist you in addressing this national security concern.

Sincerely,

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

Former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction and Negotiations Policy

Former Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance

Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner

Former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security

Senior Government Relations Specialist, American Physical Society

Director, Nuclear Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

President of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control

Director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center

Chief Executive Officer of United Against Nuclear Iran

Former Staff Director for Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs

Former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

Policy Director of the Foreign Policy Initiative

Senate Letter
Download the Senate letter in PDF format

March 19, 2014

The Honorable Robert Menendez

United States Senate

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

528 Senate Hart Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Menendez:

We are writing first to thank you for holding a hearing on January 30th to help clarify our government’s policy regarding new civil nuclear cooperation agreements and the Gold Standard. Although this hearing came two years after many of us first petitioned your committee to hold it, with all that is happening in Iran, as well as the growing interest in nuclear power in East Asia and the Middle East, the testimony and questioning were timely and essential.

Certainly, your line of inquiry with the government witnesses highlighting some of the inconsistencies in U.S. nonproliferation and civilian nuclear trade policy was appropriate. We also were encouraged by your suggestion that legislation might be needed to assure Congress has a clearer role in shaping our atomic commerce policy.

Several of us have long supported the key legislative provisions contained in H.R. 1280 (now H.R. 3766). These include the requirement that any new U.S. civil nuclear cooperation agreement lacking proscriptions against enriching uranium or recycling plutonium can only come into force after it is approved by a joint resolution of Congress. Yet another provision worth considering is the requirement that no reprocessing of spent fuel generated in U.S. reactors or from U.S.-origin fuel, nor enrichment of U.S.-origin uranium, be allowed (except in states that already have prior approval to do so) unless Congress again passes a joint resolution of approval with regard to each request. Other revisions worthy of consideration include requiring that the recipients of U.S. civil nuclear cooperation have in force the Additional Protocol and working with the Executive Branch to more clearly define what issues should be addressed by Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statements.

Clarifying in law precisely when Congress would have to vote on such resolutions would be welcomed by all parties. We also believe, in light of report that the U.S.-Vietnam agreement is of an indefinite duration, that it is essential that Congress insist that all U.S. nuclear cooperative agreements be of fixed duration and require a periodic Congressional reauthorization. Of course, an important goal in promoting such requirements would be to encourage our government to get the other nuclear suppliers who still depend on U.S. nuclear technology, cooperation and trade, to follow our example.

Finally, and on a separate note, we would encourage your committee to determine why the U.S. should not engage Japan to renegotiate its civil nuclear cooperation agreement before 2018. The State Department claims the U.S. is under no legal obligation to do so. Yet, it is equally clear that the United States can legally call for such renegotiation if it so desires. Given the awkwardness of the U.S. demanding renegotiation of South Korean civil nuclear cooperation and the review the Japanese government itself is conducting now about the utility of closing its fuel cycle, we believe this is an issue set worthy of reconsideration and a hearing.

We applaud your assertion of Congress’ prerogatives and oversight responsibilities and stand ready to assist you in any additional efforts you or your Committee might take to clarify U.S. nonproliferation policies further and strengthen Congress’ role in shaping this policy.

Sincerely,

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

Former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner

Former Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance

Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

Chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner

Former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security

Senior Government Relations Specialist, American Physical Society

Director, Nuclear Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

President of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control

Director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

Executive Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center

Chief Executive Officer of United Against Nuclear Iran

Former Staff Director for Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs

Former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

Policy Director of the Foreign Policy Initiative