Nuclear Cooperation with Other Countries: A Primer

Abstract

Under existing law (Atomic Energy Act [AEA] of 1954), all significant U.S. nuclear cooperation with other countries requires a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement. Significant nuclear cooperation includes the transfer of U.S.-origin special nuclear material subject to licensing for commercial, medical, and industrial purposes. Such agreements, which are "congressional-executive agreements" requiring congressional approval, do not guarantee that cooperation will take place or that nuclear material will be transferred, but rather set the terms of reference and authorize cooperation. The AEA includes requirements for an agreement's content, conditions for the President to exempt an agreement from those requirements, presidential determinations and other supporting information to be submitted to Congress, conditions affecting the implementation of an agreement once it takes effect, and procedures for Congress to consider and approve the agreement. Section 123 of the AEA requires that any agreement for nuclear cooperation meet nine nonproliferation criteria and that the President submit any such agreement to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The Department of State is required to provide the President an unclassified Nuclear Non-Proliferation Assessment Statement (NPAS), which the President is to submit, along with the agreement, to those two committees. The State Department is also required to provide a classified annex to the NPAS, prepared in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence. The NPAS is meant to explain how the agreement meets the AEA nonproliferation requirements. The President must also make a written determination "that the performance of the proposed agreement will promote and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defense and security."

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 09, 2009
Accession Number
ADA496716

Entities

People

  • Mary B. Nikitin
  • Paul K. Kerr

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Cooperation
  • Department Of State
  • Explosive Devices
  • Explosives
  • Foreign Relations
  • Hazardous Materials
  • Law
  • Materials
  • National Security
  • Negotiations
  • Nuclear Energy
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Physical Security
  • Security
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security