[House Document 110-146]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - -- - - House Document 110-146
A PROPOSED AGREEMENT REGARDING COOPERATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
CONCERNING PEACEFUL USES OF NUCLEAR ENERGY
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A PROPOSED AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
UNITED STATES AND THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA CONCERNING PEACEFUL USES OF
NUCLEAR ENERGY, PURSUANT TO 42 U.S.C. 2153
September 11, 2008.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
I am pleased to transmit to the Congress, pursuant to
section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42
U.S.C. 2153) (ABA), the text of a proposed Agreement for
Cooperation Between the Government of the United States of
America and the Government of India Concerning Peaceful Uses of
Nuclear Energy. I am also pleased to transmit my written
determination concerning the Agreement, including my approval
of the Agreement and my authorization to execute the Agreement,
and an unclassified Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement
(NPAS) concerning the Agreement. (In accordance with section
123 of the AEA, as amended by title XII of the Foreign Affairs
Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-277), a
classified annex to the NPAS, prepared by the Secretary of
State in consultation with the Director of National
Intelligence, summarizing relevant classified information, will
be submitted to the Congress separately.) The joint memorandum
submitted to me by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Energy and a letter from the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission stating the views of the Commission are also
enclosed.
The proposed Agreement has been negotiated in accordance
with the AEA and other applicable law. In my judgment, it meets
all applicable statutory requirements except for section 13a.
(2) of the AEA, from which I have exempted it as described
below.
The proposed Agreement provides a comprehensive framework
for U.S. peaceful nuclear cooperation with India. It permits
the transfer of information, non-nuclear material, nuclear
material, equipment (including reactors) and components for
nuclear research and nuclear power production. It does not
permit transfers of any restricted data. Sensitive nuclear
technology, heavy-water production technology and production
facilities, sensitive nuclear facilities, and major critical
components of such facilities may not be transferred under the
Agreement unless the Agreement is amended. The Agreement
permits the enrichment of uranium subject to it up to 20
percent in the isotope 235. It permits reprocessing and other
alterations in form or content of nuclear material subject to
it; however, in the case of such activities in India, these
rights will not come into effect until India establishes a new
national reprocessing facility dedicated to reprocessing under
IAEA safeguards and both parties agree on arrangements and
procedures under which the reprocessing or other alteration in
form or content will take place.
In Article 5(6) the Agreement records certain political
commitments concerning reliable supply of nuclear fuel given to
India by the United States in March 2006. The text of the
Agreement does not, however, transform these political
commitments into legally binding commitments because the
Agreement, like other U.S. agreements of its type, is intended
as a framework agreement.
The Agreement will remain in force for a period of 40 years
and will continue in force thereafter for additional periods of
10 years each unless either party gives notice to terminate it
6 months before the end of a period. Moreover, either party has
the right to terminate the Agreement prior to its expiration on
1 year's written notice to the other party. A party seeking
early termination of the Agreement has the right immediately to
cease cooperation under the Agreement, prior to termination, if
it determines that a mutually acceptable resolution of
outstanding issues cannot be achieved through consultations. In
any case the Agreement, as noted, is a framework or enabling
agreement that does not compel any specific nuclear cooperative
activity. In the event of termination of the Agreement, key
nonproliferation conditions and controls would continue with
respect to material and equipment subject to the Agreement.
An extensive discussion of India's civil nuclear program,
military nuclear program, and nuclear nonproliferation policies
and practices is provided in the Nuclear Proliferation
Assessment Statement (NPAS) and in a classified annex to the
NPAS submitted to the Congress separately.
The AEA establishes the requirements for agreements for
nuclear cooperation, some of which apply only to non-nuclear-
weapon states (see AEA, section 123a.). The AEA incorporates
the definition of ``nuclear-weapon state'' from the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which defines
it to mean a state that has manufactured and exploded a nuclear
weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to January 1,
1967. Therefore India is a non-nuclear-weapon state for NPT and
AEA purposes, even though it possesses nuclear weapons. The
Agreement satisfies all requirements set forth in section 123a.
of the AEA except the requirement of section 123a. (2) that, as
a condition of continued U.S. nuclear supply under the
Agreement, IAEA safeguards be maintained in India with respect
to all nuclear materials in all peaceful nuclear activities
within its territory, under its jurisdiction, or carried out
under its control anywhere (i.e., ``full-scope'' or
``comprehensive'' safeguards).
The Henry J. Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic
Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 (the ``Hyde Act'') established
authority to exempt the Agreement from the full-scope
safeguards requirement section 123a.(2) of the AEA, as well as
certain other provisions of the AEA relating to supply under
such an agreement, provided that the President makes certain
determinations and transmits them to the Congress together with
a report detailing the basis for the determinations. I have
made those determinations, and I am submitting them together
with the required report as an enclosure to this transmittal.
Approval of the Agreement, followed by its signature and
entry into force, will permit the United States and India to
move forward on the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Initiative, which Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and I
announced on July 18, 2005, and reaffirmed on March 2, 2006.
Civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India
pursuant to the Agreement will offer major strategic and
economic benefits to both countries, including enhanced energy
security, an ability to rely more extensively on an
environmentally friendly energy source, greater economic
opportunities, and more robust nonproliferation efforts.
The Agreement will reinforce the growing bilateral
relationship between two vibrant democracies. The United States
is committed to a strategic partnership with India, the
Agreement promises to be a major milestone in achieving and
sustaining that goal.
In reviewing the proposed Agreement I have considered the
views and recommendations of interested agencies. I have
determined that its performance will promote, and will not
constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defense and
security. Accordingly, I have approved it and I urge that the
Congress also approve it this year.
George W. Bush.
The White House, September 10, 2008.