    [House Document 111-43]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

    111th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 111-43

     AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES
                 AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

                                   __________

                                    MESSAGE

                                      from

                         THEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES

                                  transmitting

    THE TEXT OF A PROPOSED AGREEMENT FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT
     OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED ARAB
      EMIRATES CONCERNING PEACEFUL USES OF NUCLEAR ENERGY, PURSUANT TO 42
                              U.S.C. 2153(b), (d)

        May 21, 2009.--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
    sections 123 b. and 123 d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
    amended (42 U.S.C. 2153(b), (d)) (the ``Act''), the text of a
    proposed Agreement for Cooperation Between the Government of
    the United States of America and the Government of the United
    Arab Emirates Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. I am
    also pleased to transmit my written approval, authorization,
    and determination concerning the Agreement, and an unclassified
    Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement (NPAS) concerning
    the Agreement. (In accordance with section 123 of the Act, 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 Act and other applicable law. In my judgment, it meets
    all applicable statutory requirements and will advance the
    nonproliferation and other foreign policy interests of the
    United States.
        The Agreement provides a comprehensive framework for
    peaceful nuclear cooperation with the United Arab Emirates
    (UAE) based on a mutual commitment to nuclear nonproliferation.
    The United States and the UAE are entering into it in the
    context of a stated intention by the UAE to rely on existing
    international markets for nuclear fuel services as an
    alternative to the pursuit of enrichment and reprocessing.
    Article 7 will transform this UAE policy into a legally binding
    obligation from the UAE to the United States upon entry into
    force of the Agreement. Article 13 provides, inter alia, that
    if the UAE at any time following entry into force of the
    Agreement materially violates Article 7, the United States will
    have a right to cease further cooperation under the Agreement,
    require the return of items subject to the Agreement, and
    terminate the Agreement by giving 90 days written notice. In
    view of these and other nonproliferation features, the
    Agreement has the potential to serve as a model for other
    countries in the region that wish to pursue responsible nuclear
    energy development.
        The Agreement has a term of 30 years and permits the
    transfer of technology, material, equipment (including
    reactors), and components for nuclear research and nuclear
    power production. It does not permit transfers of Restricted
    Data, sensitive nuclear technology, sensitive nuclear
    facilities, or major critical components of such facilities. In
    the event of termination of the Agreement, key nonproliferation
    conditions and controls continue with respect to material,
    equipment, and components subject to the Agreement.
        In addition to the UAE's obligation to forgo enrichment and
    reprocessing--the first instance of such an obligation on the
    part of a U.S. cooperating partner in an agreement of this
    type--the Agreement contains certain additional
    nonproliferation features not typically found in such
    agreements. These are modeled on similar provisions in the 1981
    U.S.-Egypt Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation and
    include (a) a right of the United States to require the removal
    of special fissionable material subject to the Agreement from
    the UAE either to the United States or to a third country if
    exceptional circumstances of concern from a nonproliferation
    standpoint so require, and (b) confirmation by the United
    States that the fields of cooperation, terms, and conditions
    accorded by the United States to the UAE shall be no less
    favorable in scope and effect than those that the United States
    may accord to any other non-nuclear-weapon State in the Middle
    East in a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement. The Agreement
    also provides, for the first time in a U.S. agreement for
    peaceful nuclear cooperation, that prior to U.S. licensing of
    exports of nuclear cooperation, that prior to U.S. licensing of
    exports of nuclear material, equipment, components, or
    technology pursuant to the Agreement, the UAE shall bring into
    force the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement.
        The UAE is a non-nuclear-weapon State party to the Treaty
    on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The United
    States is a nuclear-weapon State party to the NPT. Article 12
    of the proposed Agreement provides that the Agreement shall not
    be interpreted as affecting the inalienable rights of the
    United States and the UAE under the NPT. A more detailed
    discussion of the UAE's intended civil nuclear program and its
    nonproliferation policies and practices is provided in the NPAS
    and in a classified Annex to the NPAS to be submitted to the
    Congress separately.
        The Agreed Minute to the Agreement provides U.S. prior
    approval for retransfers by the UAE of irradiated nuclear
    material subject to the Agreement to France and the United
    Kingdom, if consistent with their respective policies, laws,
    and regulations, for storage or reprocessing subject to
    specified conditions, including that prior agreement between
    the United States and the UAE is required for the transfer of
    any special fissionable material recovered from any such
    reprocessing to the UAE. The transferred material would also
    have to be held within the European Atomic Energy Community
    subject to the Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses
    of Nuclear Energy Between the United States of America and the
    European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM).
        In view of the fact that this consent would constitute a
    subsequent arrangement under the Act if agreed separately from
    the proposed Agreement, the Secretary of State and the
    Secretary of Energy have ensured that the advance approval
    provisions meet the applicable requirements of section 131 of
    the Act. Specifically, they have concluded that the U.S.
    advance approval for retransfer of nuclear material for
    reprocessing or storage contained in the Agreed Minute to the
    proposed Agreement is not inimical to the common defense and
    security. An analysis of the advance approval given in the
    Agreed Minute is contained in the NPAS.
        This transmission shall constitute a submittal for purposes
    of both sections 123 b. and 123 d. of the Act. My
    Administration is prepared to begin immediately the
    consultations with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and
    the House Foreign Affairs Committee as provided in section 123
    b. Upon completion of the period of 30 days of continuous
    session provided for in section 123 b., the period of 60 days
    of continuous session provided for in section
    123 d. shall commence.
                                                          Barack Obama.
        The White House, May 21, 2009.