[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.