[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.
    
    
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