[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H5983-H5984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AGREEMENT WITH UNITED ARAB EMIRATES CONCERNING PEACEFUL USES OF NUCLEAR 
 ENERGY--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 
                                111-43)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the 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 
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

[[Page H5984]]

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.

                          ____________________