[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 27 (Thursday, February 10, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE RESOLUTION 511--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT 
 ESTABLISHING A REGIONAL NUCLEAR FUEL BANK WOULD ASSIST INTERNATIONAL 
EFFORTS TO AVOID A DESTABILIZING ARMS RACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND WOULD 
               PROMOTE THE PEACEFUL USE OF NUCLEAR POWER

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. Graham) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 511

       Whereas the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on 
     October 17, 2019, established and began operating a Low 
     Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank in Oskemen, Kazakhstan;
       Whereas the IAEA LEU Bank currently has physical stock of 
     90 metric tons of low enriched uranium hexafluoride suitable 
     to make fuel for nuclear power reactors worldwide;
       Whereas the IAEA Bank mission is to ensure member states of 
     the IAEA are able to obtain fuel for their reactors if there 
     is a disruption in their existing fuel supply arrangements 
     and LEU cannot be obtained by any other means;
       Whereas a member state of the IAEA who wants to buy LEU 
     from the fuel Bank must be in compliance with all of their 
     nuclear safeguard agreements and not under investigation by 
     the IAEA Board of Governors;
       Whereas the establishment and operation of the IAEA LEU 
     Bank is fully funded by voluntary contributions;
       Whereas these voluntary contributions have come from the 
     United States, the European Union, Kuwait, the United Arab 
     Emirates (UAE) , and non-government actors such as the 
     Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI);
       Whereas, in April 2009, President of Iran Mahmoud 
     Ahmadinejad welcomed the then proposal to set up a global 
     nuclear fuel repository, under strict international controls;
       Whereas, in an April 2005 statement at the IAEA, the 
     Islamic Republic of Iran said it will only pursue nuclear 
     activities in the peaceful domain, and the Leader of the 
     Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had issued a 
     fatwa that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear 
     weapons are forbidden under Islam and that the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran shall never acquire these weapons;
       Whereas the provision of LEU fuel enables a state to forgo 
     domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing for commercial 
     nuclear reactors;
       Whereas the UAE has successfully developed commercial 
     nuclear power without a domestic capability to enrich uranium 
     or reprocess spent fuel;
       Whereas many states in the Middle East are seeking to 
     establish commercial nuclear power reactors to supply power 
     to their electrical grid;
       Whereas the development of uranium enrichment and 
     reprocessing capabilities increases the proliferation risk 
     associated with nuclear technology, materials, and weapons; 
     and
       Whereas Iran's nuclear program is leading other Middle East 
     states to consider how to match Iran's enrichment 
     capabilities: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the establishment of a regional nuclear fuel bank, or a 
     rules modification and expansion of the existing LEU Bank, in 
     coordination with other international actors, should be part 
     of a comprehensive plan for confronting nuclear 
     nonproliferation in the Middle East;
       (2) the United States should implement a policy that 
     guarantees that any Middle East state that forgoes domestic 
     uranium enrichment and reprocessing will be able to purchase 
     fuel for their commercial nuclear reactors from an 
     international nuclear fuel bank;
       (3) in order to expand the existing IAEA LEU Bank or 
     establish a new regional nuclear fuel bank, the United States 
     should provide technical experience and funds and should 
     encourage others to make financial donations to such bank;
       (4) the United States should seek bilateral and 
     multilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with various 
     Middle Eastern states, including Iran, pursuant to section 
     123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) (``123 
     agreements'') that include the adoption of IAEA Additional 
     Protocols for verification of nuclear safeguards that include 
     a commitment by states to forgo domestic uranium enrichment 
     and reprocessing of spent fuel;
       (5) if Iran enters into and implements a nuclear agreement 
     in which it forgoes domestic uranium enrichment and 
     reprocessing of spent fuel, the United States should commit 
     to and provide sanctions relief beyond that agreed to in the 
     Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed at Vienna 
     on July 14, 2015, by Iran and by France, Germany, the Russian 
     Federation, the People's Republic of China, the European 
     Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States;
       (6) any such sanctions relief should include the 
     termination of certain United States ``primary'' sanctions, 
     as appropriate, but other United States sanctions should 
     remain in place until Iran verifiably ceases its malign 
     activity, including its support for terrorism, its human 
     rights abuses, its hostage-taking, and its destabilizing 
     activities in the region, and refrains from resuming such 
     activities; and
       (7) any international agreement limiting Iran's nuclear 
     program and providing sanctions relief to which the United 
     States is a signatory should be submitted to the Senate for 
     its advice and consent to ratification pursuant to Article II 
     of the Constitution.

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