[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 48 (Monday, December 4, 1995)]
[Pages 2077-2079]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the EURATOM-United States Nuclear 
Energy Cooperation Agreement

November 29, 1995

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 text of a proposed Agreement for Cooperation in the 
Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy Between the United States of America and 
the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) with accompanying agreed 
minute, annexes, and other attachments. (The confidential list of 
EURATOM storage facilities covered by the Agreement is being transmitted 
directly to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House 
International Relations Committee.) I am also pleased to transmit my 
written approval, authorization and determination concerning the 
agreement, and the memorandum of the Director of the United States Arms 
Control and Disarmament Agency with the Nuclear Proliferation Assessment 
Statement concerning the agreement. The joint memorandum submitted to me 
by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Energy, which includes a 
summary of the provisions of the agreement and other attachments, 
including the views of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is also 
enclosed.
    The proposed new agreement with EURATOM has been negotiated in 
accordance with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended by the Nuclear 
Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 (NNPA) and as otherwise amended. It 
replaces two existing agreements for peaceful nuclear cooperation with 
EURATOM, including the 1960 agreement that has served as our primary 
legal framework for cooperation in recent years and that will expire by 
its terms on December 31 of this year. The proposed new agreement will 
provide an updated, comprehensive framework for peaceful nuclear 
cooperation between the United States and EURATOM, will facilitate such 
cooperation, and will es- 

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tablish strengthened nonproliferation conditions and controls including 
all those required by the NNPA. The new agreement provides for the 
transfer of nonnuclear material, nuclear material, and equipment for 
both nuclear research and nuclear power purposes. It does not provide 
for transfers under the agreement of any sensitive nuclear technology 
(SNT).
    The proposed agreement has an initial term of 30 years, and will 
continue in force indefinitely thereafter in increments of 5 years each 
until terminated in accordance with its provisions. In the event of 
termination, key nonproliferation conditions and controls, including 
guarantees of safeguards, peaceful use and adequate physical protection, 
and the U.S. right to approve retransfers to third parties, will remain 
effective with respect to transferred nonnuclear material, nuclear 
material, and equipment, as well as nuclear material produced through 
their use. Procedures are also established for determining the survival 
of additional controls.
    The member states of EURATOM and the European Union itself have 
impeccable nuclear nonproliferation credentials. All EURATOM member 
states are party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
Weapons (NPT). EURATOM and all its nonnuclear weapon state member states 
have an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 
the application of full-scope IAEA safeguards within the respective 
territories of the nonnuclear weapon states. The two EURATOM nuclear 
weapon states, France and the United Kingdom, like the United States, 
have voluntary safeguards agreements with the IAEA. In addition, EURATOM 
itself applies its own stringent safeguards at all peaceful facilities 
within the territories of all member states. The United States and 
EURATOM are of one mind in their unswerving commitment to achieving 
global nuclear nonproliferation goals. I call the attention of the 
Congress to the joint U.S.-EURATOM ``Declaration on Non-Proliferation 
Policy'' appended to the text of the agreement I am transmitting 
herewith.
    The proposed new agreement provides for very stringent controls over 
certain fuel cycle activities, including enrichment, reprocessing, and 
alteration in form or content and storage of plutonium and other 
sensitive nuclear materials. The United States and EURATOM have accepted 
these controls on a reciprocal basis, not as a sign of either Party's 
distrust of the other, and not for the purpose of interfering with each 
other's fuel cycle choices, which are for each Party to determine for 
itself, but rather as a reflection of their common conviction that the 
provisions in question represent an important norm for peaceful nuclear 
commerce.
    In view of the strong commitment of EURATOM and its member states to 
the international nonproliferation regime, the comprehensive 
nonproliferation commitments they have made, the advanced technological 
character of the EURATOM civil nuclear program, the long history of 
extensive transatlantic cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear 
energy without any risk of proliferation, and the fact that all member 
states are close allies or close friends of the United States, the 
proposed new agreement provides to EURATOM (and on a reciprocal basis, 
to the United States) advance, long-term approval for specified 
enrichment, retransfers, reprocessing, alteration in form or content, 
and storage of specified nuclear material, and for retransfers of 
nonnuclear material and equipment. The approval for reprocessing and 
alteration in form or content may be suspended if either activity ceases 
to meet the criteria set out in U.S. law, including criteria relating to 
safeguards and physical protection.
    In providing advance, long-term approval for certain nuclear fuel 
cycle activities, the proposed agreement has features similar to those 
in several other agreements for cooperation that the United States has 
entered into subsequent to enactment of the NNPA. These include 
bilateral U.S. agreements with Japan, Finland, Norway and Sweden. (The 
U.S. agreements with Finland and Sweden will be automatically terminated 
upon entry into force of the new U.S.-EURATOM agreement, as Finland and 
Sweden joined the European Union on January 1, 1995.) Among the 
documents I am transmitting herewith to the Congress is an analysis by 
the Secretary of Energy of the advance, long-term approvals contained in 
the proposed U.S. agreement with EURATOM. The analy- 

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sis concludes that the approvals meet all requirements of the Atomic 
Energy Act.
    I believe that the proposed agreement for cooperation with EURATOM 
will make an important contribution to achieving our nonproliferation, 
trade and other significant foreign policy goals.
    In particular, I am convinced that this agreement will strengthen 
the international nuclear nonproliferation regime, support of which is a 
fundamental objective of U.S. national security and foreign policy, by 
setting a high standard for rigorous nonproliferation conditions and 
controls.
    It will substantially upgrade U.S. controls over nuclear items 
subject to the current U.S.-EURATOM agreement as well as over future 
cooperation.
    I believe that the new agreement will also demonstrate the U.S. 
intention to be a reliable nuclear trading partner, and thus help ensure 
the continuation and, I hope, growth of U.S. civil nuclear exports to 
EURATOM member states.
    I have considered the views and recommendations of the interested 
agencies in reviewing the proposed agreement and have determined that 
its performance will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable 
risk to, the common defense and security. Accordingly, I have approved 
the agreement and authorized its execution and urge that the Congress 
give it favorable consideration.
    Because this agreement meets all applicable requirements of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, for agreements for peaceful 
nuclear cooperation, I am transmitting it to the Congress without 
exempting it from any requirement contained in section 123 a. of that 
Act. This transmission shall constitute a submittal for purposes of both 
sections 123 b. and 123 d. of the Atomic Energy Act. The Administration 
is prepared to begin immediately the consultations with the Senate 
Foreign Relations and House International Relations Committees as 
provided in section 123 b. Upon completion of the 30-day continuous 
session period provided for in section 123 b., the 60-day continuous 
session period provided for in section 123 d. shall commence.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
November 29, 1995.