**GAO-10-1039R**                      Published: Sep 21, 2010. Publicly Released: Sep 21, 2010.                  

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## Highlights

On May 10, 2010, the President resubmitted to Congress a proposed Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation for Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (henceforth referred to as the U.S.-Russia nuclear cooperation agreement or the agreement) in accordance with the review requirements established under section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (AEA), as amended. The proposed agreement with Russia would, among other things, establish the legal basis for the Department of Energy (DOE) to work with Russia on large-scale development of nuclear energy. The United States has 25 agreements in force for peaceful nuclear cooperation with foreign countries, the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Taiwan. Such agreements provide the framework and authorization for civilian nuclear cooperation but do not guarantee that cooperation will take place or that nuclear material or technology transfers will occur. On May 13, 2008, President Bush originally submitted the agreement to Congress with the statutorily required presidential determination that this agreement would promote, and would not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defense and security. President Bush determined on September 8, 2008 that his May 13, 2008 determination was no longer effective--essentially ending further congressional consideration of the agreement at that time--in response to Russian military actions against Georgia. In 2010, President Obama concluded that the situation in Georgia no longer prevented proceeding with the agreement and that the level and scope of U.S.-Russia cooperation on Iran justified resubmitting the agreement. Section 123 of the AEA identifies the key U.S. government agencies and procedures involved in negotiating, proposing, and entering into nuclear cooperation agreements. The Department of State (State) is responsible for negotiating any proposed agreement, with the technical assistance and concurrence of DOE. State must consult with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). It is State's consistent practice to send the proposed agreement and accompanying documents to the Department of Defense (DOD) for review. This report responds to congressional request that we assess the review process for the 2010 submission of the U.S.-Russia nuclear cooperation agreement. Our objectives were to assess the extent to which (1) agencies reported having adequate time to review the Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement (NPAS) and classified annexes, (2) State implemented our recommendations to develop written procedures and clarify agency roles for the 2010 review process, and (3) additional actions may be required to strengthen the review process for future nuclear cooperation agreements.

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## Topics

International Affairs

Classified informationCooperative agreementsDefense agreementsFederal intelligence agenciesForeign governmentsIndependent regulatory commissionsInteragency relationsInternational agreementsInternational cooperationInternational relationsNuclear energyNuclear proliferationPresidential proposalsTechnology transfer