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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 834

To withhold voluntary proportional assistance for programs and projects of

the International Atomic Energy Agency relating to the development

and completion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 20, 1999

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself and Mr. SESSIONS) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To withhold voluntary proportional assistance for programs

and projects of the International Atomic Energy Agency

relating to the development and completion of the

Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iran Nuclear Prolifera5 tion Prevention Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Iran remains the world’s leading sponsor of

2 international terrorism and is on the Department of

3 State’s list of countries that provide support for acts

4 of international terrorism.

5 (2) Iran has repeatedly called for the destruc6 tion of Israel and Iran supports organizations, such

7 as Hizballah, Hamas, and the Palestine Islamic

8 Jihad, which are responsible for terrorist attacks

9 against Israel.

10 (3) Iranian officials have stated their intent to

11 complete at least three nuclear power plants by 2015

12 and are currently working to complete the Bushehr

13 nuclear power plant located on the Persian Gulf

14 coast.

15 (4) The United States has publicly opposed the

16 completion of reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power

17 plant because the transfer of civilian nuclear tech18 nology and training could help to advance Iran’s nu19 clear weapons program.

20 (5) In an April 1997 hearing before the Sub21 committee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs

22 of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen23 ate, the former Director of the Central Intelligence

24 Agency, James Woolsey, stated that through the op25 eration of the nuclear power reactor at the Bushehr
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1 nuclear power plant, Iran will develop substantial ex2 pertise relevant to the development of nuclear weap3 ons.

4 (6) Construction of the Bushehr nuclear power

5 plant was halted following the 1979 revolution in

6 Iran because the former West Germany refused to

7 assist in the completion the plant due to concerns

8 that completion of the plant could provide Iran with

9 expertise and technology which could advance Iran’s

10 nuclear weapons program.

11 (7) In January 1995, Iran signed a

12 $780,000,000 contract with the Russian Federation

13 for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) to complete a

14 VVER–1000 pressurized-light water reactor at the

15 Bushehr nuclear power plant and in November

16 1998, Iran and Russia signed a protocol to expedite

17 the construction of the nuclear reactor, setting a

18 new timeframe of 52 months for its completion.

19 (8) In November 1998, Iran asked Russia to

20 prepare a feasibility study to build 3 more nuclear

21 reactors at the Bushehr site.

22 (9) Iran is building up its offensive military ca23 pacity in other areas as evidenced by its recent test24 ing of engines for ballistic missiles capable of car-
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1 rying 2,200 pound warheads more than 800 miles,

2 within range of strategic targets in Israel.

3 (10) Iran ranks tenth among the 105 nations

4 receiving assistance from the technical cooperation

5 program of the International Atomic Energy Agen6 cy.

7 (11) Between 1995 and 1999, the International

8 Atomic Energy Agency has provided and is expected

9 to provide a total of $1,550,000 through its Tech10 nical Assistance and Cooperation Fund for the Ira11 nian nuclear power program, including reactors at

12 the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

13 (12) In 1999 the International Atomic Energy

14 Agency initiated a program to assist Iran in the area

15 of uranium exploration. At the same time it is be16 lieved that Iran is seeking to acquire the requisite

17 technology to enrich uranium to weapons-grade lev18 els.

19 (13) The United States provides annual con20 tributions to the International Atomic Energy Agen21 cy which total more than 25 percent of the annual

22 assessed budget of the Agency, and the United

23 States also provides annual voluntary contributions

24 to the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Fund

25 of the Agency which total approximately 32 percent
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1 ($18,250,000 in 1999) of the annual budget of the

2 program.

3 (14) The United States should not voluntarily

4 provide funding for the completion of nuclear power

5 reactors which could provide Iran with substantial

6 expertise to advance its nuclear weapons program

7 and potentially pose a threat to the United States or

8 its allies.

9 (15) Iran has no need for nuclear energy be10 cause of its immense oil and natural gas reserves

11 which are equivalent to 9.3 percent of the world’s re12 serves, and Iran has 73,000,000,000 cubic feet of

13 natural gas, an amount second only to the natural

14 gas reserves of Russia.

15 SEC. 3. WITHHOLDING OF VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO

16 THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGEN17 CY FOR PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS IN IRAN.

18 Section 307 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

19 (22 U.S.C. 2227) is amended by adding at the end the

20 following:

21 ‘‘(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c), the limitations

22 of subsection (a) shall apply to programs and projects of

23 the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iran, unless

24 the Secretary of State determines, and reports in writing

25 to the Committee on International Relations of the House
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1 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela2 tions of the Senate, that such programs and projects are

3 consistent with United States nuclear nonproliferation and

4 safety goals, will not provide Iran with training or exper5 tise relevant to the development of nuclear weapons, and

6 are not being used as a cover for the acquisition of sen7 sitive nuclear technology. A determination made by the

8 Secretary of State under the preceding sentence shall be

9 effective for the 1-year period beginning on the date of

10 the determination.’’.

11 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF STATE OF PRO12 GRAMS AND PROJECTS OF THE INTER13 NATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY; UNITED

14 STATES OPPOSITION TO PROGRAMS AND

15 PROJECTS OF THE AGENCY IN IRAN.

16 (a) ANNUAL REVIEW.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall

18 undertake a comprehensive annual review of all pro19 grams and projects of the International Atomic En20 ergy Agency in the countries described in section

21 307(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

22 U.S.C. 2227(a)) to determine if such programs and

23 projects are consistent with United States nuclear

24 nonproliferation and safety goals.
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1 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the

2 date of enactment of this Act and on an annual

3 basis thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary shall pre4 pare and submit to Congress a report containing the

5 results of the review under paragraph (1).

6 (b) OPPOSITION TO CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND

7 PROJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGEN8 CY.—The Secretary of State shall direct the United States

9 representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency

10 to oppose programs of the Agency that are determined by

11 the Secretary pursuant to the review conducted under sub12 section (a)(1) to be inconsistent with nuclear nonprolifera13 tion and safety goals of the United States.

14 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

16 date of enactment of this Act and on an annual basis

17 thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State, in consulta18 tion with the United States representative to the Inter19 national Atomic Energy Agency, shall prepare and submit

20 to Congress a report that—

21 (1) describes the total amount of annual assist22 ance to Iran provided by the International Atomic

23 Energy Agency, a list of Iranian officials in leader24 ship positions at the Agency, the expected timeframe

25 for the completion of the nuclear power reactors at
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1 the Bushehr nuclear power plant, and a summary of

2 the nuclear materials and technology transferred to

3 Iran from the Agency in the preceding year which

4 could assist in the development of Iran’s nuclear

5 weapons program; and

6 (2) contains a description of all programs and

7 projects of the International Atomic Energy Agency

8 in each country described in section 307(a) of the

9 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2227(a))

10 and any inconsistencies between the technical co11 operation and assistance programs and projects of

12 the Agency and United States nuclear nonprolifera13 tion and safety goals in these countries.

14 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—The report re15 quired to be submitted under subsection (a) shall be sub16 mitted in an unclassified form, to the extent appropriate,

17 but may include a classified annex.

18 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

19 It is the sense of Congress that the United States

20 should pursue internal reforms at the International Atom21 ic Energy Agency that will ensure that all programs and

22 projects funded under the Technical Cooperation and As23 sistance Fund of the Agency are compatible with United
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1 States nuclear nonproliferation policy and international

2 nuclear nonproliferation norms.

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