III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2022 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

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. 

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; 


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•SRES 511 IS 

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; 


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•SRES 511 IS 

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 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the establishment of a regional nuclear fuel 

3 bank, or a rules modification and expansion of the 

4 existing LEU Bank, in coordination with other 

5 international actors, should be part of a comprehen6 sive plan for confronting nuclear nonproliferation in 

7 the Middle East; 

8 (2) the United States should implement a policy 

9 that guarantees that any Middle East state that 

10 forgoes domestic uranium enrichment and reprocess11 ing will be able to purchase fuel for their commercial 

12 nuclear reactors from an international nuclear fuel 

13 bank; 

14 (3) in order to expand the existing IAEA LEU 

15 Bank or establish a new regional nuclear fuel bank, 


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•SRES 511 IS 

1 the United States should provide technical experi2 ence and funds and should encourage others to make 

3 financial donations to such bank; 

4 (4) the United States should seek bilateral and 

5 multilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with 

6 various Middle Eastern states, including Iran, pur7 suant to section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 

8 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) (‘‘123 agreements’’) that in9 clude the adoption of IAEA Additional Protocols for 

10 verification of nuclear safeguards that include a 

11 commitment by states to forgo domestic uranium en12 richment and reprocessing of spent fuel; 

13 (5) if Iran enters into and implements a nuclear 

14 agreement in which it forgoes domestic uranium en15 richment and reprocessing of spent fuel, the United 

16 States should commit to and provide sanctions relief 

17 beyond that agreed to in the Joint Comprehensive 

18 Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed at Vienna on July 

19 14, 2015, by Iran and by France, Germany, the 

20 Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, 

21 the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the 

22 United States; 

23 (6) any such sanctions relief should include the 

24 termination of certain United States ‘‘primary’’ 

25 sanctions, as appropriate, but other United States 


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•SRES 511 IS 

1 sanctions should remain in place until Iran verifiably 

2 ceases its malign activity, including its support for 

3 terrorism, its human rights abuses, its hostage-tak4 ing, and its destabilizing activities in the region, and 

5 refrains from resuming such activities; and 

6 (7) any international agreement limiting Iran’s 

7 nuclear program and providing sanctions relief to 

8 which the United States is a signatory should be 

9 submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent 

10 to ratification pursuant to Article II of the Constitu11 tion. 

Æ 


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