I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1477

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 20, 1999

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. SHOWS, Mr. BROWN of Ohio,

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FRANKS

of New Jersey, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. PASCRELL,

Mr. SAXTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. KING, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. FROST, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms.

KAPTUR, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. KENNEDY of

Rhode Island, Mr. STARK, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and

Ms. SLAUGHTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on International 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iran Nuclear Prolifera3 tion Prevention Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) Iran remains the world’s leading sponsor of

7 international terrorism and is on the Department of

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

9 of international terrorism.

10 (2) Iran has repeatedly called for the destruc11 tion of Israel and Iran supports organizations, such

12 as Hizballah, Hamas, and the Palestine Islamic

13 Jihad, which are responsible for terrorist attacks

14 against Israel.

15 (3) Iranian officials have stated their intent to

16 complete at least three nuclear power plants by 2015

17 and are currently working to complete the Bushehr

18 nuclear power plant located on the Persian Gulf

19 coast.

20 (4) The United States has publicly opposed the

21 completion of reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power

22 plant because the transfer of civilian nuclear tech23 nology and training could help to advance Iran’s nu24 clear weapons program.

25 (5) In an April 1997 hearing before the Sub26 committee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs
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1 of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen2 ate, the former Director of the Central Intelligence

3 Agency, James Woolsey, stated that through the op4 eration of the nuclear power reactor at the Bushehr

5 nuclear power plant, Iran will develop substantial ex6 pertise relevant to the development of nuclear weap7 ons.

8 (6) Construction of the Bushehr nuclear power

9 plant was halted following the 1979 revolution in

10 Iran because the former West Germany refused to

11 assist in the completion of the plant due to concerns

12 that completion of the plant could provide Iran with

13 expertise and technology which could advance Iran’s

14 nuclear weapons program.

15 (7) In January 1995 Iran signed a

16 $780,000,000 contract with the Russian Federation

17 for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) to complete a

18 VVER–1000 pressurized-light water reactor at the

19 Bushehr nuclear power plant and in November

20 1998, Iran and Russia signed a protocol to expedite

21 the construction of the nuclear reactor, setting a

22 new timeframe of 52 months for its completion.

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

24 prepare a feasibility study to build three more nu25 clear reactors at the Bushehr site.
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1 (9) Iran is building up its offensive military ca2 pacity in other areas as evidenced by its recent test3 ing of engines for ballistic missiles capable of car4 rying 2,200 pound warheads more than 800 miles,

5 within range of strategic targets in Israel.

6 (10) Iran ranks tenth among the 105 nations

7 receiving assistance from the technical cooperation

8 program of the International Atomic Energy Agen9 cy.

10 (11) Between 1995 and 1999, the International

11 Atomic Energy Agency has provided and is expected

12 to provide a total of $1,550,000 through its Tech13 nical Assistance and Cooperation Fund for the Ira14 nian nuclear power program, including reactors at

15 the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

16 (12) In 1999 the International Atomic Energy

17 Agency initiated a program to assist Iran in the area

18 of uranium exploration. At the same time it is be19 lieved that Iran is seeking to acquire the requisite

20 technology to enrich uranium to weapons-grade lev21 els.

22 (13) The United States provides annual con23 tributions to the International Atomic Energy Agen24 cy which total more than 25 percent of the annual

25 assessed budget of the Agency and the United
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1 States also provides annual voluntary contributions

2 to the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Fund

3 of the Agency which total approximately 32 percent

4 ($18,250,000 in 1999) of the annual budget of the

5 program.

6 (14) The United States should not voluntarily

7 provide funding for the completion of nuclear power

8 reactors which could provide Iran with substantial

9 expertise to advance its nuclear weapons program

10 and potentially pose a threat to the United States or

11 its allies.

12 (15) Iran has no need for nuclear energy be13 cause of its immense oil and natural gas reserves

14 which are equivalent to 9.3 percent of the world’s re15 serves and Iran has 73,000,000,000 cubic feet of

16 natural gas, an amount second only to the natural

17 gas reserves of Russia.

18 SEC. 3. WITHHOLDING OF VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO

19 THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGEN20 CY FOR PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS IN IRAN.

21 Section 307 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

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

23 following:

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

25 of subsection (a) shall apply to programs and projects of
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1 the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iran, unless

2 the Secretary of State makes a determination in writing

3 to the Committee on International Relations of the House

4 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela5 tions of the Senate that such programs and projects are

6 consistent with United States nuclear nonproliferation and

7 safety goals, will not provide Iran with training or exper8 tise relevant to the development of nuclear weapons, and

9 are not being used as a cover for the acquisition of sen10 sitive nuclear technology. A determination made by the

11 Secretary of State under the preceding sentence shall be

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

13 the determination.’’.

14 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF STATE OF PRO15 GRAMS AND PROJECTS OF THE INTER16 NATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY; UNITED

17 STATES OPPOSITION TO PROGRAMS AND

18 PROJECTS OF THE AGENCY IN IRAN.

19 (a) ANNUAL REVIEW.—

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

21 undertake a comprehensive annual review of all pro22 grams and projects of the International Atomic En23 ergy Agency in the countries described in section

24 307(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

25 U.S.C. 2227(a)) and shall determine if such pro-
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1 grams and projects are consistent with United

2 States nuclear nonproliferation and safety goals.

3 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the

4 date of the enactment of this Act and on an annual

5 basis thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary shall pre6 pare and submit to the Congress a report containing

7 the results of the review under paragraph (1).

8 (b) OPPOSITION TO CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND

9 PROJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGEN10 CY.—The Secretary of State shall direct the United States

11 representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency

12 to oppose programs of the Agency that are determined by

13 the Secretary under the review conducted under sub14 section (a)(1) to be inconsistent with nuclear nonprolifera15 tion and safety goals of the United States.

16 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

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

18 date of the enactment of this Act and on an annual basis

19 thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State, in consulta20 tion with the United States representative to the Inter21 national Atomic Energy Agency, shall prepare and submit

22 to the Congress a report that—

23 (1) describes the total amount of annual assist24 ance to Iran from the International Atomic Energy

25 Agency, a list of Iranian officials in leadership posi-
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1 tions at the Agency, the expected timeframe for the

2 completion of the nuclear power reactors at the

3 Bushehr nuclear power plant, and a summary of the

4 nuclear materials and technology transferred to Iran

5 from the Agency in the preceding year which could

6 assist in the development of Iran’s nuclear weapons

7 program; and

8 (2) contains a description of all programs and

9 projects of the International Atomic Energy Agency

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

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

12 and any inconsistencies between the technical co13 operation and assistance programs and projects of

14 the Agency and United States nuclear nonprolifera15 tion and safety goals in these countries.

16 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—The report re17 quired to be submitted under subsection (a) shall be sub18 mitted in an unclassified form, to the extent appropriate,

19 but may include a classified annex.

20 SEC. 7. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

21 It is the sense of the Congress that the United States

22 Government should pursue internal reforms at the Inter23 national Atomic Energy Agency that will ensure that all

24 programs and projects funded under the Technical Co25 operation and Assistance Fund of the Agency are compat-
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1 ible with United States nuclear nonproliferation policy and

2 international nuclear nonproliferation norms.

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