I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7351 

To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require congressional approval 

of agreements for peaceful nuclear cooperation with foreign countries, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2018 

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself and Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require congressional approval of agreements for peaceful nuclear 

cooperation with foreign countries, 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 ‘‘Nuclear Cooperation 

5 Agreements Reform Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL 

2 OF AGREEMENTS FOR PEACEFUL NUCLEAR 

3 COOPERATION. 

4 (a) COOPERATION WITH OTHER NATIONS.—Section 

5 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in the matter preceding subsection a., by 

8 striking ‘‘No cooperation’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to 

9 subsection f., no cooperation’’; 

10 (2) in subsection a.— 

11 (A) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘or ac12 quired from any other source’’ after ‘‘pursuant 

13 to such agreement’’ each place it appears; 

14 (B) in paragraph (4)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘or terminates or’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘, terminates,’’; and 

17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, or violates or abro18 gates any provision contained within such 

19 agreement’’ after ‘‘IAEA safeguards’’; 

20 (C) in paragraph (6), by inserting ‘‘or ac21 quired from any other source’’ after ‘‘agree22 ment’’ each place it appears; 

23 (D) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 

25 (E) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe26 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 


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1 (F) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

2 following new paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(10) a guaranty by the cooperating party 

4 that no nationals of a third country shall be 

5 permitted access to any reactor, related equip6 ment, or sensitive materials transferred under 

7 the agreement for cooperation without the prior 

8 consent of the United States; 

9 ‘‘(11) a commitment to maintain and, in 

10 the case of a country without such a legal re11 gime in place, a commitment to enact at the 

12 earliest possible date, and in no case later than 

13 one year after the agreement for cooperation 

14 enters into force, a legal regime providing for 

15 adequate protection from civil liability that will 

16 allow for the participation of United States sup17 pliers in any effort by the country to develop ci18 vilian nuclear power; 

19 ‘‘(12) a political commitment that is part 

20 of the agreement for cooperation, or another le21 gally binding document that is considered part 

22 of the agreement, that no enrichment or reproc23 essing activities, or acquisition or construction 

24 of such facilities, will occur within the territory 


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1 over which the cooperating party exercises sov2 ereignty; and 

3 ‘‘(13) a duration of not longer than 15 

4 years.’’; 

5 (3) in subsection c., by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

6 end; 

7 (4) in subsection d., by striking the final period 

8 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

9 (5) by redesignating subsection e. as subsection 

10 f.; 

11 (6) by inserting immediately after subsection d. 

12 the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘e. the cooperating party— 

14 ‘‘(1) has acceded to and is fully imple15 menting the provisions and guidelines of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the Convention on the Prohibi17 tion of the Development, Production, 

18 Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons 

19 and on their Destruction (commonly 

20 known as the ‘Chemical Weapons Conven21 tion’); 

22 ‘‘(B) the Convention on the Prohibi23 tion of the Development, Production and 

24 Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin 

25 Weapons and on their Destruction (comVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:07 Dec 23, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7351.IH H7351

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1 monly known as the ‘Biological Weapons 

2 Convention’); and 

3 ‘‘(C) all other international agree4 ments to which the United States is a 

5 party regarding the export of nuclear, 

6 chemical, biological, and advanced conven7 tional weapons, including missiles and 

8 other delivery systems; 

9 ‘‘(2) has established and is fully imple10 menting an effective export control system, in11 cluding fully implementing the provisions and 

12 guidelines of United Nations Security Council 

13 Resolution 1540; 

14 ‘‘(3) is in full compliance with all United 

15 Nations conventions to which the United States 

16 is a party and all Security Council resolutions 

17 regarding the prevention of the proliferation of 

18 weapons of mass destruction, including— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Convention on the Physical 

20 Protection of Nuclear Material; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the United Nations International 

22 Convention for the Suppression of Acts of 

23 Nuclear Terrorism; 

24 ‘‘(4) is not a Destination of Diversion Con25 cern under section 303 of the Comprehensive 


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1 Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment 

2 Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8543; Public Law 111– 

3 195); 

4 ‘‘(5) is closely cooperating with the United 

5 States to prevent state sponsors of terrorism 

6 (the term ‘state sponsor of terrorism’ means a 

7 country the government of which has been de8 termined by the Secretary of State, for pur9 poses of section 6(j) of the Export Administra10 tion Act of 1979, section 620A of the Foreign 

11 Assistance Act of 1961, section 40 of the Arms 

12 Export Control Act, or other provision of law, 

13 is a government that has repeatedly provided 

14 support for acts of international terrorism) 

15 from— 

16 ‘‘(A) acquiring or developing chemical, 

17 biological, or nuclear weapons or related 

18 technologies; or 

19 ‘‘(B) acquiring or developing desta20 bilizing numbers and types of advanced 

21 conventional weapons, including ballistic 

22 missiles; and 

23 ‘‘(6) has signed, ratified, and is fully im24 plementing an Additional Protocol to its safeVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:07 Dec 23, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7351.IH H7351

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1 guards agreement with the International Atom2 ic Energy Agency.’’. 

3 (b) SUBSEQUENT ARRANGEMENTS.— 

4 (1) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL RE5 QUIRED.—Paragraph (1) of section 131 a. of such 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 2160 a.) is amended— 

7 (A) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘se8 curity,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘publica9 tion.’’ and inserting ‘‘security.’’; and 

10 (B) by inserting after the second sentence 

11 the following new sentences: ‘‘Such subsequent 

12 arrangement shall become effective only if Con13 gress enacts a joint resolution of approval ac14 cording to the procedures of sections 123 d. 

15 and 130 i. of this Act. Any such nuclear pro16 liferation assessment statement shall be sub17 mitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

18 the House of Representatives and the Com19 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate not 

20 later than the 31st day of continuous session 

21 after submission of the subsequent arrange22 ment.’’. 

23 (2) RENEWALS AND EXTENSIONS.—Paragraph 

24 (2) of such section 131 a. is amended— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘; 

2 or’’ at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (G) as 

4 subparagraph (H); and 

5 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (F) 

6 the following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(G) an agreement to renew or to extend 

8 the duration of an agreement under section 

9 123; or’’. 

10 (3) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY.—The 

11 amendments made by this subsection shall also 

12 apply to any renewal or extension described in sub13 paragraph (G) of section 131 a. (2) (as added by 

14 paragraph (2) of this subsection) of an agreement 

15 pursuant to section 123 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 2153) that is in effect on the day before the date of 

17 the enactment of this section. 

18 SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL FROM THE TREATY ON THE NON19 PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. 

20 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

21 United States to oppose the withdrawal from the Treaty 

22 on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (in this sec23 tion referred to as the ‘‘Treaty’’) of any country that is 

24 a party to the Treaty and to use all political, economic, 


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1 and diplomatic means at its disposal to deter, prevent, or 

2 reverse any such withdrawal from the Treaty. 

3 (b) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ASSISTANCE.—Not4 withstanding any other provision of law, no assistance 

5 (other than humanitarian assistance) under any provision 

6 of law may be provided to a country that has withdrawn 

7 from the Treaty on or after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 (c) RETURN OF ALL UNITED STATES-ORIGIN MATE10 RIALS AND EQUIPMENT.—The United States shall seek 

11 the return of any material, equipment, or components 

12 transferred under an agreement for civil nuclear coopera13 tion that is in force pursuant to section 123 of the Atomic 

14 Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) on or after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act, and any special fissionable 

16 material produced through the use of such material, equip17 ment, or components, previously provided to a country 

18 that withdraws from the Treaty. 

19 SEC. 4. REPORT ON COMPARABILITY OF NONPROLIFERA20 TION CONDITIONS BY FOREIGN NUCLEAR 

21 SUPPLIERS. 

22 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com24 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

25 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 


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1 a report on the extent to which each country that engages 

2 in civil nuclear exports (including power and research nu3 clear reactors) requires nuclear nonproliferation require4 ments as conditions for export comparable to those under 

5 the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended by this Act. 

6 Such report shall also— 

7 (1) detail the extent to which the exports of 

8 each such country incorporate United States-origin 

9 components, technology, or materials that require 

10 United States approval for re-export; 

11 (2) detail the civil nuclear-related trade and in12 vestments in the United States by any entity from 

13 each such country; and 

14 (3) list any United States grant, concessionary 

15 loan or loan guarantee, or any other incentive or in16 ducement to any such country or entity related to 

17 nuclear exports or investments in the United States. 

18 SEC. 5. INITIATIVES AND NEGOTIATIONS RELATING TO 

19 AGREEMENTS FOR PEACEFUL NUCLEAR CO20 OPERATION. 

21 Subsection f. of section 123 of the Atomic Energy 

22 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153), as redesignated pursuant 

23 to section 2(a)(6) of this Act, is amended to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘f. The President shall keep the Committee on 

2 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

3 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

4 fully and currently informed of any initiative or ne5 gotiations relating to a new or amended agreement 

6 for peaceful nuclear cooperation pursuant to this 

7 section prior to the President’s announcement of 

8 such initiative or negotiations. The President shall 

9 consult with such Committees concerning such ini10 tiative or negotiations beginning not later than 15 

11 calendar days after the initiation of any such nego12 tiations, or the receipt or transmission of a draft 

13 agreement, whichever occurs first, and monthly 

14 thereafter until such time as the negotiations are 

15 concluded. At such monthly intervals the President 

16 shall also provide such Committees with the current 

17 working drafts and proposed text put forward for 

18 negotiation by the parties for inclusion in such 

19 agreement.’’. 

20 SEC. 6. CONDUCT RESULTING IN TERMINATION OF NU21 CLEAR EXPORTS. 

22 Paragraph (2) of section 129 a. of the Atomic Energy 

23 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2158 a.) is amended— 

24 (1) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or’’ after 

25 the semicolon; and 


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1 (2) by inserting immediately after subpara2 graph (C) the following new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(D) been identified as a foreign country 

4 included in the most recent report required 

5 under section 234 of the National Defense Au6 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (50 U.S.C. 

7 2367);’’. 

8 SEC. 7. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW PROCEDURES. 

9 Paragraph (1) of section 130 i. of the Atomic Energy 

10 Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2159 i.) is amended in the flush 

11 left matter following subparagraph (C) by adding at the 

12 end the following new sentence: ‘‘If such affirmative 

13 phrase is selected, such joint resolution may include any 

14 other provisions to accompany such proposed agreement 

15 for cooperation.’’. 

16 SEC. 8. PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE TO STATE SPONSORS 

17 OF PROLIFERATION OF WEAPONS OF MASS 

18 DESTRUCTION. 

19 (a) PROHIBITION ON ASSISTANCE.—The United 

20 States may not provide any assistance under the Foreign 

21 Assistance Act of 1961, the Arms Export Control Act, the 

22 Foreign Military Sales Act, the Food for Peace Act, the 

23 Peace Corps Act, or the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 

24 to any country if the Secretary of State determines that 

25 the government of the country has repeatedly provided 


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1 support for acts of proliferation of equipment, technology, 

2 or materials to support the design, acquisition, manufac3 ture, or use of weapons of mass destruction or the acquisi4 tion or development of missiles to carry such weapons. 

5 (b) PUBLICATION OF DETERMINATIONS.—Each de6 termination of the Secretary of State under subsection (a) 

7 shall be published in the Federal Register. 

8 (c) RESCISSION.—A determination of the Secretary 

9 of State under subsection (a) may not be rescinded unless 

10 the Secretary submits to the Committee on Foreign Af11 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

12 on Foreign Relations of the Senate— 

13 (1) before the proposed rescission would take 

14 effect, a report certifying that— 

15 (A) there has been a fundamental change 

16 in the leadership and policies of the government 

17 of the country concerned; 

18 (B) the government is not supporting acts 

19 of proliferation of equipment, technology, or 

20 materials to support the design, acquisition, 

21 manufacture, or use of weapons of mass de22 struction or the acquisition or development of 

23 missiles to carry such weapons; and 


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1 (C) the government has provided assur2 ances that it will not support such acts in the 

3 future; or 

4 (2) at least 45 days before the proposed rescis5 sion would take effect, a report justifying the rescis6 sion and certifying that— 

7 (A) the government of the country con8 cerned has not provided any support for acts of 

9 proliferation of equipment, technology, or mate10 rials to support the design, acquisition, manu11 facture, or use of weapons of mass destruction 

12 or the acquisition or development of missiles to 

13 carry such weapons during the preceding 24- 

14 month period; and 

15 (B) the government has provided assur16 ances that it will not support such acts of pro17 liferation in the future. 

18 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the require19 ments of subsection (a) on a case-by-case basis if— 

20 (1) the President determines that national secu21 rity interests or humanitarian reasons justify a waiv22 er of such requirements, except that humanitarian 

23 reasons may not be used to justify the waiver of 

24 such requirements to provide security assistance 

25 under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Arms 


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1 Export Control Act, the Foreign Military Sales Act, 

2 or the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945; and 

3 (2) at least 15 days before the waiver takes ef4 fect, the President consults with the congressional 

5 committees specified in subsection (c) regarding the 

6 proposed waiver and transmits to the congressional 

7 committees a report containing— 

8 (A) the name of the recipient country; 

9 (B) a description of the national security 

10 interests or humanitarian reasons that require 

11 the waiver; 

12 (C) the type and amount of, and the jus13 tification for, the assistance to be provided pur14 suant to the waiver; and 

15 (D) the period of time during which the 

16 waiver will be effective. 

17 SEC. 9. ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL AS A CRITERION FOR 

18 UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE. 

19 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

20 United States to ensure that each country that is a party 

21 to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weap22 ons should bring into force an Additional Protocol to its 

23 safeguards agreement with the IAEA. 

24 (b) CRITERION FOR ASSISTANCE.—The United 

25 States shall, when considering the provision of assistance 


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1 under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Arms Ex2 port Control Act, or the Foreign Military Sales Act to a 

3 country that is a party to the Treaty on the Nonprolifera4 tion of Nuclear Weapons, take into consideration whether 

5 the proposed recipient has in force an Additional Protocol 

6 to its safeguards agreement with the IAEA. 

7 SEC. 10. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that the President should 

9 ensure that participation in international nuclear pro10 grams conducted by the United States is limited to the 

11 greatest extent practicable to governmental and non12 governmental participants from countries that have adopt13 ed nonproliferation provisions in their nuclear cooperation 

14 and nuclear export control policies comparable to the poli15 cies specified in section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 2153), as amended by this Act. 

Æ 


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