I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4851

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

OCTOBER 19, 1998

Mr. MENENDEZ 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iran Nuclear Prolifera5 tion Prevention Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:
2

•HR 4851 IH

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 supports organizations, such as

7 Hizballah, Hamas, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad,

8 which are responsible for terrorist attacks against

9 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 Central Intelligence,

24 James Woolsey, stated that through the operation of

25 the nuclear power reactor at the Bushehr nuclear
3

•HR 4851 IH

1 power plant, Iran will develop substantial expertise

2 relevant to the development of nuclear weapons.

3 (6) Construction of the Bushehr nuclear power

4 plant was halted following the 1979 revolution in

5 Iran because the former West Germany refused to

6 assist in the completion of the plant due to concerns

7 that completion of the plant could provide Iran with

8 expertise and technology which could advance Iran’s

9 nuclear weapons program.

10 (7) Iran is building up its offensive military ca11 pacity in other areas as evidenced by its recent test12 ing of engines for ballistic missiles capable of carry13 ing 2,200 pound warheads more than 800 miles,

14 within range of strategic targets in Israel.

15 (8) 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.

20 (9) In March of 1998, Russia confirmed its in21 tention to complete work on the two reactors at the

22 Bushehr nuclear power plant and agreed in principle

23 to the construction of two more reactors at the

24 Bushehr site.
4

•HR 4851 IH

1 (10) At least one reactor could be operational

2 within a few years and it would subsequently provide

3 Iran with substantial expertise to advance its nu4 clear weapons program.

5 (11) Iran ranks tenth among the 105 nations

6 receiving assistance from the technical cooperation

7 program of the International Atomic Energy Agen8 cy.

9 (12) Between 1995 and 1999, the International

10 Atomic Energy Agency has provided and is expected

11 to provide a total of $1,550,000 through its Tech12 nical Assistance and Cooperation Fund for the Ira13 nian nuclear power program, including reactors at

14 the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

15 (13) The United States provides annual con16 tributions to the International Atomic Energy Agen17 cy which total more than 25 percent of the annual

18 assessed budget of the Agency and the United

19 States also provides annual voluntary contributions

20 to the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Fund

21 of the Agency which total approximately 32 percent

22 ($16,000,000 in 1996) of the annual budget of the

23 program.

24 (14) The United States should not voluntarily

25 provide funding for the completion of nuclear power
5

•HR 4851 IH

1 reactors which could provide Iran with substantial

2 expertise to advance its nuclear weapons program

3 and potentially pose a threat to the United States or

4 its allies.

5 (15) Iran has no need for nuclear energy be6 cause of its immense oil and natural gas reserves

7 which are equivalent to 9.3 percent of the world’s re8 serves and Iran has 73,000,000,000 cubic feet of

9 natural gas, an amount second only to the natural

10 gas reserves of Russia.

11 SEC. 3. WITHHOLDING OF VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO

12 THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGEN13 CY FOR PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS IN IRAN.

14 Section 307 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

15 (22 U.S.C. 2227) is amended by adding at the end the

16 following:

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

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

19 the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iran, unless

20 the Secretary of State makes a determination in writing

21 to the Committee on International Relations of the House

22 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela23 tions of the Senate pursuant to section 4(a)(1) of the Iran

24 Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1998, that such

25 programs and projects are consistent with United States
6

•HR 4851 IH

1 nuclear nonproliferation and safety goals and will not pro2 vide Iran with training or expertise relevant to the devel3 opment of nuclear weapons.’’.

4 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REVIEW BY SECRETARY OF STATE OF PRO5 GRAMS AND PROJECTS OF THE INTER6 NATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY; UNITED

7 STATES OPPOSITION TO PROGRAMS AND

8 PROJECTS OF THE AGENCY IN IRAN.

9 (a) ANNUAL REVIEW.—

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

11 undertake a comprehensive annual review of all pro12 grams and projects of the International Atomic En13 ergy Agency in the countries described in section

14 307(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

15 U.S.C. 2227(a)) and shall determine if such pro16 grams and projects are consistent with United

17 States nuclear nonproliferation and safety goals.

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

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

20 basis thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary shall pre21 pare and submit to the Congress a report containing

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

23 (b) OPPOSITION TO CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND

24 PROJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGEN25 CY.—The Secretary of State shall direct the United States
7

•HR 4851 IH

1 representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency

2 to oppose programs of the Agency that are determined by

3 the Secretary under the review conducted under sub4 section (a)(1) to be inconsistent with nuclear nonprolifera5 tion and safety goals of the United States.

6 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

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

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

9 thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of State, in consulta10 tion with the United States representative to the Inter11 national Atomic Energy Agency, shall prepare and submit

12 to the Congress a report that—

13 (1) describes the total amount of annual assist14 ance to Iran from the International Atomic Energy

15 Agency, a list of Iranian officials in leadership posi16 tions at the Agency, the expected timeframe for the

17 completion of the nuclear power reactors at the

18 Bushehr nuclear power plant, and a summary of the

19 nuclear materials and technology transferred to Iran

20 from the Agency in the preceding year which could

21 assist in the development of Iran’s nuclear weapons

22 program; and

23 (2) contains a description of all programs and

24 projects of the International Atomic Energy Agency

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

•HR 4851 IH

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

2 and any inconsistencies between the technical co3 operation and assistance programs and projects of

4 the Agency and United States nuclear nonprolifera5 tion and safety goals in these countries.

6 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—The report re7 quired to be submitted under subsection (a) shall be sub8 mitted in an unclassified form, to the extent appropriate,

9 but may include a classified annex.

10 SEC. 7. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

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

12 Government should pursue internal reforms at the Inter13 national Atomic Energy Agency that will ensure that all

14 programs and projects funded under the Technical Co15 operation and Assistance Fund of the Agency are compat16 ible with United States nuclear nonproliferation policy and

17 international nuclear nonproliferation norms.

Æ