Bill Summary
This legislation expresses the Senate's belief that establishing a regional nuclear fuel bank in coordination with international actors would help prevent a destabilizing arms race in the Middle East and promote the peaceful use of nuclear power. The legislation also acknowledges the success of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank in Kazakhstan and supports its expansion. It calls for the United States to provide technical expertise and funding for the regional fuel bank and to encourage other countries to make financial contributions. The legislation also recommends that the US seek nuclear cooperation agreements with Middle Eastern states, including Iran, that commit to forgoing domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing. In the event that Iran agrees to forgo these activities, the US should provide additional sanctions relief beyond what was agreed upon in the JCPOA. Any sanctions relief should be contingent on Iran ceasing its support for terrorism and other destabilizing activities. Finally, the legislation states that any international agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program and providing sanctions relief should be submitted to the Senate for approval.
Possible Impacts
1. The legislation could affect people in the Middle East by promoting peaceful use of nuclear power and avoiding a destabilizing arms race. This can lead to a safer and more stable region for the people living there.
2. The establishment of a regional nuclear fuel bank could also affect people in the Middle East by providing them with a reliable source of nuclear fuel for commercial reactors. This can help meet the energy needs of these countries and potentially improve the quality of life for their citizens.
3. The legislation could also affect people in the United States by committing the country to providing technical expertise and funds for the establishment of a regional nuclear fuel bank. This can impact taxpayers and potentially lead to changes in the country's foreign policy towards the Middle East.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 511 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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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;
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;
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
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the establishment of a regional nuclear fuel bank, or a
rules modification and expansion of the existing LEU Bank, in
coordination with other international actors, should be part of
a comprehensive plan for confronting nuclear nonproliferation
in the Middle East;
(2) the United States should implement a policy that
guarantees that any Middle East state that forgoes domestic
uranium enrichment and reprocessing will be able to purchase
fuel for their commercial nuclear reactors from an
international nuclear fuel bank;
(3) in order to expand the existing IAEA LEU Bank or
establish a new regional nuclear fuel bank, the United States
should provide technical experience and funds and should
encourage others to make financial donations to such bank;
(4) the United States should seek bilateral and
multilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with various Middle
Eastern states, including Iran, pursuant to section 123 of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153) (``123 agreements'')
that include the adoption of IAEA Additional Protocols for
verification of nuclear safeguards that include a commitment by
states to forgo domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing of
spent fuel;
(5) if Iran enters into and implements a nuclear agreement
in which it forgoes domestic uranium enrichment and
reprocessing of spent fuel, the United States should commit to
and provide sanctions relief beyond that agreed to in the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed at Vienna on July
14, 2015, by Iran and by France, Germany, the Russian
Federation, the People's Republic of China, the European Union,
the United Kingdom, and the United States;
(6) any such sanctions relief should include the
termination of certain United States ``primary'' sanctions, as
appropriate, but other United States sanctions should remain in
place until Iran verifiably ceases its malign activity,
including its support for terrorism, its human rights abuses,
its hostage-taking, and its destabilizing activities in the
region, and refrains from resuming such activities; and
(7) any international agreement limiting Iran's nuclear
program and providing sanctions relief to which the United
States is a signatory should be submitted to the Senate for its
advice and consent to ratification pursuant to Article II of
the Constitution.
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