Editorial Notes
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), was in the original “this Act”, meaning act Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, as added by act Aug. 30, 1954, ch. 1073, § 1, 68 Stat. 919, known as the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2011 of this title and Tables.
Amendments
2008—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 110–369 added subsec. (e).
2006—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 109–401, in second proviso, inserted “, or an agreement exempted pursuant to section 8003(a)(1) of title 22,” after “that subsection”.
1998—Pub. L. 105–277, § 1225(d)(4)(C), in first undesignated paragraph of concluding provisions, struck out “the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,” after “Department of Energy,”.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–277, § 1225(d)(4)(A), in concluding provisions, struck out “and in consultation with the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (‘the Director’)” before “; and after consultation”, inserted “and” after “Secretary of Energy,”, substituted “Commission. The Secretary of State” for “Commission, and the Director, who”, and inserted “Each Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement prepared pursuant to this chapter shall be accompanied by a classified annex, prepared in consultation with the Director of Central Intelligence, summarizing relevant classified information.” after “nuclear explosive purpose.”
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 105–277, § 1225(d)(4)(B), in first proviso, substituted “Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement prepared by the Secretary of State, and any annexes thereto,” for “Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement prepared by the Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,” and substituted “have been” for “has been”.
1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–106 substituted “, 2164(b), or 2164(d)” for “2164(b), or 2164(d)” in concluding provisions.
1994—Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Foreign Affairs” for “International Relations” in penultimate paragraph.
Pub. L. 103–337, § 3155(c)(1)(A), substituted “2164(c), or 2164(d)” for “or 2164(c)” in penultimate paragraph.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–337, § 3155(c)(1)(B), substituted “2164(b), or 2164(d)” for “or 2164(b)” in provisions following par. (9).
Pub. L. 103–337, § 3155(c)(1)(A), substituted “2164(c), or 2164(d)” for “or 2164(c)” wherever appearing.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Foreign Affairs” for “International Relations”.
Pub. L. 103–337, § 3155(c)(1)(C), inserted “(except an agreement arranged pursuant to section 2121(c), 2164(b), 2164(c), or 2164(d) of this title)” after “the President has submitted text of the proposed agreement for cooperation”.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Foreign Affairs” for “International Relations”.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Foreign Affairs” for “International Relations” in two places.
Pub. L. 103–337, § 3155(c)(1)(A), substituted “2164(c), or 2164(d)” for “or 2164(c)” in two places.
1985—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99–64, § 301(a)(1), in provisions following par. (9) inserted “(A) which shall analyze the consistency of the text of the proposed agreement for cooperation with all the requirements of this chapter, with specific attention to whether the proposed agreement is consistent with each of the criteria set forth in this subsection, and (B)” after “Assessment Statement”.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–64, § 301(a)(2), inserted “the President has submitted text of the proposed agreement for cooperation, together with the accompanying unclassified Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement, to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the President has consulted with such Committees for a period of not less than thirty days of continuous session (as defined in section 2159(g) of this title) concerning the consistency of the terms of the proposed agreement with all the requirements of this chapter, and”.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 99–64, § 301(a)(3), (b), substituted “adopts, and there is enacted, a joint resolution” for “adopts a concurrent resolution”, inserted a further proviso directing that an agreement for cooperation exempted by the President pursuant to subsection (a) of this section from any requirement contained in that subsection shall not become effective unless the Congress adopts, and there is enacted, a joint resolution stating that the Congress does favor such agreement, inserted sentence directing that during the sixty-day period the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate shall each hold hearings on the proposed agreement for cooperation and submit a report to their respective bodies recommending whether it should be approved or disapproved, and substituted “section 2159(i) of this title” for “section 2159 of this title for the consideration of Presidential submissions”.
1978—Pub. L. 95–242 added unlettered paragraphs following subsec. (d) relating to the submission of agency views to Congressional committees and the failure of the Congress to act on agreements which exempt the recipient nation from the requirements of subsec. (a)(2).
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–242 amended and carried forward into pars. (3), (5), and (6) the existing provisions relating to the terms and conditions required for inclusion in all new agreements for cooperation, inserted new terms and conditions set out in pars. (1), (2), (4), (7), (8), and (9), inserted provisions empowering the President to exempt proposed agreements from any of the requirements if he determines that inclusion of the requirement would be seriously prejudicial to the achievement of United States nonproliferation objectives or jeopardize the common defense and security for any other reason, provided for Congressional rejection of any such Presidential exemption, and provided that agreements be negotiated by the Department of State, with an exception for defense related agreements.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95–242 reenacted existing provisions with only minor changes in punctuation.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–242 inserted “(if not an agreement subject to subsection (d))” after “the proposed agreement for cooperation”, substituted “submitted to the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations for a period of thirty days of continuous session (as defined in section 2159(g) of this title)” for “submitted to the Joint Committee and a period of thirty days has elapsed while Congress is in session (in computing such thirty days, there shall be excluded the days on which either House is not in session because of the adjournment of more than three days)”, and substituted reference to “these committees” for reference to “the Joint Committee” in proviso.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95–242 provided that proposed agreements be laid before the Committees on International Relations and Foreign Relations rather than the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy and that for major agreements the Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement, if any, prepared in conjunction with the President’s review of the proposed agreement, also be submitted to the committees.
1974—Pub. L. 93–377 substituted reference to section 2074(a) of this title for reference to section 2074 of this title in opening par.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 93–485 inserted reference to proposed agreements entailing implementation of sections 2073, 2074, 2133, or 2134 of this title, or in relation to reactors capable of producing more than five thermal megawatts or special nuclear material in connection therewith, inserted provision requiring the Joint Committee to submit a report to Congress of its views and recommendations respecting the proposed agreement and an accompanying proposed concurrent resolution favoring or otherwise of such agreement within the first thirty days of the sixty day period and providing that such concurrent resolution so reported shall become the pending business of the House in question within twenty-five days and shall be voted on within five days thereafter unless such House determined otherwise, and struck out the proviso that during the 85th Congress the waiting period shall be thirty days.
1964—Pub. L. 88–489 inserted reference to section 2073 in opening par.
1958—Pub. L. 85–479, § 3, inserted reference to section 2121 in opening par.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 85–479, § 3, included agreements for cooperation arranged pursuant to section 2121(c) of this title, and inserted in cl. (3) the exception in the case of agreements arranged pursuant to section 2121(c) of this title.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 85–681 inserted proviso clause relating to waiver waiting period.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 85–479, § 4, added subsec. (d).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Change of Name
Reference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the intelligence community deemed to be a reference to the Director of National Intelligence. Reference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency deemed to be a reference to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. See section 1081(a), (b) of Pub. L. 108–458, set out as a note under section 3001 of Title 50, War and National Defense.
Effective Date of 1974 Amendment
Pub. L. 93–485, § 2, Oct. 26, 1974, 88 Stat. 1460, provided that:
“This Act [amending this section] shall apply to proposed agreements for cooperation and to proposed amendments to agreements for cooperation hereafter [Oct. 26, 1974] submitted to the Congress.”
Limitation on Production of Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statements
Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title XII, § 1264, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1692, provided that:
“(a) Limitation.—
The Secretary of State may not provide to the President, and the President may not submit to
Congress, a Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement described in subsection a. of section 123 of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (
42 U.S.C. 2153) with respect to a proposed cooperation agreement with any country that has not signed and implemented an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency, other than a country with which, as of
June 19, 2019, there is in effect a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement pursuant to such section 123.
“(b) Waiver.—
The limitation under subsection (a) shall be waived with respect to a particular country beginning on the date that is 90 days after the date on which the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees a report describing the manner in which such agreement would advance the national security and defense interests of the United States and not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
“(c) Form.—
The report described in subsection (b) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.
“(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.—In this section, the term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means—
“(1)
the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
“(2)
the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.”
Support for United States-Republic of Korea Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Pub. L. 113–81, Feb. 12, 2014, 128 Stat. 1007, provided that:
“SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
“This Act may be cited as the ‘Support for United States-Republic of Korea Civil Nuclear Cooperation Act’.
“SEC. 2. FINDINGS.“Congress makes the following findings:
“(1)
In the 60th year of the alliance, the relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea could not be stronger. It is based on mutual sacrifice, mutual respect, shared interests, and shared responsibility to promote peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region and throughout the world.
“(2)
North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, including uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing technologies, undermine security on the Korean Peninsula. The United States and the Republic of Korea have a shared interest in preventing further proliferation, including through the implementation of the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks.
“(3)
Both the United States and Republic of Korea have a shared objective in strengthening the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at London, Moscow, and Washington July 1, 1968, and a political and a commercial interest in working collaboratively to address challenges to their respective peaceful civil nuclear programs.
“(4)
The nuclear energy agreement referred to in section 3 is scheduled to expire on March 19, 2014. In order to maintain healthy and uninterrupted cooperation in this area between the two countries while a new agreement is being negotiated, Congress should authorize the President to extend the duration of the current agreement until March 19, 2016.
“SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF NUCLEAR ENERGY AGREEMENT WITH THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA.
“Notwithstanding section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153), the President is authorized to take such actions as may be required to extend the term of the Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Korea Concerning Civil Uses of Atomic Energy, done at Washington November 24, 1972 (24 UST 775; TIAS 7583), and amended on May 15, 1974 (25 UST 1102; TIAS 7842), to a date that is not later than March 19, 2016.
“SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON PROGRESS OF NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND REPUBLIC OF KOREA.
“Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Feb. 12, 2014], and every 180 days thereafter until a new Agreement for Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Korea Concerning Civil Uses of Nuclear Energy is submitted to Congress, the President shall provide to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report on the progress of negotiations on a new civil nuclear cooperation agreement.”
[Memorandum of President of the United States, July 11, 2014, 79 F.R. 43917, delegated to the Secretary of State the reporting functions under section 4 of Pub. L. 113–81, set out above.]
Applicability of Notice and Wait Provisions
Pub. L. 103–337, div. C, title XXXI, § 3155(b), Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 3092, as amended by Pub. L. 104–201, div. C, title XXXI, § 3160, Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2843; Pub. L. 107–314, div. D, title XLV, § 4501(b), formerly Pub. L. 104–106, div. C, title XXXI, § 3154(b), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 624, renumbered § 4501(b) of Pub. L. 107–314 by Pub. L. 108–136, div. C, title XXXI, § 3141(h)(2)(A)–(C), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1771, provided that:
“Section 123 d. of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (
42 U.S.C. 2153(d)), as amended by subsection (c), shall not apply to a proposed agreement for cooperation under section 144 d. of such Act [
42 U.S.C. 2164(d)], as inserted by subsection (a), until
October 1, 1997.”
Fuel Cycle Evaluations; Report to Congress
Pub. L. 95–601, § 9, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2951, directed Commission to monitor and assist, as requested, International Fuel Cycle Evaluation and studies and evaluations of various nuclear fuel cycle systems by Department of Energy in progress as of Nov. 6, 1978, and report to Congress semiannually through calendar year 1980 and annually through calendar year 1982 on status of domestic and international evaluations of nuclear fuel cycle systems, with report to include a summary of information developed by and available to Commission on health, safety, and safeguards implications of leading fuel cycle technologies.
Adequacy of Laws and Regulations Governing Export and Re-Export of Nuclear Materials, etc., and Safeguards Preventing Proliferation of Nuclear Materials
Pub. L. 93–500, § 14, Oct. 29, 1974, 88 Stat. 1557, directed President to review and report to Congress within six months after Oct. 29, 1974, on all laws and pertinent regulations issued thereunder, governing the export and re-export of nuclear materials and information relating to the design and development thereof, in order to curb further domestic and international nuclear proliferation, diversion, or theft of nuclear materials.
Cooperation With Berlin
Act Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, title I, § 125, as added by Apr. 12, 1957, Pub. L. 85–14, 71 Stat. 11; amended by Aug. 17, 1974, Pub. L. 93–377, § 5, 88 Stat. 475; renumbered title I, Oct. 24, 1992, Pub. L. 102–486, title IX, § 902(a)(8), 106 Stat. 2944, provided that the President could authorize the Commission to enter into agreements for cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany in accordance with this section, on behalf of Berlin, which for the purposes of this chapter comprised those areas over which the Berlin Senate exercised jurisdiction (the United States, British, and French sectors) and the Commission could thereafter cooperate with Berlin pursuant to section 2074(a), 2077, 2094, 2112, 2133, or 2134 of this title, with provision that the guaranties required by this section were to be made by Berlin with the approval of the allied commandants.
Executive Documents
Performance of Functions Pending Development of Procedures
The performance of functions under this chapter, as amended by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978, Pub. L. 95–242, Mar. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 120, not to be delayed pending development of procedures even though as many as 120 days [after Mar. 10, 1978] are allowed for establishing those procedures, see section 5(b) of Ex. Ord. No. 12058, May 11, 1978, 43 F.R. 20947, set out under section 3201 of Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse.
Ex. Ord. No. 10841. International Cooperation
Ex. Ord. No. 10841, eff. Sept. 30, 1959, 24 F.R. 7941, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 10956, eff. Aug. 10, 1961, 26 F.R. 7315; Ex. Ord. No. 12608, Sept. 9, 1987, 52 F.R. 34617, provided:
Section 1. Whenever the President, pursuant to section 123 of the Act [this section], has approved and authorized the execution of a proposed agreement providing for cooperation pursuant to section 91c, 144a, 144b, or 144c of the Act [sections 2121(c), 2164(a), 2164(b), 2164 (c) of this title], such approval and authorization by the President shall constitute his authorization to cooperate to the extent provided for in the agreement and in the manner provided for in section 91c, 144a, 144b, or 144c [sections 2121(c), 2164(a), 2164(b), or 2164(c) of this title], as pertinent. In respect of sections 91c, 144b, and 144c [sections 2121(c), 2164(b), and 2164(c) of this title], authorizations by the President to cooperate shall be subject to the requirements of sections 123d of the Act [subsec. (d) of this section] and shall also be subject to appropriate determinations made pursuant to section 2 of this order.
Sec. 2. (a) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy are hereby designated and empowered to exercise jointly, after consultation with executive agencies as may be appropriate, the following-described authority without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President:
(1) The authority vested in the President by section 91c of the Act [section 2121(c) of this title] to determine that the proposed cooperation and each proposed transfer arrangement referred to in that section will promote and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to the common defense and security.
(2) The authority vested in the President by section 144b of the Act [section 2164(b) of this title] to determine that the proposed cooperation and the proposed communication of Restricted Data referred to in that section will promote and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to the common defense and security: Provided, That each determination made under this paragraph shall be referred to the President and, unless disapproved by him, shall become effective fifteen days after such referral or at such later time as may be specified in the determination.
(3) The authority vested in the President by section 144c of the Act [section 2164(c) of this title] to determine that the proposed cooperation and the communication of the proposed Restricted Data referred to in that section will promote and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to the common defense and security.
(b) Whenever the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy are unable to agree upon a joint determination under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the recommendations of each of them, together with the recommendations of other agencies concerned, shall be referred to the President, and the determination shall be made by the President.
Sec. 3. This order shall not be construed as delegating the function vested in the President by section 91c of the Act [section 2121(c) of this title] of approving programs proposed under that section.
Sec. 4. (a) The functions of negotiating and entering into international agreements under the Act [this chapter] shall be performed by or under the authority of the Secretary of State.
(b) International cooperation under the Act [this chapter] shall be subject to the responsibilities of the Secretary of State with respect to the foreign policy of the United States pertinent thereto.