POTUS Officially Withdraws U.S.-Russian Nuclear Deal

Today, President Bush officially withdrew from Congressional consideration the controversial U.S.-Russian civil nuclear deal. This accord -- known as a "123 agreement" after the section of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 that requires it -- would have changed American law to allow broad forms of bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy between the U.S. and Russia.

For more, see:

• the full text of: the U.S.-Russia "123" agreement to permit bilateral civil nuclear cooperation;
• the unclassified version of the Department of State's Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement (NPAS) on Russia; and
• the now-rescinded Presidential Determination 2008-19, memorandum from the President to the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Energy on the U.S.-Russia civil nuclear cooperation agreement (May 5, 2008).

See also:

• the special information page for the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center's project, Understanding the Next Phase of U.S.-Russian Civil Nuclear Relations: Opportunities, Risks and Choices and
• "Overview of The Next Phase of U.S.-Russia Civil Nuclear Relations: Opportunities Risks and Choices" (June 12, 2008; updated August 1, 2008), a background essay by NPEC research fellow Robert Zarate and NPEC executive director Henry Sokolski.

Posted by Robert at September 8, 2008 2:19 PM