Chairman Lantos Seeks to Call Iran's Bluff
Washington DC (FAC): The House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a bill today to establish a global nuclear energy infrastructure that would guarantee qualified countries access to nuclear energy fuel.
“This bank will ensure that any state that keeps its nuclear nonproliferation commitments can get the fuel it needs without establishing its own fuel production facilities,” Lantos said at a hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, noting that such a ready source of fuel would undercut Iran’s insistence on enriching uranium, ostensibly for peaceful purposes.
“If Iran’s nuclear program is truly peaceful, Tehran should welcome an opportunity to ensure a stable supply of nuclear fuel from an internationally-supported nuclear fuel bank located in a safe nation,” he said. “If Iran is instead building a nuclear weapon, its nefarious intentions will be quickly exposed should it refuse to participate in this important project.”
The Lantos “International Nuclear Fuel for Peace and Nonproliferation Act” addresses this general proliferation problem – and removes Iranian pretexts for its own “peaceful” enrichment plant – by promoting the development of international nuclear fuel production centers under multilateral control and direction. It also supports the establishment of an independent international nuclear fuel bank that would guarantee reactor fuel to countries that forgo their own enrichment plants and are in good standing with existing international nuclear safeguards commitments, should there be a disruption in the world’s supply of uranium fuel.
The bill authorizes $50 million to support the establishment of an IAEA International Nuclear Fuel Bank. This money would match $50 Million offered by the Nuclear Threat Initiative for the same purposes. These funds, however, would only be available for two years, pending another $50 million pledged from other sources. They could only be used for the creation of a bank that would supply fuel to countries that are in full compliance with their international nuclear safeguards agreements and do not operate uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing facilities.
“This bank will ensure that any state that keeps its nuclear nonproliferation commitments can get the fuel it needs without establishing its own fuel production facilities,” Lantos said at a hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, noting that such a ready source of fuel would undercut Iran’s insistence on enriching uranium, ostensibly for peaceful purposes.
“If Iran’s nuclear program is truly peaceful, Tehran should welcome an opportunity to ensure a stable supply of nuclear fuel from an internationally-supported nuclear fuel bank located in a safe nation,” he said. “If Iran is instead building a nuclear weapon, its nefarious intentions will be quickly exposed should it refuse to participate in this important project.”
The Lantos “International Nuclear Fuel for Peace and Nonproliferation Act” addresses this general proliferation problem – and removes Iranian pretexts for its own “peaceful” enrichment plant – by promoting the development of international nuclear fuel production centers under multilateral control and direction. It also supports the establishment of an independent international nuclear fuel bank that would guarantee reactor fuel to countries that forgo their own enrichment plants and are in good standing with existing international nuclear safeguards commitments, should there be a disruption in the world’s supply of uranium fuel.
The bill authorizes $50 million to support the establishment of an IAEA International Nuclear Fuel Bank. This money would match $50 Million offered by the Nuclear Threat Initiative for the same purposes. These funds, however, would only be available for two years, pending another $50 million pledged from other sources. They could only be used for the creation of a bank that would supply fuel to countries that are in full compliance with their international nuclear safeguards agreements and do not operate uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing facilities.
photo from HCFA
ABF, for the promotion of human rights and democracy in Iran
2 comments:
interesting "bill". we should wait and see how "Tehran" reacts to it.
Sweet Jesus. The UN should have never, ever drafted the NPT. I miss the days of mutually assured destruction. That concept was so much simpler.
But the nuclear cat is out of the bag and having approved nuclear proliferation for peaceful development, proliferation for war is the next natural step.
That said, I'm surprised the Nuclear Threat Initiative only offers $50 million. That, and Lantos's $50 million bringing the combined total up to $100 million is still not even a drop in the bucket. Lantos's bill is similar to the NPT. I'm not sure I support it.
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