U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation: A Side-By-Side Comparison of Current Legislation

Publication Date: November 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Energy

Type:

Coverage: India

Abstract:

In March 2006, the Bush Administration proposed legislation to create an exception for India from certain provisions of the Atomic Energy Act to facilitate a future nuclear cooperation agreement. After hearings in April and May, the House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee considered bills in late June 2006 to provide an exception for India to certain provisions of the Atomic Energy Act related to a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement. On July 26, 2006, the House passed its version of the legislation, H.R. 5682, by a vote of 359 to 68. On November 16, 2006, the Senate incorporated the text of S. 3709, as amended, into H.R. 5682 and passed that bill by a vote of 85 to 12. The Senate insisted on its amendment, and a conference committee will likely be selected during the week of December 4, 2006.

The Senate and House versions of the India bill contain similar provisions, with four major differences. The Senate version contains an additional requirement for the President to execute his waiver authority, an amendment introduced by Senator Harkin and adopted by unanimous consent that the President determine that India is "fully and actively participating in U.S. and international efforts to dissuade, sanction and contain Iran for its nuclear program." The Senate version also has two unique sections related to the cooperation agreement, Sections 106 and 107. Section 106 prohibits exports of equipment, material or technology related for uranium enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing or heavy water production unless conducted in a multinational facility participating in a project approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or in a facility participating in a bilateral or multilateral project to develop a proliferation-resistant fuel cycle. Section 107 would establish a program to monitor that U.S. technology is being used appropriately by Indian recipients. Finally, the Senate version also contains the implementing legislation for the U.S. Additional Protocol in Title II. Minor differences in reporting requirements and statements of policy are compared in Table I of this report.

This report provides a thematic side-by-side comparison of the provisions of the two bills, H.R. 5682 as passed by the House and H.R. 5682 as passed by the Senate, and compares them with the Administration's initially proposed legislation, H.R. 4974/S. 2429. The report concludes with a list of CRS resources that provide further discussion and more detailed analysis of the issues addressed by the legislation summarized in the table. This reported will be updated as necessary.