Kenneth Fletcher
NS&D Monitor
1/10/2014
President Obama sent a new civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Taiwan was to Congress this week. The agreement between the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Culture Representative Office is the result of a renegotiation of a previous agreement with Taiwan, and will enter into force after it sits before Congress for 90 legislative days. “Over the last two decades, the authorities on Taiwan have established a reliable record on nonproliferation and on commitments to nonproliferation,” states a message Obama sent to Congress. “While the political status of the authorities on Taiwan prevents them from formally acceding to multilateral nonproliferation treaties or agreements, the authorities on Taiwan have voluntarily assumed commitments to adhere to the provisions of multilateral treaties and initiatives.”
As expected, the agreement includes a legal commitment from Taiwanese authorities not to seek or acquire enrichment and reprocessing technologies. While Taiwan is not seen as a likely candidate for acquiring such technologies, the agreement to that so-called “gold standard” for civil nuclear deals is seen as important for the examples it sets. The U.S. is currently renegotiating a 123 agreement with South Korea, which has expressed interest in reprocessing, and the gold standard issue has repeatedly been raised in Congress and by nonproliferation advocates.
