U. S. -Russia Nuclear Agreement

On May 13, 2008, the Pres. submitted to Congress a proposed Agreement between the U.S. and the Russian Federation for Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (the U.S.-Russia 123 agreement). Sect. 123 of the AEA identifies the key U.S. gov¿t. agencies and sets forth the procedures for negotiating, proposing, and entering into peaceful nuclear cooperation agreements with foreign nations. It also provides that State supply the Pres. with an unclassified Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement (NPAS) for each proposed agreement. This report identified weaknesses in the process State used to ensure interagency consultation during the development of the classified NPAS annex that accompanied the Agreement. Illus.