A secret nuclear co-operation agreement between the United States and China has reportedly come to light after President Barack Obama issued a notification to Congress which said that he intended to renew the deal with China.
The deal will allow Beijing to buy more U.S.-designed reactors and pursue a facility or the technology to reprocess plutonium from spent fuel. It will also pave the way for China to buy reactor coolant technology that experts say could be modified to make its submarines quieter and harder to detect, stuff.co.nz reported.
The unheralded release of the notification on April 21 showed the administration’s anxiety that it might alarm the Congress members and nonproliferation experts who have expressed concerns over China’s growing naval powers and the possibility of nuclear technologies falling into the hands of third parties having nefarious intentions.
In a closed-door meeting on Monday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hear from five Obama officials to examine the commercial, political and security implications of extending the pact.
The White House’s keenness to renew the nuclear accord with Beijing demonstrates the evolving relationship between the two countries.
However, the new version of the nuclear accord, called 123 agreement under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, would give China the liberty to buy U.S. nuclear energy technology at a time when the Obama administration has been trying to rally support among lawmakers and the public for a deal that would curb Iran’s nuclear programme .
Congress can vote to block the agreement but if it takes no action during a review period, the agreement would go into effect. (ANI)