US Lawmakers Assess China Nuclear Cooperation Deal

U.S. lawmakers are holding a hearing Tuesday to assess "potential risks and rewards" of renewing a nuclear power cooperation deal with China.

Two top nuclear security officials are testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Thomas Countryman and retired Air Force Lieutenant General Frank Klotz, the Department of Energy's Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration (or NNSA).

The hearing comes one day after the Senate committee's closed-door meeting with five Obama administration officials on the proposed 30-year extension of the pact.

President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to authorize the new deal with Beijing, saying the extended agreement would provide "a comprehensive framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation with China based on mutual commitment to nuclear nonproliferation."

A new agreement would permit China, the biggest nuclear power market in the world, to buy more U.S.-designed reactors and other nuclear technology to reprocess plutonium from spent fuel.

The current 30-year U.S.-China deal expires at the end of this year.

Congressional review

Congress has 90 days to review the agreement. If it does not act before the review period expires, the deal automatically goes into effect. Key members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have promised a close look at the terms, especially since the U.S. and China are the world's two biggest economic powers.

The West has been warily watching as Beijing moves to expand its interests in the South China Sea. At the same time, some in Congress question whether Beijing is living up to its commitments under international nuclear nonproliferation treaties, particularly any technology transfers to neighboring North Korea.

The review of the Beijing deal comes at the same time as Congress is considering contentious legislation calling for a 30-day congressional review period over a potential agreement the United States and five other world powers, including China, are negotiating with Iran to restrain Tehran's development of a nuclear weapon.

The Senate has approved the measure and now the House is considering it, with Obama saying he would sign it if Congress gives its final approval.

The Congressional Research Service said U.S. nuclear commerce has increased with China over the past decade. A major U.S. company, Westinghouse, is building the first four reactors it is selling to China, with six more planned and as many as 30 more proposed.

Including the pact with China, the U.S. has a total of 22 nuclear power cooperation agreements with individual countries or groups of countries, plus Taiwan.

Fuente: La Voz de América, http://www.voanews.com/content/us-lawmakers-assess-china-nuclear-cooperation-deal/2764576.html