Bill would hurt no-nuke efforts

Tighter controls over our nation's nuclear power exports sound like a great idea. But a bill pending in the House of Representatives might make it more difficult to control what other countries do with nuclear energy technology. And that could hurt, rather than help, our ability to curtail the spread of nuclear weapons.

Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, nuclear energy cooperation agreements between suppliers in this country and other nations go into effect unless Congress passes a joint resolution in opposition. That gives the White House, which negotiates these deals to begin with, the upper hand. Now, to get more leverage, lawmakers want to alter this system, which has worked for a half century.

The chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) wants to amend the law so no deal can take effect without an affirmative vote by Congress. But that vote would not be required in deals where receiving countries promise not to do reprocessing or enrichment of nuclear fuels. The fear is that these activities can lead to the spread of nuclear weapons.

If this bill becomes law, countries that want nuclear energy would turn away from the United States. Instead, they'd buy from supplier nations that don't have the strict conditions that now exist in deals made under current U.S. law.

America's goal is -- and should be -- to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The danger is that this bill could weaken our influence in that arena. It's a well-intentioned bad idea. hN