UANI Co-Signs Letter to President Obama, Calls for Further Nonproliferation Efforts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2010
Contact: Kimmie Lipscomb, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI CO-SIGNS LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA, CALLS FOR FURTHER NONPROLIFERATION EFFORTS   

New York, NY -  United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)  today announced that it co-signed a letter to President Obama calling for further efforts in nonproliferation of easy-to-militarize nuclear fuel making activities, such as uranium enrichment and spent fuel recycling.  In particular, the co-signers of the letter call on the U.S. government to declare that it will not provide assistance to aid foreign government-backed firms to expand their nuclear business in the U.S. unless they have applied the nonproliferation standards established in the U.S.-UAE civilian nuclear cooperation agreement. 

The letter is co-signed by a bipartisan group of foreign policy and non-proliferation experts, including UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, and UANI Board Members Henry Sokolski, Director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center and Gary Milhollin, Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

In a letter to President Obama, the co-signers wrote:

We are writing to ask that you begin to apply a more forward-leaning policy to prevent the international spread of easy-to-militarize nuclear fuel making activities, such as uranium enrichment and spent fuel recycling.  As part of this policy, we believe the U.S. government should declare that it will not provide US federal energy loan guarantees, federal contracts, or other subsidies or assistance to help foreign government-backed nuclear firms expand their nuclear business in the US unless they have committed to apply the nonproliferation standards (including with respect to enrichment and spent fuel recycling) established in the U.S.-United Arab Emirates (UAE) civilian nuclear cooperation agreement in all of their future civilian nuclear cooperation agreements.

****

These points are basic. The success of U.S. efforts to reduce the dangers of nuclear proliferation depends critically upon the U.S. upholding the standards it sets and doing all it can to encourage others to do likewise.  That is why we believe that guaranteeing billions of dollars in federal loans to foreign nuclear suppliers, such as EDF, to expand their nuclear business in the U.S. without first requiring such suppliers to uphold the nonproliferation standards that US nuclear vendors must live by is not just bad business, but dangerous.

Click here to read the full text of the letter.

# # #