U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement with Korea to U.S. Congress for approval.
If it passes,... as it is expected to do,... South Korea will be allowed to begin research into recycling spent nuclear fuel as well as producing low-grade uranium providing it has Washington's permission.
Kim Hyun-bin reports.
A day after Korea and the U.S. signed a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement, U.S. President Barack Obama sent the agreement to Congress for approval on Tuesday, saying that the Asian ally has a strong track record on nonproliferation.
The agreement is a revision to their 1974 nuclear cooperation pact, which lays out Korea's responsibilities in exchange for technical support and cooperation from Washington.
The agreement was made after more than four years of negotiations that focused on reconciling Seoul's demand for the right to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and enrich uranium... with Washington's concerns about proliferation.
The new deal still bans Korea from reprocessing and enrichment, but allows the country to begin research into a technology for recycling spent nuclear fuel known as pyroprocessing... and developing low-grade enriched uranium with the U.S.'s consent.
Obama wrote in a letter to Congress that the agreement meets all the criteria for nonproliferation established in Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act and "provides a comprehensive framework for peaceful nuclear cooperation with the ROK based on a mutual commitment to nonproliferation."
Obama emphasized that Korea has a strong track record on nonproliferation and that it constantly reiterated its commitment to nonproliferation.
Congress has 90 congressional days to review the agreement, which could extend to six months.
The pact will pass if there is no opposition during that time, and experts believe it will.
Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News.