Sec. 1232. Strategy to delay, disrupt, and degrade Rosatom’s proliferation activities and other revenue streams
483 words·~2 min read·
/bill/118/hr/2670/rh/section-1232·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, is providing the People’s Republic of China highly enriched uranium for Chinese Communist Party fast-breeder reactors. The Department of Defense’s 2022 report to Congress on the Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China noted the key role that increased weapons-grade plutonium production is key to China’s nuclear program, stating: The PRC is also supporting this expansion by increasing its capacity to produce and separate plutonium by constructing fast breeder reactors and reprocessing facilities. .
The report also cites the CFR-600 reactors and notes that each reactor will be capable of producing enough plutonium for dozens of nuclear warheads annually . This buildup puts China in violation of Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, requiring states to make good-faith efforts to cease an arms race and to engage in good-faith arms control negotiations. There are also credible reports that Russia’s state nuclear power conglomerate has been working to supply the Russian arms industry with components, technology and raw materials for missile(s) .
Specifically, a letter from a Rosatom department chief, dated October 2022, shows Rosatom offering to provide goods to Russian military units and to Russian weapons manufacturers that are under sanctions. The United States Government has taken steps against Rosatom, such as sanctioning three Rosatom subsidiaries on February 24, 2023, and speaking out publicly against Rosatom’s behavior. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, Dr. John F. Plumb, testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces on March 8, 2023, that It’s very troubling to see Russia and China cooperating on this …They may have talking points around it, but there’s no getting around the fact that breeder reactors are plutonium, and plutonium is for weapons.
So, I think the [Defense] Department is concerned. And of course, it matches our concerns about China’s increased expansion of its nuclear forces as well, because you need more plutonium for more weapons. . Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Energy, with the assistance of the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to delay, disrupt, and degrade Rosatom’s and other Russian state-owned entities’ proliferation activities and other revenue streams that directly fund Russia’s military forces.
In subsection (b), the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Financial Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.