A thirty-year commercial nuclear trade agreement with Norway is up for review by the Senate. Norway generates 96 percent of its electricity from hydropower and has no plans to build nuclear power plants. Why, then, is such an agreement important?

Commonly called a “123 Agreement” for its location in the Atomic Energy Act, this agreement establishes the broad conditions for the nuclear industry and academia in the U.S. to engage in civil nuclear trade with partnering countries. These agreements are an important underlying part of America’s nonproliferation and nuclear safety objectives. Once an agreement is finalized, civil nuclear activities are regulated by the Departments of Energy, Commerce, and State. The U.S. has entered into 123 Agreements with 49 countries (including Euratom member nations) and the International Atomic Energy Administration (IAEA). But again, why is such an agreement with Norway important?

Norway’s Valuable Resources Are Advancing Nuclear Research

123 Agreements unlock the doors (but do not “open the floodgates”) for commercial activity between partnering nations and valuable research, technology, and information exchange.

Norway is home to two research reactors—JEEP II and Halden HBWR—to which American companies and government enjoy access. These small reactors have a number of valuable research capabilities, including the ability to test fuel performance, safety, materials corrosion, and fuel experimentation (such as the international collaboration on thorium fuel research since 2011). The work done at JEEP II also includes fabrication of nuclear isotopes which make medical procedures like MRIs possible. The Nuclear Energy Institute gives a few examples of how these facilities have been beneficial to Americans.

History of Cooperation

Norway has played a positive role in advancing common objectives with the U.S. for international nuclear safety and nonproliferation. The U.S. and Norway have operated under a 123 Agreement since 1984. Norway is also a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, some of the principal international nuclear safeguards agreements. Norway has also proactively responded to nuclear smuggling of radioactive material threats and outfitted other nations with detection equipment to do likewise.

Along with the U.S., Norway is also a member of:

• The Contact Expert Group (established in 1995 in association with the IAEA to address waste-management cooperation and safety);
• The International Science and Technology Center (established in 1992 to utilize the expertise of nuclear weapons scientists for peaceful nuclear projects through grants); and
• The Arctic Military Cooperation Program (established in 1996 to address nuclear submarine decommissioning, nuclear waste, and related environmental issues).

Norway and the U.S. were also two of five countries to voluntarily fund an international fuel bank to assure supply of low-enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. Managed by the IAEA, the bank is expected to open in September 2017. Countries intent on building nuclear weapons often argue that they need enrichment facilities for their domestic nuclear power industry; such a facility undermines their argument.

Norway is an important ally on multiple fronts, not just in civil nuclear endeavors. Valuing that relationship and the mutual benefits it has yielded, Congress should approve the 123 Agreement with Norway.