What is 123 Agreement?

, , Leave a comment

What is 123 Agreement? – A Short Overview

What is this Section 123 Agreement all about? This agreement is also popularly known as the ‘Cooperation with Other Nations’. The123 Agreement is a section of the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954. The agreement establishes cooperation being a prerequisite for nuclear deals between USA and other nations. The United States of America entered the 123 Agreement with several nations.

The nations known to be under the 123 Agreement are as follows:

China
Egypt
EURATOM
India
Japan
Romania
Thailand
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates

In simple terms, 123 Agreement is a treaty that has to do with peaceful uses of nuclear power. The fundamental treaty holds that peaceful utilizations of nuclear energy are advantageous. It aids in a smooth progress of trade between the US and other nations to the agreement. However, the agreement prohibits fortification of uranium up to a point where it can be used to produce nuclear weapons. Under the 123 Agreement, all trades in nuclear elements are under the administration of the International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA.

The advantage of the 123 Agreement is that it guarantees safe handling of nuclear power. The agreement also makes it clear to all parties that nuclear power is a clean source of fuel. Since the trade of nuclear power is controlled by the US and IAEA, all handling of nuclear materials are ensured to be safe and peaceful. With the supervision of IAEA, it ensures the materials to be handled, organized and preserved in a competent manner.

Environmentally, the 123 agreement can be considered an advantage. The agreement promotes the use of nuclear materials for power. This means nations involved in the treaty will help cut down on the use of fossil fuels. Nuclear materials will help promote clean instead of polluting sources of power such as the fossil fuels. Although the safety of use of nuclear power remains highly controversial, IAEA can assure that handling of this nuclear materials is safe.

However, there are also some fears that the agreement may have a potential for abuse. Given the fact that the agreement is under close supervision of the US and IAEA, it would mean any state who wants the nuclear materials would be permitted. The use of nuclear technology will be easily spread among nations. The danger with this is that there are still some possibilities that nuclear materials can be developed as weapon by the nations who get their hands with the nuclear technology.

Moreover, there are also possibilities that when a government is overthrown, the nuclear technology in established may be used for military purposes by the overthrowing party. This can be very dangerous if nuclear technology goes into the wrong hands. In other words, although the primary goal of the agreement is the safe usage of nuclear technology, it still cannot assure that it can be used for some other ill purpose in the future.

The primary goal of 123 Agreement on handling nuclear technology is very idealistic. The treaty is meant for positive usage of the nuclear technology. Many see a good advantage of the agreement. However, no matter how good the purpose of the agreement, the high controversy about the safety of nuclear technology remains a big question.

Tea Time Quiz

[forminator_poll id="23176"]
 

Leave a Reply