WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has told U.S. lawmakers that a nuclear cooperation deal with Vietnam is unlikely to include a coveted promise by the Hanoi government not to enrich uranium, congressional aides say.
The United States had sought a no-enrichment pledge, which the State Department promotes as the “gold standard” for civilian nuclear cooperation accords.
It would have been modeled on a deal last year in which the United Arab Emirates pledged, in return for U.S. nuclear equipment and reactors, not to enrich uranium or extract plutonium from used reactor fuel — procedures that would provide material that could be used in a nuclear weapon.
The Obama administration has been eager to send a strong nonproliferation message, especially to Iran, which the United States and others accuse of covertly seeking nuclear weapons.
A U.A.E.-style deal with Vietnam could have been used by the United States to push other countries for similar commitments. The Associated Press
