Letter -- HEU Executive Order and IDLs

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

Consistent with subsection 204(b) of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order that terminates the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13617 of June 25, 2012, and revokes that Executive Order.  I have determined that the situation that gave rise to this national emergency has been significantly altered by the successful implementation of the Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation Concerning the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons, dated February 18, 1993, and related contracts and agreements (collectively, the "HEU Agreements").

I issued Executive Order 13617 to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation.  Executive Order 13617 and its predecessor, Executive Order 13159 of June 22, 2000, helped to ensure the preservation and proper and complete transfer to the Government of the Russian Federation of all payments due to it under the HEU Agreements, thereby protecting those assets from attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process, which would have had the effect of jeopardizing the full implementation of the HEU Agreements to the detriment of U.S. national security and foreign policy.

With the successful conversion of 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium extracted from Russian nuclear weapons into low enriched uranium, the transfer to the United States of that low enriched uranium for use as fuel in commercial nuclear reactors, and the completion of all payments to the Russian Federation, there is no further need for the protective blocking imposed by Executive Order 13617.  For this reason I have determined that it is necessary to terminate the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13617 and revoke that order.

I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA