Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XIX, South Asia

185. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to President Carter¹

Washington, May 21, 1980

SUBJECT

• Daily Report

[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]

NSC Activity

Tarapur

Editorial and foreign reactions to the decision to export more nuclear fuel to India have been strongly negative. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted unanimously against the pending licenses, and has rejected the State Department position that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act’s full-scope safeguards requirement does not apply. This will almost certainly reduce prospects for and increase the costs of getting Congressional approval. Jonathan Bingham has sent word that if you override the NRC, he will submit a resolution of disapproval. He added that Congress might view the two fuel licenses differently because of the time difference in when the applications were submitted; he suggests that you may wish to move only on the earlier application, or send them up separately. If you submit both together, he believes it very likely they will be disapproved in the House. We are evaluating his assessment.² (C)

1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, President’s Daily CIA Brief File, Box 28, 5/21/80–5/25/80. Secret; Sensitive. Printed from an uninitialed copy. Carter initialed at the top of the memorandum.
2. In the left-hand margin next to this paragraph, Carter wrote: “I’m also concerned about the wisdom of the earlier decision.”