An agreement that for 17 years has undergirded cooperation between the US and China on civilian nuclear energy is due to expire in December. Some senators and nonproliferation experts are worried that the Obama administration’s proposed follow-on accord, submitted to Congress for approval, rewards a country that has a spotty record on preventing the smuggling of nuclear and ballistic-missile technologies to other countries.

Section 123 of the 1954 Atomic Energy Act requires a new bilateral agreement to be put in place for nuclear commerce to continue between the two nations. At a 12 May hearing, Thomas Countryman, assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the administration’s proposal, the product of two and a half years of negotiations, would impose significant new nonproliferation obligations on China.

The new pact also would advance US efforts to limit climate change, he said. China is...

You do not currently have access to this content.