A bill has been submitted to the U.S. Congress that seeks to ban the spread of uranium enrichment technology.

A group of Republican lawmakers, including Chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, Brad Sherman, introduced the bill last week.

The bill centers on banning the provision of technology or materials that can be used to extract or process uranium to North Korea, Iran and Syria.

The bill stipulates that the U.S. government would seek to impose international sanctions on entities that violate such a ban.

The group of lawmakers also raised the possibility that a significant amount of uranium ore from North Korea may be used by other countries to develop nuclear weapons.

The bill was introduced as North Korea has threatened to conduct its second nuclear test.