PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION: RESPONSE TO FRENCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 000176

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NP/FM - AMB GUHIN; DOE FOR OFFICE FISSILE MATERIAL
DISPOSITION

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2014
TAGS: FR TRGY MNUC PARM ENRG
SUBJECT: PLUTONIUM DISPOSITION: RESPONSE TO FRENCH
PROPOSALS ON DRAFT MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT - LETTER DELIVERED

REF: SECSTATE 4595

Classified By: EST COUNSELOR ROBERT W. DRY FOR REASONS 1.4 B, D


1. (SBU) On January 10, EST Counselor delivered Ambassador
Guhin's letter and talking points contained reftel to
Veronique Vouland, Deputy to Francois Richier, and Sebastien
Jaunet, both in the Sub Directorate for Disarmament and
Nuclear Non-Proliferation. (Messrs. Dahan and Richier were
both unavailable.) In response, Vouland and Jaunet remarked
that the French government also considered useful a meeting
with the U.S. to discuss the French proposals and revisions
to the draft Multilateral Agreement provided in response to
U.S. concerns. They related that a French internal meeting
had been held earlier in the day to identify possible dates
for such a meeting. They felt that a meeting well before the
February 2-3 MPDG discussions would better suit French needs.
Thus, they would prefer a meeting date either on January 21
or early in the week of January 24. (Although early in the
week of January 24 was not one of the dates discussed in the
French internal meeting, Vouland and Jaunet thought that date
would be workable.) They seemed indifferent whether the
meeting took place in Washington or Paris. Embassy
recommends Washington agencies provide a proposal for meeting
time and venue for either January 21 or a date early in the
week of January 24.


2. (C) Jaunet said that the French side also wanted to
exchange views with the U.S. regarding 'Cost Group' issues at
the bilateral. He said that Ambassador Guhin had circulated
a 'road-map letter' containing evaluation of program costs
and that the Russian side had prepared a document on the same
subject. The French had found the Russian paper "not very
encouraging." Jaunet concluded by remarking that the
plutonium disposition program was a key GOF priority which
received high level attention and the GOF seeks to work
closely with the U.S. on assuring its success. At the same
time, he said, there is not the same level of comfort with
the Russian approach. Thus, the French need to proceed
cautiously to protect their technology.
Leach