TUWAITHA NUCLEAR MATERIALS SITREP

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 004227 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA/I: RSCHMIERER NEA/I-PM:TBETTS ISN/RA:KKESSLER S/I:KNUTT L/NPV:THISCH DOE: JSELLEN JS:SNORWOOOD OSD: TBENNET E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2017 TAGS: ECON PARM PREL IZ SUBJECT: TUWAITHA NUCLEAR MATERIALS SITREP REF: A. A) STATE 163968 ¶B. B) BAGHDAD 4126 ¶C. C) STATE 169324 ¶D. D) BAGHDAD 2454 ¶E. E) BAGHDAD 1787 ¶F. F) BAGHDAD 734 Classified By: Ambassador Charles Ries, Economic Minister, for Reasons 1.4 (B),(D) and (H) ¶1. (S) Summary: Ambassador Ries met with Iraqi Minister of Science and Technology (MOST) Raid Jahid (FAHMI) on the evening of 30 December to discuss next steps on Tuwaitha. Ries requested the Minister's assistance to accomplish four key steps necessary to complete the proposed work at Tuwaitha: 1) access for the US Technical Team on site to Building #4 on 31 December in order to re-pack four irradiation sources; 2) providing a letter from the Prime Minister to the USG granting the US authority to the US to remove the irradiation sources from Iraq; 3) providing a letter from the GOI to the IAEA notifying the Agency that the seals on the doors to the storage area for the uranium yellow cake would be broken to allow repacking of the uranium for sale; 4) designation of an Iraqi representative empowered to negotiate sale of the uranium yellow cake to an international buyer. Fahmi immediately agreed to take the steps necessary to allow the US team access to the building housing the irradiators and to prepare them for shipment by 10 AM on 31 Dec. Fahmi was true to his word. The Iraqi site commander told our Team Leader he had received a "High-level call" and he allowed the US team access as requested on 31 Dec. Regarding the letter authorizing removal of the irradiators and yellow cake from Iraq and designation of an Iraqi negotiator, Fahmi supports both actions but deferred them to the Prime Minister. He agreed to rush a letter to the IAEA and stated his Ministry could prepare and sign the letter for transmission through the MFA to the IAEA. However, focusing on Iraq's responsibility for the material, he asked that appropriate experts receive a briefing from US experts before the letter is sent. Ries agreed and the briefing to experts is currently scheduled to occur on-site on 2 January. Ries-Fahmi Meeting ¶2. (S) The meeting was scheduled on short notice and took place in the Minister's apartment in the Al Rasheed Hotel. He was without supporting staff and the meeting was conducted in English. Ries made the point that the US had a team of ninety people on the ground ready to carry out the work at Tuwaitha -- packaging for transport and removing the four irradiation sources and the 550 metric tons of uranium yellow cake -- that Iraq had requested the US support. Noting that all the logistics pieces were in place, Ries asked for the Minister's immediate support to get the necessary political permissions to gain access to the irradiation sources, notify the IAEA that the seals would be broken to allow repacking the yellow cake, authorize the USG to remove the irradiators by 10 Jan and to designate a negotiator for the sale of the yellow cake. Ries stressed that the US intent is to partner with Iraq in each phase of the operation, including working together to sell the yellow cake for the best value possible, recognizing there must be some cost sharing. ¶3. (S) Fahmi agreed that Iraq needed to have the material removed and voiced his support for getting the work completed. He stated that access to the building was within his power to grant and immediately agreed to make the necessary calls to allow the US Team access to Building 4 at Tuwaitha, stating he would make the calls this evening. We agreed that the US Team would meet with the Iraqi site authorities at 10 AM 31 Dec. However, he could not grant the US authority to remove the irradiators, though he understood the tight timeline for airlift. Only the Prime Minister could grant authority for removal. As to designation of an Iraqi to negotiate the sale of the yellow cake, this was also an issue for the Prime Minister and the cabinet. 4.(S) Regarding the letter to the IAEA, Fahmi stressed that it Iraq is responsible for both the irradiators and the yellow cake. It is within his power to draft and sign out a letter to the IAEA which would then be forwarded through the MFA to Vienna. However, he asked that his specialists receive a briefing at the site on 31 Dec on the "process" for both the irradiators and the yellow cake. He noted that the responsible official in the GOI for these materials is Mohammed Jawad "AL SHARA", Director General, National Monitoring Directorate, and asked that Shara receive the briefing. The Minister noted in particular that the action taken with the seals on the doors to the storage facility housing the yellow cake was of particular interest -- who would be responsible, the US or Iraq. Ries agreed that Iraq did own the materials and that the US Team would provide the necessary briefing so that the Minister felt comfortable with the actions the US would take. Once the briefing is provided, the Minister stated he would work to move the letter forward immediately ("tomorrow"). ¶5. (S) Fahmi asked that Iraqi experts be allowed to observe the packaging of both the irradiators and the yellow cake. He linked the observation to the "responsibility" Iraq has for the materials. Ries agreed in principle to the request with the details to be worked out with the US Team on-site. Results/Next Steps ¶5. The US Team Leader (Alex Riedy) and several key staff arrived at the Administration Building at 10 AM as scheduled and were met by the Iraqi Site Commander, Col "Ra'ad" in full uniform and a Ministry of Science Representative Dr. Ali Hassan "AZZIZ). After formalities, Ra'ad stated he was contacted by MOST last night and directed to provide full cooperation for the visit. At Dr. Azziz's request, Alex outlined the general plans for removal of the irradiators and for the yellow cake. Subsequently, Riedy and other team members toured inside and out building #4 accompanied by Col Ra'ad and Dr. Azziz. Riedy reports "the visit went very well and overall cooperation was good." ¶6. The briefing to Shara and other Iraqi technical experts did not take place today. Shara was unable to travel to the site. He requested that the US Team Leader visit the Ministry on short notice to provide him a briefing. Given the security constraints, it was not possible to send either Embassy representatives or Riedy to the Ministry today. The current plan as agreed with Shara is for three Iraqi technical experts to visit the site on 2 Jan to receive a briefing from Riedy. The Energy Attach (Parks) and Senior NNSA Representative (Boudreau) will meet with Shara in his office on 2 Jan to discuss the IAEA letter. Attendees GOI Minister of Science and Technology Raid Jahid "FAHMI" US Minister for Economic Affairs Charles Ries Energy Attach Edgar Parks Senior NNSA Representative Robert Boudreau CROCKER