Brazil to Attend Vienna Global Nuclear Energy Partnership

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001721 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS TO ENERGY DEPT (M CLAPPER - DOE/NE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG TRGY KNNP IAEA BR SUBJECT: Brazil to Attend Vienna Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Meeting REF: (A) STATE 114102, (B) STATE 118280, (B) STATE 121724 ¶1. (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶2. (SBU) On August 28, 2007, ESTH Counselor and ESTH Officer met with Minister Santiago Mourao and Counselor Luiz Fernando Galvao of the Ministry of External Relations (MRE) Division of Disarmament and Sensitive Technologies to discuss REFTELS A and B. Mourao said that the Government of Brazil (GOB) will attend the September 16 Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) meeting in Vienna, but they do not yet know the composition of their delegation. According to Mourao, however, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim will not attend due to other commitments. Mourao added that at this time, the GOB was not ready to sign the GNEP Statement of Principles. ¶3. (SBU) Mourao commented that the GOB regards GNEP as an "interesting initiative" with an "ambitious agenda." He added that in this regard, the GOB and USG are already working on several related issues, such as next generation reactors and fuel access. Generally speaking, he thought that the GOB and USG hold convergent views on nuclear issues. Mourao did not preclude the possibility of the GOB being prepared to sign the Principles at the GNEP meeting in Vienna, but explained that they remain under an interagency review by the GOB. Even so, he added that he had personally reviewed them and did not see issues with the language that would be harmful to the GOB. (Comment: Due to the uncertainty reflected in Mourao's comments and the sluggish GOB beaurocracy it does not appear likely that the GOB sign the Principles in Vienna. End Comment). ¶4. (SBU) GOB points of contact on GNEP issues are Santiago Mourao (smourao@mre.gov.br, 55 61 3411 8660) and Luis Galvao (abbott@mre.gov.br, 55 61 3411 8660). (Comment: Mourao highlighted what is a common theme among most MRE officials: the MRE takes the lead on matters of external foreign policy. As such, he requested that his office be the main point of contact for the USG, not the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). He pointed out that in this case, MME is in the business of selling energy, not regulating its production and administering safety measures, etc. End Comment). ¶5. (U) Post will continue to communicate with GOB as requested to facilitate participation/communication on this issue. ¶6. (SBU) Per REFTEL C, Post delivered the information about meeting logistics and security requirements to Galvao, who would disseminate it as needed within the GoB. SOBEL