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