BRAZIL PLANS TO RENEW NUCLEAR COOPERATION WITH INDIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 002047

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/RA, ISN/NESS - R.STRATFORD, ISN/RA
ENERGY DEPT FOR M CLAPPER - DOE/NE)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG TRGY KNNP IAEA IN BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL PLANS TO RENEW NUCLEAR COOPERATION WITH INDIA

REF: PRETORIA 3772


1. (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY. At a meeting with EmbOffs on October 19, the
Ministry of External Relations' (MRE) Director of the Division of
Disarmament and Sensitive Technologies, Minister Santiago Mourao,
said the USG opening with India on nuclear energy has revived
Brazil's and India's interest in nuclear energy cooperation. Mourao
clarified that Brazil did not enter into an agreement with India and
South Africa per se as was reported in local press, but instead
issued a joint declaration, which covered a wide range of topics
such as UN Security Council reform and the Doha Round. He noted
that Brazil was particularly interested in India's use of thorium in
its nuclear reactors. India and Brazil are numbers one and three in
the world in terms of thorium reserves, he added. A collateral
benefit to the United States, Mourao pointed out, is that now Brazil
has more reasons to support the U.S. proposal to the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG) concerning opening up to India. For its part,
a uranium-poor India would benefit from gaining access to Brazil's
extensive supply of uranium. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) On October 17, Brazilian President Lula, Indian Prime
Minister Singh, and South African President Mbeki met in Tshwane,
South Africa, at the second summit of the India-Brazil-South Africa
(IBSA) Dialogue Forum (REFTEL),They released a joint declaration
that said, among many other things, "they agreed to explore
approaches to cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy
under appropriate International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA)
safeguards." Key excerpts of this joint declaration are provided in
paragraph 10 below. On October 19, ESTH Officer and Pol Off met
with MRE's Director of the Division of Disarmament and Sensitive
Technologies, Min. Santiago Mourao, to discuss the joint
declaration.


4. (SBU) Press reports on October 18 had described the IBSA joint
declaration as an "agreement" on nuclear cooperation between the
Government of Brazil (GOB) and India and South Africa. Mourao
clarified that it was not an agreement, but part of a joint
declaration, which covered a wide range of topics such as UN
Security Council reform and the Doha Round. Nonetheless, Mourao
underscored that the portions of the declaration (see below)
dedicated to nuclear issues serve as a symbol of each of the
countries' commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament
and to the "unalienable right" to peaceful uses of nuclear energy,
including new approaches to nuclear cooperation and R&D, within
existing international nonproliferation regimes. He referred to
these paragraphs in the joint declaration as a "monument to
diplomacy."


5. (SBU) The revival of cooperation with India was not without
internal conflict, according to Mourao. Initially, the U.S.-India
agreement was not well-received within the GOB because of India's
status as a non-member of the NPT. Even so, some within the GOB
recognized the value of engaging India. Thus, to address the
internal GOB conflicts Mourao said that the GOB persuaded India to
present a strong public commitment to nuclear disarmament in order
to help sway internal GOB positions. This, Mourao explained, would
help to bring India into a more "structured" discussion to provide a
way for the GOB to essentially sidestep the fact that India is not a
member of the NPT. By doing so, supporters sought to soothe
internal GOB conflicts and to move the possible nuclear cooperation
forward.

NEXT STEPS


6. (SBU) Mourao emphasized that Brazil would not begin bilateral
cooperation with India until the NSG permits it. He pointed out a
collateral benefit to the United States, explaining that Brazil's
interest in nuclear cooperation with India should help to push
through the USG's proposal to the NSG concerning cooperation with
India. He noted, however, that the GOB still has no official
position yet on the Article 123 Agreement and will probably not
state one at the next NSG meeting. At the moment, Mourao said that
the GOB is "constructing a position" that he thinks will be
"positive and proactive" upon completion.


7. (SBU) When asked if Brazil intends to supply other countries
with nuclear material or engage in nuclear exploration with other
countries, Mourao replied only that the GOB would enter into a

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nuclear dialogue with India. This included a visit to India last
month by Brazilian nuclear regulatory authorities and a reciprocal
visit to Brazil is scheduled for early next year. Mourao expressed
interest in nuclear cooperation between Brazil and India on the use
of thorium. He said, India and Brazil are numbers one and three in
terms of thorium reserves globally, but earlier attempts at
cooperation had failed due to lack of funding and poor test results.
Mourao also emphasized that while the joint declaration by IBSA
involves three countries, the GOB is only pursuing bilateral
cooperation with India at the moment, but that the GOB may seek to
enter into an agreement with SA next year.

BACKGROUND


8. (SBU) Previously, Brazil and India had been engaged in extensive
discussions of nuclear cooperation. In 1996, then Brazilian
President Cardoso went to India to, among other things, negotiate an
agreement on the use of thorium as nuclear fuel. At the time,
Brazil and India were both outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT); Brazil later joined the NPT in 1998. With its large reserves
of thorium, Brazil has been very interested in Indian advances in
processing and using thorium. In 1998, Brazil suspended nuclear
cooperation with India following its nuclear tests and, according to
Mourao, such cooperation is prohibited by Brazilian law. Mourao
stated that this national law would now need to be revisited.


9. (SBU) A uranium-poor India would be interested in Brazil as a
possible supplier of uranium. According to Industrias Nucleares do
Brazil, the parastatal company handling uranium exploration, in 2001
Brazil registered uranium (U3O8) reserves of approximately 309,000
tons, located primarily in the States of Bahia, Ceara, Parana and
Minas Gerais. It reports that Brazil ranks sixth in global uranium
reserves behind Kazahstan, Australia, South Africa, USA, and
Canada.

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10. (U) BEGIN EXCERPTS FROM DECLARATION
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DECLARATION OF THE SECOND SUMMIT OF THE INDIA-BRAZIL-SOUTH AFRICA
DIALOGUE FORUM, OCTOBER 17, 2007


1. The Prime Minister of India, H.E. Dr Manmohan Singh, the
President of Brazil, H.E. Mr. Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, and the
President of South Africa, H.E. Mr. Thabo Mbeki (thereafter referred
as "the leaders") met in Tshwane, South Africa, on 17 October 2007,
for the 2nd Summit of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue
Forum.


2. The leaders recognized that since its inception in 2003, the
IBSA Dialogue Forum provided a strong framework for trilateral
cooperation in several key sectoral areas amongst IBSA partners.
They noted that IBSA also provides them an important instrument for
cooperation on regional and international issues and promoting the
interests of the developing countries, thus contributing to the
strengthening and deepening of South-South cooperation.


9. The leaders emphasized their commitment to the goal of the
complete elimination of nuclear weapons and expressed concern over
the lack of progress in the realization of this goal. They
emphasized that nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation
are mutually reinforcing processes requiring continuous,
irreversible progress on both fronts, and reaffirmed, in this
regard, that the objective of non-proliferation would be best served
by the systematic and progressive elimination of nuclear weapons in
a comprehensive, universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable
manner. They further emphasized the necessity to start negotiations
on a phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons
with a specified framework of time to eliminate nuclear weapons, to
prohibit their development, production, acquisition, testing,
stockpiling, transfer, use or threat of use, and to provide for
their destruction.


10. The leaders strongly emphasized the need for ensuring the
supply of safe, sustainable and non-polluting sources of energy to
meet the rising global demand for energy, particularly in developing
countries. In this context, they agreed to explore approaches to
cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy under appropriate
International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) safeguards. They
further agreed that international civilian nuclear cooperation,
under appropriate IAEA safeguards, amongst countries committed to

BRASILIA 00002047 003 OF 003


nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation objectives, could be
enhanced through acceptable forward-looking approaches, consistent
with their respective national and international obligations. They
also reiterated the importance of ensuring that any multilateral
decisions related to the nuclear fuel cycle do not undermine the
inalienable right of States to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes in conformity with their international legal obligations.

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END EXCERPTS FROM DECLARATION
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