HMG TO OBSERVE GNEP MEETING IN VIENNA BELOW THE

UNCLAS LONDON 003369 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DOE/NE FOR M. CLAPPER AND E. MCGINNIS STATE FOR INR/B E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG TRGY KNNP IAEA PINR UK SUBJECT: HMG TO OBSERVE GNEP MEETING IN VIENNA BELOW THE MINISTERIAL LEVEL REF: A. STATE 118280 ¶B. STATE 121724 ¶1. (SBU) Malcolm Wicks, Minister of State for Energy, will not attend the September 16 Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) meeting in Vienna, according to a letter from Wicks to Secretary of Energy Bodman (text at para 2). Dr. Mel Draper, Director of Nuclear Nonproliferation at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) will attend as the HMG observer. Ref B registration information was passed to Draper by ESTOff on August 31. See para 3 for Draper bio. ¶2. (U) Begin text of letter from Minister Wicks to Secretary Bodman. SIPDIS 29 August 2007 Samuel W. Bodman The Secretary of Energy Washington DC 20585 Dear Mr. Bodman, Thank you for your invitation to the Ministerial meeting in Vienna on 16 September to discuss the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). I regret that I am unable to attend. We continue to follow the progress of GNEP with interest and are grateful for the opportunity to attend the meeting in Vienna as observers. Dr Mel Draper, Director Nuclear Non-Proliferation, will attend as the UK observer and will, as you recommend, contact Ed McGinnis to make the necessary arrangements. /s/ Malcolm Wicks End text of letter. ¶3. (U) Following is the official biography of Dr. Mel Draper: Dr. Mel DRAPER Director of Non-proliferation policy, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) As head of the department's non-proliferation policy, he is responsible for the UK's funding and oversight of the International Atomic Energy Agency (he is the deputy UK governor to the IAEA),the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the UK commitment to Global Threat Reduction Program to secure nuclear threats posed by former Soviet Union. His directorate is responsible for UK nuclear Safeguards policy, and runs the UK's National Authority, which ensures the UK meets its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. From 2000 to 2003, he was head of central policy and support at the UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE), where he led on international relations, general policy on enforcement, better regulation applied to health & safety legislation; the promotion of risk education, good health & safety practice in small businesses and in connection with vulnerable groups; the provision of research to underpin HSE's priority programs and mandatory activities; the implementation of open government requirements in HSE; and provision of secretariat services to support the Executive and Commission. His previous held positions in the Department of Trade and Industry (now DBERR),including head of the directorate responsible for the sponsorship of UKAEA, residual interests in AEA-Technology, and general nuclear waste and decommissioning policy. Prior to that he headed the department's promotion of management best practice to small and medium sized businesses, including preparation of publicity material, sponsorship of awards, delivery of promotional events to industry and research into management best-practice techniques. He spent his early career in research, first at the National Gas Turbine Establishment, working on the prediction metal fatigue in aircraft engines, and the development of associated avionics. Later, he moved to Warren Spring Laboratory, working on microcomputer and process control development, becoming head of the computer & telecommunications section. He is a mechanical engineer by training (with honors degree in Nuclear Engineering and thermodynamics and a Ph.D. in computational modeling of combustion), and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. End text of biography. Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm LeBaron