RUSSIA: OVERSIGHT AGENCY HEAD TAKES STOCK

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000707 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR ISN, EUR/PRA, EUR/RUS AND EAP/K . NRC FOR GORDON FOWLER AND JANICE DUNN LEE EPA FOR FREEMAN, WAXMONSKY . BERLIN FOR HAGEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2017 TAGS: KNNP PREL ETRD PARM RU KS KN SUBJECT: RUSSIA: OVERSIGHT AGENCY HEAD TAKES STOCK REF: A. 06 MOSCOW 4872 ¶B. 05 MOSCOW 14845 Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reason: 1.5 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. During a February 14 discussion with the Ambassador, Rostekhnadzor Director Pulikovskiy said Russia will focus on training and safety when it expands its nuclear energy network. No one wants to repeat the "bitter experience" of Chornobyl, he said. He looks forward to a productive exchange with NRC officials when he visits the U.S. in mid-March. Pulikovskiy emphasized that Rostekhnadzor's broad industrial safety oversight task is a constant challenge. Many regulations are outdated and key issues like fire safety remain a problem. In an aside on the DPRK, Pulikovskiy (who has ties to Kim Jong Il) said the North Korean economy is in such dire straits it will be very slow to improve, even with outside assistance. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) The Director for the Federal Service for Ecological, Technical and Nuclear Oversight (Rostekhnadzor) Konstantin Pulikovskiy met with the Ambassador on February 14 and reviewed Russia's plans to expand its nuclear energy network, with an accent on safety. Chornobyl had been a "bitter experience" that no one wanted to repeat, he said, therefore Russia will concentrate on ensuring its personnel are well trained and that its nuclear power plants have modern safety practices in place. He said Rosatom head Kiriyenko fully understands safety, and has made it a priority. ¶3. (C) Pulikovskiy said he looks forward to attending the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conference in the U.S. in mid-March, and that his main goal is an exchange of information with NRC officials. Pulikovskiy noted that nuclear power plants in the U.S. belong to the private sector, while their counterparts in Russia are state-owned. He said his delegation hopes to learn from the U.S. procedures. The Ambassador encouraged Pulikovskiy's approach and reiterated that Presidents Bush and Putin had reaffirmed our mutual interest in nuclear cooperation. -------------- Nuclear plants: minimal extensions -------------- ¶4. (C) The Ambassador asked if the greater challenge is building new reactors or extending the life of existing plants. Pulikovskiy said that, although extensions can be for two, five or ten years, Rostekhnadzor prefers the minimum duration. On new plants, Pulikovskiy said these are mostly planned for the sites of existing reactors, to make use of the same infrastructure and the existing grid. This makes the task for his inspectors somewhat easier. The Ambassador noted that the U.S. faces similar challenges: no new reactors have been built since the accident at Three Mile Island 30 years ago. ¶5. (C) On his agency's broader industrial safety responsibilities, Pulikovskiy stated that it would not be correct to say that everything was "fine" or that everything was "a problem." He emphasized that his agency's oversight task is a constant challenge. "My bosses do not understand how difficult this is," he noted wryly. He added that the regulations for the ecological and technical inspections need to be updated. Fire safety remains an issue. He pointed to several recent incidents involving methane explosions in the coal industry. Still, he saw his task as helping to expand the economy while also exercising sufficient oversight. It is thankless work, he said, "but it gets done." ¶6. (C) In the past, he said, some economic sectors had their own internal oversight systems. These had been taken over by Rostekhnadzor, which allowed it to draw from the best practices of each. The Ambassador asked if there was any friction regarding the Ministry of Natural Resources, whose oversight service seems to overlap with Rostekhnadzor. Pulikovskiy conceded that there is overlap, but claimed everything is "fine." -------------- DPRK -------------- ¶7. (C) The Ambassador asked for Pulikovskiy's impressions of recent DPRK developments. (During his tenure as presidential representative in the Russian Far East, Pulikovskiy escorted Kim Jong Il on a train trip across Russia. He subsequently wrote a book about the experience: "Eastern Express.") Pulikovskiy said he agrees that recent developments regarding Pyongyang are positive. North Korea's economic situation, however, remains dire. It is crucial to provide the country with outside assistance. Even so, one could not expect fast change. Improvements in the DPRK economy would be slow. ¶8. (C) Pulikovskiy noted that he serves in Russia's bilateral commissions for both North and South Korea. The next meeting of the Russia-DPRK commission is scheduled for March. He commented that DPRK continues to act like a country that has "been cornered." It was unfortunate, he said, that there have been no high-level direct talks between the U.S. and DPRK for many years. If President Bush would send his secretary of state to Pyongyang, it would be seen as a serious gesture, he said. It could result in productive negotiations. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) Pulikovskiy's tenure at Rostekhnadzor continues to garner mixed reviews at best. Our contacts in Rosteknadzor continue to lament Pulikovskiy's lack of managerial or technical experience. That said, he appeared genuinely interested in his upcoming NRC consultations and will, we hope, be open-minded about American's own approach on nuclear power plant safety. BURNS