DME SEEKS MEETING ON NUCLEAR COOPERATION

UNCLAS PRETORIA 003674 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/S, EEB/ESC, ISN DOE FOR T.SPERL, G.PERSON, A.BIENAWSKI, L.PARKER, M.SCOTT, M.CLAPPER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG TRGY KNNP PREL BEXP IAEA SF SUBJECT: DME SEEKS MEETING ON NUCLEAR COOPERATION REF: A. PRETORIA 3589 ¶B. STATE 142879 ¶C. STATE 141182 ¶D. STATE 145573 ¶E. PRETORIA 2854 ¶1. (U) This is an action request for State and DOE. Please see paragraphs 2 and 9. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The South African Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) proposes a half-day meeting at the end of November in South Africa to advance areas of cooperation in nuclear technology. The objective would be to identify areas of agreement and disagreement on the full range of fuel cycle issues and to plan for the proposed February meeting in South Africa of the Joint Standing Committee on Nuclear Cooperation (JSCNC). Economic Counselor repeated Ref B and C messages about USG interest in moving forward on signing the Agreement on Cooperation in Nuclear R&D and initiating the return of spent nuclear fuel program. End Summary. ¶3. (SBU) R&D AGREEMENT AND SPENT FUEL: Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) Deputy Director General (DDG) Nelisiwe Magubane and Chief Director: Nuclear Tseliso Maqubela met with Economic Counselor and Minerals/Energy Officer on October 17 to advance bilateral nuclear cooperation initiatives stemming from Magubane's visit to the U.S. last April. Embassy Officers reiterated U.S. interest in signing the Agreement on Cooperation in R&D in Nuclear Technology (Ref B). Magubane said DME strongly supported signing the agreement and asked the Embassy to "push" the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),which is shepherding inter-agency approval. Economic Counselor will make an inquiry with DFA Director: USA Fadl Nacerodien. Embassy Officials repeated Ref C points that DOE was ready to move forward on the return of spent nuclear fuel program. Embassy subsequently facilitated organization of a conference call with DOE and SAG officials for October 19 to move forward on this initiative. Maqubela commented on two benefits for South Africa implementing the program: reducing a liability and gaining experience in handling and moving the spent fuel. Maqubela also expressed support for USG efforts to accomplish return of spent fuel in the DRC. "It would be a plus to link the return of spent fuel from the DRC with the return of spent fuel from South Africa", he said. Per Ref D guidance, Embassy Officers said they could not provide a response at this time. ¶4. (SBU) JSCNC AND GNEP: Magubane recalled the intention for South Africa to host a JSCNC launch meeting in Cape Town in February. Maqubela cautioned that in the run-up to the bid for new nuclear build between Westinghouse and Areva, it would be more difficult to start new bilateral initiatives. However, he recognized that this proposal had been under discussion for a long time, so there could be justification in moving forward on it. Magubane suggested that there be an earlier half-day meeting at the end of November in South Africa to clarify areas of agreement and disagreement with respect to the full range of the nuclear fuel cycle to lay the groundwork for nuclear cooperation in the many areas under discussion, including the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) (Ref A). Maqubela said he would provide SAG comments to the GNEP Principles to both DOE and the Embassy. ¶5. (SBU) NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE: Maqubela stressed the SAG commitment to beneficiate uranium and consider enrichment of uranium, including potentially serving as an "international fuel center", as part of gaining security of supply and economies of scale. He would like to know if the USG is opposed to South Africa developing this capacity, noting that GNEP seems to be premised on helping current nuclear powers maintain their control of the lucrative nuclear fuel market. Maqubela asserted that this impression would be removed if South Africa were allowed to participate in this market. ¶6. (SBU) GENERATION IV FRAMEWORK (GIF) AND FUTUREGEN: Maqubela stated that approval for South Africa's accession to the GIF had been secured in the National Assembly on September 13. However, he was embarrassed that a procedural snafu had delayed submission of accession approval in the second house, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Maqubela said that the accession approval would be submitted in the NCOP on October 23. Changing the topic, Maqubela said that the SAG was also interested in the U.S. Futuregen project (a zero emmissions, coal-fired prototype) and noted that state electricity company Eskom was engaged in related research. ¶7. (SBU) NEW NUCLEAR BUILD: Maquebela asked whether the U.S. would provide a "comprehensive package" for the Westinghouse bid for building Eskom's new nuclear plants, like the French are expected to do. Economic Counselor said Westinghouse could be expected to offer a comprehensive package, including price, modular design, safety, localization and training. The USG would advocate for Westinghouse, but its package would not necessarily include a USG component. Maqubela noted that when China awarded a major nuclear contract to Westinghouse last year, the U.S. Secretary of Energy had been present the week before the award. He said this demonstrated "high-level" support for China's nuclear construction program. ¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: The SAG supports the beneficiation of all South Africa's mineral production, including future uranium production. Consequently, the SAG is not inclined to participate in bilateral or multilateral initiatives which require it to renounce building capacity to provision its own nuclear power plants. This is because South Africa plans to base 25 percent of its electric power production on nuclear power plants by 2025. End Comment. ¶9. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Post requests that State and DOE provide a response on interest and availability to the SAG offer to host a meeting at the end of November to assess and advance bilateral nuclear technology cooperation initiatives. In addition, post requests that State and DOE provide guidance on USG views on South Africa's intentions to consider enrichment and potential supply of nuclear fuel. Teitelbaum