POLAND: RUSSIAN RESEARCH REACTOR FUEL RETURN

UNCLAS WARSAW 001870 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, EUR/PRA, ISN/NESS EUR/NCE FOR BPUTNEY EUR/PRA FOR TYEAGER AND SSZUCHLEWSKI ISN/NESS FOR DFENSTERMACHER DOE FOR PARRISH STAPLES AND BRIAN WAUD VIENNA FOR UNVIE LISA HILLIARD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ENRG IAEA KNNP KTIA PARM PL RS SUBJECT: POLAND: RUSSIAN RESEARCH REACTOR FUEL RETURN PROGRAM STALLED REF: STATE 70448 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified - not for Internet distribution. ¶2. (U) Econcoff met with Anna Mank, a director in the Polish Ministry of the State Treasury (MST) and Ivan Bolshinsky, a senior technical advisor with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),on August 27 to discuss the status of Poland's progress on spent nuclear fuel (SNF) return under the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return (RRRFR) program. At the time of the meeting, work had not yet begun on processing SNF because the GOP had not signed the implementing agreement. ¶3. (SBU) Mank began the meeting by announcing that the legal department in the MST had recently completed a study of the RRRFR program and determined that MST does not have the authority to administer the RRRFR program or sign the implementing agreement for it. She added that MST sent a letter on August 10 to the Prime Minister's office, requesting a designation of the responsible agency and establishment of an interagency working group within the GOP to carry out the RRRFR program. She said MST had not yet received a response. ¶4. (SBU) Bolshinsky reminded Mank that, as the U.S. legislation funding the RRRFR requires that all SNF be shipped by the end of 2010, it is important to act soon. Bolshinsky also pointed out that, according to the implementing agreement, Russia will store the SNF on its territory for 20 years at no charge to Poland. After the initial 20 year period, the GOP could either pay for future storage on Russian territory, or have the SNF returned to Poland for storage. Bolshinsky asked Mank if MST could agree to a contract authorizing DOE to calculate the respective costs to Poland of storing the SNF in Russia or having it returned. He emphasized that the contract would not incur monetary costs or additional obligations to GOP. Mank responded, however, that MST would not agree to any steps without authorization from the Prime Minister's office. ¶5. (SBU) After the meeting, Bolshinsky mentioned to econoff that 15 countries had been invited to participate in the RRRFR program. Of those 15, only two had taken no steps toward implementing the return of SNF: North Korea - which declined to participate - and Poland. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: In Poland's current political climate, the MST will not make a decision on participating in this program absent explicit directions from the Prime Minister's office. While post will continue to urge the GOP to sign the implementing agreement, we note that no decisions are being made by the Prime Minister's office on many issues, pending resolution of parliament's vote of self-dissolution scheduled for September 7. End comment. ASHE