AMBASSADOR WOLCOTT DISCUSSES CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 002813 DEPT FOR T (JWOLCOTT, MHUMPHREY),ISN/NESS (ABURKART) AND EAP/MLS STATE PLEASE PASS TO NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (KFOGGIE, SBURNS, JRAMSEY, KHENDERSON),NNSA/NA-21 (JMCLELLAND-KERR) SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958, as amended: N/A TAGS: ENRG ECON PARM TRGY KNNP TH SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR WOLCOTT DISCUSSES CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION UNDER JOINT DECLARATION WITH THAI COUNTERPARTS REF: STATE 54213 BANGKOK 00002813 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. On August 25, Ambassador Jackie Wolcott led an interagency delegation to discuss civil nuclear cooperation with officials from Thailand's Nuclear Power Plant Development Office (NPPDO, responsible for overseeing the introduction of nuclear power) and the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP, responsible for nuclear policy and safety regulation). The delegation was impressed with the detailed four-phase roadmap the NPPDO has developed, largely based on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Milestones process, which calls for a first nuclear power plant to go operational in Thailand by approximately 2020. RTG officials explained Thailand is in the preliminary phase of this plan and will soon select a foreign consultant to conduct a 20-month feasibility study. The Thais seemed particularly interested in the areas of human resources and regulatory cooperation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),and in potential participation under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). Wolcott urged Thailand to ratify the Additional Protocol (which it has signed) and to carefully consider joining a number of important safety, security, and liability conventions. Discussions indicate that political, regulatory, legislative, and organizational impediments, including the need to more clearly define agency responsibilities and roles, must be resolved before Thailand realizes its goal of building an operational nuclear power plant by 2020. End Summary. Comments -------------- ¶2. (SBU) NNPDO, which was formed less than a year ago, is composed of many eminent Thai scientists and experts in various fields, some of whom have recently come out of retirement. These NNPDO board members possess a vast range of experience at the international and national levels. OAP, meanwhile, which was initially established in 1961 and subsequently restructured in 2002, appears to consist of career civil servants with significantly less experience. While it was not made explicit as to which of these bodies would take the lead on regulatory and policy issues, the delegation's impression was that NPPDO could eventually call for the establishment of a new or reinvigorated governmental entity to oversee nuclear power plant safety, licensing, and regulation. ¶3. (SBU) Thailand has made substantial first steps towards building nuclear power plants, including establishing new agencies and beginning a multi-year feasibility study. However, the various agencies handling nuclear energy issues will need to establish clearer divisions of duties before they can work together effectively and cohesively. Other potential obstacles to Thailand realizing its goal of operational nuclear power plants by 2020 include negative Thai public opinion towards power plants and an unstable financial and political atmosphere. While the delegation was impressed by the planning conducted by the NNPDO and the dedication evident in the Thai officials it met, it was also of the view that the projected schedule for introduction of the first nuclear power plant is unrealistic and will eventually have to be modified. Visit Details -------------- ¶4. (U) Ambassador Jackie Wolcott, Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation, led an interagency delegation to Bangkok, Thailand on August 25, 2008 to discuss civil nuclear cooperation under the Joint Declaration on Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation, a July 2007 Presidential initiative. Wolcott's delegation included Alex Burkart and Marc Humphrey of the State Department, and Steve Burns of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Meetings were held with the Nuclear Power Program Development Office (NPPDO),which was formed within the past year under the Ministry of Energy to oversee the development of nuclear power, and the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP),which operates as the nuclear and radioactive source regulator under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Wolcott emphasized to both bodies, in separate meetings, that the USG supports the expansion of nuclear power in Thailand, and opened a dialogue on potential areas of cooperation to facilitate the development of the highest safety, security, and nonproliferation standards. Thailand's Nuclear Power Plans -------------- ¶5. (SBU) NPPDO Advisor Dr. Kopr Kritayakirana explained that Thailand had just entered a "third round" of consideration for nuclear energy, following an initial plan in 1976 that was postponed when large gas reserves were discovered in the Gulf of Thailand and a second iteration that was shelved in light of the 1997 economic BANGKOK 00002813 002.2 OF 003 crisis. The current effort, the planning for which began in early 2007, calls for the deployment of 2,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020 followed by an additional 2,000 MW the following year. To implement this plan, the Thai Cabinet has established three teams: (1) the Infrastructure Development Program (headed by Kritayakirana),which over the next three years will focus on the development of legal and regulatory frameworks, human resources, and industrial infrastructure; (2) the Utility Development Program, which will oversee the construction of the first nuclear plant (to be operated by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, a state-owned utility company) and the distribution of electricity; and (3) the Public Information and Acceptance Program, which will attempt to overcome the public resistance to nuclear power seen in the two previous attempts at its deployment. ¶6. (SBU) The development of nuclear power will occur over four phases, Kritayakirana explained, largely based on the IAEA Milestones process. Thailand is currently in an initial "Pre-project Activity Phase," during which a 20-month feasibility study will be conducted to assist with site surveys, technology selection, and environmental impacts. Thailand expects to select an international consultant within the next month to lead this study, and Burns and Roe, a longtime collaborator on other engineering projects in Thailand, was the sole U.S. firm to bid for the contract. (Comment: The call for proposals was heretofore unknown to Embassy and Department officials. End Comment.) This pre-project phase is scheduled to conclude in 2011 with the realization of the first milestone - an ability to make a knowledgeable commitment to nuclear power. The next phases would include the "Program Implementation Phase" (2011-2014) and the "Construction Phase" (2014-2020),to be followed by the "Operation Phase." Technical Conventions -------------- ¶7. (U) In both meetings, Wolcott welcomed Thailand's signature of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) along with its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, but stressed the importance of Thailand's adoption of the Additional Protocol, as well as a number of international safety, security, and liability conventions, if it is to seriously pursue nuclear power. Specifically, she cited the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS),the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (reftel). NPPDO Technical Advisor Pricha Karasuddhi replied that Thailand was "planning on signing" the CNS, and Legal Advisor Dr. Thanes Sucharikuo added that Thailand was currently studying other countries' laws and treaties intensively and that it therefore welcomed assistance from U.S. experts in the development of its nuclear law. Kritayakirana added that Thailand was a "great admirer of the U.S. system" and commented that assistance with regulatory framework development was a "good area for U.S. cooperation." Burns informed NPPDO and OAP officials that this type of assistance could be greatly facilitated via an Information Exchange Arrangement between U.S. and Thai regulatory bodies. Nuclear Fuel Supply -------------- ¶8. (SBU) With regard to fuel supply, Karasuddhi noted that the U.S. had supplied Thailand with research reactor fuel for 50 years and that Thailand would be interested in a similar fuel leasing arrangement with the U.S. for power reactor fuel, perhaps as part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). Burkart explained that the laws governing power reactor fuel were significantly more complex, but that the U.S. and other GNEP partners were working on developing new policies to facilitate fresh fuel provision and spent fuel management. Wolcott encouraged Thailand to join the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, and NPPDO officials asked what needs to be done to attend the October 1 GNEP Ministerial meeting in Paris. They added that an expert on Thai utilities had been designated to consider GNEP (though he was unfortunately absent during the meeting). Wolcott noted the importance to emerging nuclear energy states of the Reliable Access to Nuclear Fuel initiatives currently being developed under the IAEA, and encouraged Thailand to express its views on this within the Board of Governors. Kritayakirana also noted that IAEA officials had advised Thailand against the development of indigenous enrichment and reprocessing capacity, and that Thailand was "not making provisions" for the development of these technologies. World Bank Study on Nuclear Energy -------------- BANGKOK 00002813 003.2 OF 003 ¶9. (SBU) Ambassador Wolcott raised with NPPDO officials the importance of nuclear power plant financing as Thailand moved to develop nuclear power. The World Bank is considering a study on the cost competitiveness of nuclear power, a favorable report could help overturn the Bank's policy against nuclear power. However, since this study has been temporarily suspended by certain anti-nuclear countries, Wolcott suggested that the Thai representative at the World Bank express support for its completion. ¶10. (SBU) On September 4, Wolcott met with Thai Charge Damrong Kraikruan in Washington to follow-up on her meetings in Bangkok. In addition to nuclear energy, Wolcott and Kraikruan discussed the current political unrest in Bangkok. Wolcott noted political stability will be an important factor weighed by those considering nuclear cooperation with Thailand. ¶11. (U) Ambassador Wolcott has cleared a draft of this cable. JOHN