KACST PRESIDENT ON NUCLEAR ENERGY AND

S E C R E T RIYADH 001268

SIPDIS

FOR U/S DOBRIANSKY, ISN A-A/S MCNERNEY, OES/STC, AND NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2018
TAGS: PREL KNNP PARM ENRG SA
SUBJECT: KACST PRESIDENT ON NUCLEAR ENERGY AND
NONPROLIFERATION DEVELOPMENTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

REF: RIYADH 1237

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Michael Gfoeller,
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para nine.


2. (S) SUMMARY: POL/ECON counselor met with President of
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Dr.
Mohamed Al-Suwaiyel on August 12 following the announcement
that the Saudi Council of Ministers approved bringing into
force the safeguards agreement and additional protocol
(Reftel) to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that
the Saudis signed in Vienna on June 16, 2005. Al-Suwaiyel
confirmed the announcement and said he expected the SAG to
deliver the letter bringing the safeguards agreement into
force soon, though he indicated this might not happen until
October. Suwaiyel welcomed the possibility of ISN Acting
Assistant Secretary McNerney visiting in October, and he said
he also would be happy to meet her in Vienna in the late
September - early October timeframe, when he would be
attending an IAEA meeting there. He expressed frustration
that the U.S. and Saudi governments had not made progress on
signing the science and technology agreement completed before
President Bush's May 16-19 visit to Saudi Arabia. The KACST
chief emphasized that his institution had money to spend and
a strong desire to cooperate with the U.S. on S and T. END
SUMMARY.

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Cabinet approves taking the next step
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3. (S) POL/ECON counselor met President of King Abdulaziz
City for Science and Technology (KACST) Dr. Mohamed
Al-Suwaiyel on August 12 following up on an announcement the
previous day that the Saudi cabinet approved bringing into
force the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
safeguards agreement and additional protocol related to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Al-Suwaiyel
confirmed that the Council of Ministers had approved the
measures in a meeting chaired by the Crown Prince in Jeddah
on August 11. When asked when the SAG might actually deliver
the letter to the IAEA to bring the safeguards agreement into
force, Suwaiyel said he expected the MFA to deliver it in the
near future, but he gave no specific date. However, he
cautioned that since the Saudi government and especially the
Foreign Ministry would be operating on sharply reduced hours
throughout August (for summer break) and September (for
Ramadan),it was likely that a letter would not be delivered
until early October. Suwaiyel pointed out that the Saudi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs was one of the SAG's worst in
terms of limiting hours and personnel during this period of
reduced activity. Nevertheless, he explained that since this
issue was a priority for King Abdullah, the final steps might
be completed as early as late August.

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Shifting focus to the NEXT next steps
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4. (S) Emboffs reminded the KACST president that the
U.S.-Saudi MOU on nuclear cooperation would not enter into
force until the Safeguards Agreement had done so, and we
briefed Suwaiyel on our desire for Saudi Arabia to revise the
"Small Quantities Protocol" and to begin discussing the
possibility of a formal 123 agreement. Suwaiyel assured us
that Saudi Arabia was tracking all 8,000 point sources of
radioactive material in its country, as well as monitoring
the nearly 20,000 people who worked with or were otherwise
potentially exposed to radioactive material. He emphasized
that Saudi Arabia tracked and recorded the origins of all
such materials in order to ensure that all radioactive
material would be exported from its country when it was no
longer in use. He explained that the SAG was doing this for
nonproliferation purposes but also to avoid having to worry
about domestic disposal procedures.


5. (S) When asked, Suwaiyel responded he would be pleased to
receive a visit by ISN Acting Assistant Secretary Patricia
McNerney to Saudi Arabia in October. In addition, he
mentioned he would be in Europe from late September to early
October, in part to attend an IAEA meeting in Vienna. He
said he would welcome meeting McNerney on the margins of this
gathering and said although his schedule was not finalized,
he planned to be in Vienna on September 27. He added that he
wanted to use these visits to make tangible progress on
bilateral cooperation.

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S and T agreement
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6. (S) Suwaiyel, who as KACST president carries the rank of
minister and serves as the SAG's chief official for science
and technology matters, pivoted the discussion to the draft
bilateral Science and Technology (S and T) cooperation
agreement, which was completed just before President Bush's
May 16-19 visit to Saudi Arabia but has yet to be signed.
Suwaiyel expressed frustration that the agreement has notbeen
signed yet since all substantive issues have been solved. He
said his institution had money to spend and a strong desire
to cooperate with the U.S. on S and T, and he urged Emboffs
to ask the Department to send an appropriate delegation to
Saudi Arabia to sign the agreement in the near future. The
western-educated (Ph.D. in computer science from the
University of Southern California) KACST chief emphasized his
institution needed good news stories like an S and T
agreement with the United States to continue growing in the
"right" direction.

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Comment and action request
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7. (C) COMMENT. Public reports of oil-rich Saudi Arabia
pursuing civilian nuclear energy may strike some as a strange
pursuit for their government, much less ours, to support.
However, every barrel of oil the Kingdom uses to power a
desalination or electricity-producing plant is a barrel that
could instead be added to the global oil supply to be sold on
the open market. The Saudis view this as an opportunity to
earn more money by increasing oil exports (a frequent demand
from consumers abroad) and to produce more electricity that
can be used for domestic and regional economic development.


8. (S) More importantly for U.S. interests, the SAG
announcement that it decided to approve the nuclear
safeguards agreement represents a considerable victory for
U.S. nonproliferation policy. It is also a significant
international public symbol that there are alternatives to
the Iranian path of nuclear subterfuge and that the U.S. can
support the development of civilian nuclear energy in this
part of the world. We concur with Suwaiyel's assessment that
the letter may not be delivered to the IAEA until October; we
will follow up energetically with MFA to encourage its early
delivery. For the moment, one or two other Gulf countries
may be slightly ahead of Saudi Arabia on developing a
civilian nuclear program; however, we believe KACST is much
more likely to develop the human and material infrastructure
necessary to support a full civilian program that a 123
agreement with the U.S. would allow. END COMMENT.


9. (S) Action request: Post requests information on ISN
Acting Assistant Secretary McNerney's possible travel plans
to relevant upcoming IAEA meetings and Saudi Arabia, as well
as her willingness to meet Dr. Al-Suwaiyel. On S and T
cooperation, Post recommends that Under Secretary for Global
Affairs Dobriansky or her designee consider paying a visit to
Saudi Arabia in October to formally sign the S and T
agreement.

GFOELLER
GFOELLER