LETTER TO MR. AHMET GUN FROM NNSA DEPUTY

UNCLAS STATE 114915 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KNNP ENRG EXBS TU SUBJECT: LETTER TO MR. AHMET GUN FROM NNSA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR TOBEY REF: ANKARA 1845 ¶1. This is an action request. Please see para ¶2. Summary: United States Department of Energy,s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, William Tobey visited Ankara and Istanbul on 20 October 2008, to discuss important nuclear nonproliferation issues with representatives from the Turkish Atomic Energy Commission (TAEK),Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA),Turkish National Police (TNP),and Turkish Customs. Results of these meetings were summarized in reference A. ¶3. ACTION: As a follow up to discussions regarding cooperation between DOE/NNSA, Republic of Turkey,s MFA, Customs, and TNP, and TAEK on various cooperative international nuclear nonproliferation programs, including the Second Line of Defense Program and the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, Post is requested to deliver the letter provided below to Mr. Ahmet Gun, Deputy Director General, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This letter summarizes the discussions and highlights DOE/NNSA proposals for specific engagement on these high priority programs. BEGIN TEXT OF LETTER Mr. Ahmet GUN Deputy Director General Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dear Mr. GUN, Thank you for meeting with me on October 20 to discuss opportunities for further cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) on important nuclear nonproliferation initiatives. I applaud the concrete steps your government has taken to address issues such as the illicit trafficking of nuclear and other radiological material, specifically your efforts to strengthen export control processes and to add radiation detection capabilities at Turkey,s points of entry. These are all very important initiatives that are key to addressing a growing regional proliferation threat. Moreover, now that we have brought into force the so-called &123 agreement8 on nuclear cooperation, I am hopeful that we can broaden and deepen our joint nonproliferation efforts. Given that turkey is one of our most important allies, we would like to collaborate with you to further meet this threat in five specific areas: -Under our Second Line of Defense Program (SLD) Program, I would like to offer collaboration and support to strengthen Turkish capabilities to detect and deter illicit traffic of nuclear and radiological material. As we discussed, this could involve Turkish manufactured equipment. Initial steps might include: A visit to our equipment test site by Turkish experts. Testing of Turkish equipment at this test site. A pilot project to deploy current SLD equipment in Turkey. -Our Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) program is currently working on reactor conversion and U.S. fuel return with the Republic of Turkey. I understand that this vital work is on track. GTRI would like to broaden its work to cover cooperation on radiological source security, including elimination of disused sources or the installation of physical protection upgrades to sources that are in-use in order to prevent their diversion, and discussion of the assessment of key facilities to identify any possible vulnerabilities and their countermeasures, including physical protection, alarm communication and assessment, procedural enhancements and training. -Our office of Emergency Response is prepared to work with TAEK to share information on U.S. planning in the context of a nuclear emergency. -To expand on our current border and export control training cooperation, we can offer additional training to include more robust commodity identification training, licensing cooperation that would focus on analysis of strategic commodity transfers, and enterprise outreach cooperation that would assist in developing seminars for Turkish manufactures of export-controlled strategic goods. -The International Nuclear Safeguards and Engagement Program (INSEP) is prepared to cooperate with Turkey to develop its nuclear infrastructure in ways that promote nonproliferation and NPT Article IV goals. Possible interactions would include nuclear regulation development, nuclear material and facility safeguards, reactor operations, and radiation protection. I believe a mutually beneficial partnership that contributes to global nonproliferation can be formed through the activities I am offering, and my staff is prepared to meet and engage in detailed discussions to support these proposals. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, William Tobey ¶4. DOE/NNSA appreciates Post,s assistance in this regard. Follow up questions can be directed to Mr. Michael Fink, 202-586-6804. RICE