ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING NORWAY'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L UNVIE VIENNA 000377 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2018 TAGS: ENRG KNNP IAEA USOSCE RS IR SUBJECT: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING NORWAY'S PROPOSAL FOR TRAINING FOR IRAN'S BUSHEHR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT REF: A. UNVIE 274 ¶B. STATE 57469 ¶C. UNVIE 335 Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR GREGORY L. SCHULTE FOR REASONS 1.4 b And d. -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Ambassador Schulte passed on the U.S. talking points to the Norwegians regarding their proposal for safety training in Iran and received a positive response. IAEA is moving ahead with plans for the program which includes training, workshops and on-the-job rotations in other countries for Iranian regulators. In addition, statements were made at the recent Board of Governor's meeting by Slovenia (on behalf of the EU) and France (speaking for the EU3) which called on Iran to join the Convention on Nuclear Safety. -------------- U.S. Opinion to Norway -------------- ¶2. (C) As directed in ref B, Ambassador Schulte met with Mr. Ole Lundby, Minister Counselor from the Norwegian Mission on June 2, 2008 during the Board of Governor's meeting. The Ambassador articulated the U.S. position regarding Norway's proposal to provide safety training to Iranian safety regulators. The Ambassador also provided Mr. Lundby with a copy of the talking points. The Ambassador was also able to speak briefly to Mr. Kare Aas, Director General for Security Policy at the Norwegian MFA, who had originally raised the topic with the Ambassador. ¶3. (C) Both Mr. Lundby and Mr. Aas were pleased by the U.S. position and did not seem to have any objections to the U.S. suggestions that the Norway project be more open and transparent and that the Security Council Sanctions Committee should be informed of the activity. -------------- IAEA meeting in Iran -------------- ¶4. (C) Mission was also able to collect additional information about the project from Mr. Christer Viktorsson, the IAEA lead for this project. During the week of May 26, two IAEA staff members (Christer Viktorsson and one other staffer) traveled to Iran to discuss the details of the project. They were accompanied by two representatives from Det Norske Veritas (DNV),the Norwegian risk management company who will do the training. They met with Mr. Saidi, Vice President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI),and Mr. Rastkhah, the new head of the Iran Nuclear Regulatory Authority (INRA). ¶5. (C) The purpose of the meeting was to review the proposed training program that had been developed by IAEA and to gain agreement from Iran that the training program met their needs. Both Mr. Saidi and Mr. Rastkhah were enthusiastic about the proposal and agreed to the program. IAEA will now take the proposal to Norway to seek final approval. ¶6. (C) Mr. Viktorsson was uncomfortable sharing a written copy of the draft proposal with the U.S. until Norway has agreed to it. He promised to give the U.S. a copy of the full proposal as soon as Norway agrees, which he felt would happen in a few weeks. However, he did discuss the proposal which involves Iran performing a self assessment of their regulatory body, several training workshops in Vienna or Oslo over the next year, and several on-the-job training opportunities. The on-the-job training would be with the regulatory bodies in countries with experience in VVR technology, for example, China, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, or Slovakia. The plan would be to train 20 Iranian regulators in groups of 4-5 for several weeks to months. The Iranians would assist in the review of licensing documents, accompany inspectors on inspections of reactor operations, help write inspection reports, review regulations, and receive some reactor operator simulator training. This training is expected to take place in 2 ¶009. ¶7. (C) China has shown interest in hosting some of the Iranian regulators but has not agreed to anything yet. Mr. Viktorsson stated that China will be reluctant until they have a better understanding of the program. China has agreed to a meeting with IAEA, this time led by Russ Clark in the Department of Nuclear Energy, to establish contacts in preparation of a similar project to train the Bushehr facility operators. -------------- Positive safety comments -------------- ¶8. (C) In addition to agreeing to the training program, there were other positive safety comments made by Iran. During this IAEA visit, Mr. Saidi stated that he is very supportive of Iran joining the Convention on Nuclear Safety. Mr. Saidi believes that the CNS is an important next step for the safety of Bushehr and is working to convince his government. IAEA will continue to try to facilitate them signing on to the CNS. ¶9. (C) Mr. Viktorsson also stated that Iran had invited the IAEA to perform an Integrated Regulatory Review Mission (IRRS). These missions are made up of 10-20 experts from regulatory bodies around the world. The missions last about two weeks and entail a self assessment by the country and a review of the regulatory body by the team against recommendations in the IAEA safety standards. The mission will produce a report containing recommendations for ways to improve the regulatory body. IAEA plans to travel to Iran later this year for a preparatory mission and complete the IRRS in 2009. ¶10. (C) The one major concern Mr. Viktorsson outlined was the ability to find enough representatives from regulatory bodies to participate in these projects. He is concerned that the countries with VVR technology are limited and that they may not have the resources or the desire to host the on-the job training teams, or to participate in the training workshops, or to travel to Iran to participate in the two week long IRRS mission. He suggested that the U.S. could help by encouraging these countries to support this IAEA program. -------------- Board Statements -------------- ¶11. (U) As was previously reported in ref C, statements were made at the recent board of Governor's meeting by Slovenia (on behalf of the EU) and France (speaking for the EU3) which called on Iran to join the Convention on Nuclear Safety because of concerns about safety at the Bushehr facility. The Director General, likewise, called for all states with civil nuclear reactors to subscribe to the CNS. SCHULTE