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.

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Summary
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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.

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U.S. Opinion to Norway
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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.

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IAEA meeting in Iran
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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.

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Positive safety comments
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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.

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Board Statements
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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