GICNT INVITATIONS DELIVERED TO UNITED KINGDOM

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 000655


NOFORN

DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/WMDT; DHS FOR DNDO (CAROLINE BRAY)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2019
TAGS: PARM PREL PTER KGIC UK
SUBJECT: GICNT INVITATIONS DELIVERED TO UNITED KINGDOM

REF: A. STATE 22354

B. STATE 18574

C. STATE 9099

D. 08 STATE 123059

E. 08 LONDON 3185

Classified By: Political Counselor Richard Mills, Reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (SBU) Poloff, accompanied by diplomats from the Russian
and South Korean embassies, shared details of the upcoming
Seoul meeting of the Exercise Planning Group (EPG) / Global
Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) (refs A & B)
with Sharon McDonald, CBRN terrorism desk officer at the
FCO's Counter-Proliferation Department on March 12. Poloff
provided objectives and draft agenda to McDonald who
indicated that given the timing of the Seoul EPG meeting and
the following GICNT workshop in Garmisch, Germany, the UK
would likely not be able to send technical experts to both.
HMG will probably send staff from the UK Embassy in Seoul to
participate in the EPG.


2. (SBU) Poloff delivered (ref C) details on the GICNT
workshop in Germany to McDonald on February 17. McDonald
confirmed March 12 that the UK would be sending Mark
Furnival, United Kingdom Border Agency and Barry Warren,
Atomic Weapons Establishment to participate in the workshop.
Furnival and Warren will be prepared to facilitate a review
of the relevant technical section of the Model Guidelines
Document (MGD) at the workshop.


3. (C/NF) McDonald did share some impressions of the GICNT
process, which she asked Poloff pass on to ISN and DHS.
While HMG appreciates the useful sequence of GICNT events,
the timing of two meetings (the EPG and the MGD review
workshop) so close together, one in Korea and the other in
Germany, puts an undue burden on British technical experts --
taking them away from their work. Additionally, biannual
GICNT meetings, she said, speaking personally, might be too
frequent, and she wondered if annual meetings would be
preferable.


4. (C/NF) Regarding EPG draft agenda item (e) -- discussions
on shifting biannual efforts from EPGs to Activity
Coordination Groups (APGs) -- McDonald expressed the concern
that if government and technical expert representatives would
be expected to be at the newly-fashioned APGs, a substantial
amount of coordination would be necessary in order to ensure
that the technical experts' time was used effectively and not
wasted in meetings where they would not be required.
McDonald said HMG appreciated the use of "breakout" groups
that she understood the GICNT workshop envisioned because
these groups would provide a good opportunity for experts to
discuss sensitive issues. She added that HMG would
appreciate any information on what complimentary work is
being coordinated between GICNT and the IAEA (or other
international organizations responsible for physical
protection of fissile material.) Lastly, McDonald asked us
to keep HMG informed in advance if we envisioned any changes
to the GICNT process under the new Administration.

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LEBARON