RUSSIA'S ST PETERSBURG PORT OPENING NEW CLASS VII

UNCLAS MOSCOW 001107 SENSITIVE SIPDIS Dept for T - J. Timbie E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KNNP PARM EWWT RS SUBJECT: RUSSIA'S ST PETERSBURG PORT OPENING NEW CLASS VII (RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS) PIER ON MAY 1 ¶1. (U) Summary. On April 20, EST officer and senior FSN visited the Class VII pier in Region 4 of the St. Petersburg port. Beginning May 1, all HEU - LEU contract shipments to the U.S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) will commence from this location in Region 4. EST officer was assured by Isotope, Port Authority and Neva - Metall Stevedore Company representatives that the General License for loading LEU will be issued by the Ministry of Transportation on or before May 1. (End Summary.) ¶2. (SBU) On April 20, EST officer met with Isotope Company Deputy Director General Sergei Shambarov and Neva Metall Stevedore Company Director Kirill Romanov. A representative of the St. Petersburg Port Authority was present as a guide/observer. Isotope is the Tekhsnabexport (TENEX) contractor which executes all Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) - Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) contract logistics in the St. Petersburg region. It accepts and stores LEU products from Russia's enrichment combines, transports the LEU casks by truck to the port, and supervises loading operations and security enroute to the Port. Neva Metall is the stevedore company that physically transfers the LEU casks from the trucks onto the ship. ¶3. (SBU) Per Shambarov and Romanov, until May 1, LEU shipments will continue through the existing Class VII pier in Region 3 of the Port. The relocation to Region 4 after April 30 is the result of planned reconstruction work in the Region 3 area. Relocating the loading point requires a new license for Neva Metall which handles the LEU trans-loading operation. Obtaining this particular license is a lengthy, and administratively painful, procedure due to the Russian bureaucratic environment surrounding anything involving nuclear materials, as it involves receiving multiple approvals from several agencies. Both Shambarov and Romanov emphatically stated the license would be issued and the pier and all transport loading equipment will be ready for LEU cask loading operations by May 1. BEYRLE