MEETING OF DOE/ROSATOM CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY EXPERTS IN

UNCLAS MOSCOW 002838 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENGR EU KNNP IAEA RU KU NO AE SW SUBJECT: MEETING OF DOE/ROSATOM CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY EXPERTS IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA FROM NOVEMBER 17-18, 2009 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - Please protect accordingly ¶1. (SBU) On November 17 and 18, 2009, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) representatives met with technical experts from the Russian State Corporation for Atomic Energy (Rosatom) to discuss next steps in meeting the timelines for preparing a "60 Day Study" to identify specific areas for civil nuclear energy cooperation. The sides agreed on a draft Charter to guide preparation of the Study (see para 3) and drafted a detailed list of specific activities to consider for inclusion in the Study itself. The group identified three key elements for civil nuclear cooperation: Reactor Demonstration Projects, R&D for Innovative Nuclear Energy Technology Options, and Global Civil Nuclear Energy Framework Development. The Russian team lead, Dr. Rachkov, was well prepared with detailed technical proposals and experts from both Rosatom and the relevant institutes at the table. Dr. Zrodnikov, the Director of the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE),was the main technical spokesman outlining the potential areas of cooperation. Rosatom agreed to the draft Charter language with minimal comments, and most of the effort went into the specific areas of potential cooperation. In addition to the draft Charter, a list of U.S. (see para 4) and Russian (see para 5) attendees is attached. ¶2. (SBU) BACKGROUND: At the July 6, 2009 Presidential Summit in Moscow, the U.S. and Russian Presidents agreed to create a Bilateral Presidential Commission, which includes a Working Group on Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security co-chaired by Deputy Secretary of Energy Poneman and Rosatom Director General Kiriyenko. The Working Group met on September 28-29, 2009 in Washington, DC, and developed an Action Plan which, among other things, outlined next steps for U.S.-Russia bilateral civil nuclear energy cooperation. The "60 Day Study" mentioned above is one of the deliverables in the Action Plan. END BACKGROUND. ¶3. (SBU) BEGIN TEXT OF DRAFT CHARTER: DRAFT CHARTER U.S.-RUSSIA BILATERAL CIVIL NUCLEAR ENERGY COOPERATION "60-DAY STUDY" NOVEMBER 1, 2009 BACKGROUND: The Joint Statement by President Barack Obama of the United States of America and President Dimitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Cooperation, issued July 6, 2009, notes that the U.S. and Russia share a common vision of the "growth of clean, safe, secure, and affordable nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." The joint statement expresses U.S. and Russian intent to work to bring into force the bilateral Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation for Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy and notes the potential for the two countries to work together on development of innovative nuclear energy systems. The two presidents agreed to create a Bilateral Presidential Commission with several supporting working groups, including a Working Group on Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security co-chaired by Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman and Rosatom Director General Sergei Kiriyenko. At their first meeting on September 29 and 30, 2009, the co-chairs directed experts to complete a study of the possible areas for cooperation in the civil nuclear energy arena. (Reference: Poneman-Kiriyenko Working Group on Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security, U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, September 29, 2009, Action Plan.) OBJECTIVE OF THE "60-DAY STUDY": The objective of the "60-Day Study" is to identify technical focus areas, initial activities, and mechanisms for cooperation, and to develop a U.S.-Russia Bilateral Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Action Plan. This plan is to be used as a basis for initiating and sustaining cooperative activities supporting the safe, secure, and peaceful use of nuclear energy and commercially attractive cradle-to-grave fuel services for countries that are building nuclear reactors for peaceful civilian use. (These two areas are described in Sections XII and XIII of the September 29, 2009 Action Plan). ELEMENTS AND TIMELINE: > The members of the "60-Day Study" team include U.S. and Russian experts. A list of the study team members is to be determined and shared in November, 2009. > The results of the "60-Day Study" are to be documented in a U.S.-Russia Bilateral Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Action Plan. The Action Plan should be structured to include: - Introduction - Background and civil nuclear energy cooperation goals and long-term objectives. - Focus areas - Describe a set of possible research and development topics and demonstration projects with objectives of cooperation in the specific focus areas. - Approach - The Action Plan should list joint activities for near-term cooperation in each focus area that could be initiated prior to the Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation for Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (123 Agreement) enters into force (Phase I); and activities for cooperation in each focus area that could be initiated once the 123 Agreement enters into force (Phase II) and any associated implementing arrangements, to be elaborated if needed (Phase II). - Legal Framework - A description of legal framework providing the basis for cooperation in the Phase 1 and Phase II plans (including identification of the source of provisions governing, for example, the protection and allocation of intellectual property, access to U.S. and Russian facilities, export control, liability, and the exchange of information, if required). - Next Steps - A description and timeline of activities required to begin implementation of the cooperation identified in Phase I and Phase II plans; and a description of the organizational structure established to implement these activities. Focus areas include the following areas identified by the Co-Chairs of the Sub- Working Group on Civil Nuclear Energy cooperation: sustaining existing nuclear infrastructure; advanced reactor R&D, including reactor facilities for small- and medium-capacity nuclear power stations, reactor facilities with on-site nuclear fuel cycle; high-temperature gas-cooled reactors; development of new types of reactor fuel and materials, including dense fuel for fast reactors; low waste technologies for processing nuclear fuel from fast reactors and R&D in the area of waste management; development of a multi-purpose, next generation fast research reactor; creation of modern codes to support licensing of fast reactors by regulators of both countries; commercial applications of advanced reactors; and other possible areas of mutual interest. The Action Plan is to be prepared in Russian and English. DELIVERABLES: > A U.S.-Russia Bilateral Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Action Plan is to be submitted to, and approved by, the U.S. and Russian Co-chairs of the Sub-Working Group on Civil Nuclear Energy cooperation (Dr. Lyons and Dr. Rachkov) in January 2010. > A status report of the cooperation based on the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation Action Plan is to be provided to the Working Group on Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security in March 2010. _______________________ _______________________ Dr. Peter Lyons Dr. Valery I. Rachkov U.S. DOE Rosatom END TEXT ¶4. LIST OF U.S. ATTENDEES: Robert Boudreau, Director, International Nuclear Energy Policy and Cooperation, Office of Corporate and Global Partnership Development, U.S. Department of Energy John Herczeg, Senior Advisor, Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Sara Scott, Program Director, Civil Nuclear Programs, Los Alamos National Laboratory Liliya Petrachenkova, DOE Contractor ¶5. LIST OF RUSSIAN ATTENDEES: Valery I. Rachkov, Head of the Russian subgroup of experts, Director, Department of Scientific Policy, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Anatoly. V. Zrodnikov, Director, Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE),Obninsk Leonid A. Bolshov, Director, Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri, G. Dragunov, Director, Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET) Mikhail V. Kormilitsyn, Director for Separations, Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR),Dimitrovgrad Igor A. Shkabura, Deputy Director, Bochvar Research Institute of Inorganic Materials (NIINM) Nikolay N. Ponomarev-Stepnoi, Vice President, Kurchatov Institute Aleksandr V. Bakmetyev, Deputy Director, Afrikantov OKB Mechanical Engineering (OKBM),Nizhniy Novgorod Aleksandr N. Andrianov, Advisor, Department of Scientific Policy, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Yuri N. Busurin, Chief of Division, Department of International Cooperation, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Vladimir P. Kuchinov, Advisor to the Director General, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Alla K. Strelkova, Department of International Cooperation, Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Yuri S. Cherepnin, Director of R&D, Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET) Aleksandr N. Chebeskov, Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE),Obninsk Vladimir S. Kagramanyan, Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE),Obninsk BEYRLE