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