LIBYA HEU UPDATE

S E C R E T TRIPOLI 001022 NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/FO AND NEA/MAG. STATE PLEASE PASS TO ENERGY (KELLYCUMMINS, SARAH DICKERSON) E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2019 TAGS: PREL MNUC PARM PINR RS KGIC KNNP KRAD ENRG LY SUBJECT: LIBYA HEU UPDATE REF: TRIPOLI 966 CLASSIFIED BY: Gene Cretz, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy Tripoli, U.S. Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (S/NF) After raising a sensitive proposal on another topic (septel) during their hastily-called late Friday evening meeting, and only in response to the Ambassador's insistence that the HEU issue be raised, Foreign Minister Musa Kusa told the Ambassador on December 18 that there would be "no problem" regarding the planned December 21 transfer to Russia of Libya's remaining Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) spent fuel. The Ambassador underscored the urgency of this issue to the bilateral relationship, noting that the Secretary, NEA A/S and National Security Advisor had been engaged in seeking a resolution. He wanted to ensure that Kusa was aware of the imminent December 18 deadline for the U.S. to either commit or withdraw its 800,000 USD financial obligation for contracting for the Russian plane. The Ambassador told Kusa that once the spent fuel transfer is successfully completed, the U.S. would be in a better position to discuss moving ahead on the full range of the bilateral relationship, including the several issues raised by Kusa in his December 3 conversation with the Secretary. At the end of the meeting, the Ambassador handed over the letter discussed by the NEA A/S and Kusa on December 12 to ensure that the U.S. had done everything to effect completion of the mission. ¶2. (S/NF) Separately, the DOE team visited the Tajoura Nuclear Center on December 19 and 20, and reported that all necessary preparations were underway for the shipment to take place on December 21. The team's Libyan counterparts said they had received all necessary approvals from the Libyan government. The spent fuel casks will be loaded into shipping containers today and transported from Tajoura to Mitiga Air Base later this evening. The Russian-chartered plane arrived in Tripoli today at 1500 and is scheduled to depart Libya at 0500 local time on December 21. DOE reports that all necessary overflight clearances have been received. We will send another update following the plane's departure. CRETZ