IAEA ENERGIZING FOR NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT

UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000344

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR T, S/SANAC, IO, ISN, VCI
DOE FOR NA-20, NA-23, NA-24, NA-25
NRC FOR OIP - DOANE, HENDERSON, SCHWARTZMAN
NSC FOR SAMORE, HOLGATE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC PTER KNNP TRGY MNUC
SUBJECT: IAEA ENERGIZING FOR NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT

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Summary
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1. (SBU) Hitching his wagon to the President's priority issue, IAEA
DG-designate Amano is expressing his ambition that the Agency figure
substantively in the concept and conduct of the global nuclear
security summit in March 2010. Apparently spurred by Amano, IAEA
DDG Taniguchi and Nuclear Security program chief Nilsson invited
Charge to an early exchange of views on July 16. The Secretariat
presented several topics for discussion at the summit, including:
the definition of nuclear security, recognizing and giving due
emphasis and resources to its many facets, improving national
emergency response and preparedness, and enunciating a
forward-looking global security vision and the role of the IAEA in
that vision. End Summary.

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Security Tops Amano's List
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2. (U) Charge met July 16 with IAEA Deputy Director General for
Safety and Security Tomihiro Taniguchi and directors in his
department -- Anita Nilsson of the Office of Nuclear Safety, and
Warren Stern of the Incident and Emergency Center. Director General
ElBaradei's Chef de Cabinet Antoine van Dongen also participated.
(Comment: Van Dongen's unprecedented presence in a meeting between
Mission and a DDG may relate to his positioning himself for the
Amano era. End Comment.) Taniguchi and Nilsson had asked for a
meeting soon after the announcement of the March 2010 date for the
global nuclear security summit. They wanted to discuss the purpose
of the summit, how IAEA could participate, and to suggest topics for
discussion.


3. (U) DDG Taniguchi opened the meeting by stressing that DG-elect
Amano has stated he will focus on security during his tenure.
Taniguchi said there were a lot of important security issues and
that these issues needed to be viewed as a whole, not piecemeal as
in the past. For example, he stated we need better thinking with
regard to the protection of installations. Up to now the IAEA has
been more focused on physical protection, but that needs to be
balanced with a focus on internal sabotage and other issues. He
also stressed that all attention on sources has been on the control
of sources, better protection for those using sources, and recovery
of orphan sources. But, he said, there should also be a focus on
the monitoring, tracking and mapping of the sale and movement of
sources. It is more cost effective to track sources while in use
than to clean up or recover later after use, he argued.


4. (SBU) Taniguchi also stressed that the commitment to nuclear
security is improving in many countries in the last few years and
that the IAEA will now focus on the gaps in the Global Nuclear
Safety and Security Regime. He believes that an important topic for
the March summit should be the definition of nuclear security: What
does it include and what does it not include? He expressed the view
that world leaders are looking at many security-related issues such
as non-proliferation, terrorism, and arms control in an "emotional"
and fragmentary way. He said that some facets of security are
"neglected" while other areas are "over exaggerated". The summit
should discuss what the definition of nuclear security is and then
raise awareness that all parts of security must be addressed.


5. (SBU) Discussion turned to the need to raise the awareness of
security issues to a political level. Office of Nuclear Security
(ONS) Director Nilsson opined that, generally, developing nations
realized the importance of security once there was an incident in
their country. She advocated clear initiatives that are action
oriented, and stated the summit presents a unique opportunity to
look at security in a global perspective.

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Secretariat Proposes Themes
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6. (SBU) Nilsson suggested three related topics or structural
elements for discussion at the summit. First, participating states
should project the goals for the future of global nuclear security
and declare their intention to work towards those goals. These
should including common norms, conventions and treaties,
interactions, and confidence building. (Comment: Although she did
not specify it, "common norms" means IAEA security standards, and
there has been IAEA-internal discussion about encouraging "universal
adherence" to these standards. End Comment.)

7. (U) Second, Nilsson stated the summit should consider how best
to handle the legacy of the past, including minimizing the civil use
of HEU, securing and removing vulnerable materials, and building
strong infrastructure to establish and sustain effective nuclear
security. Thirdly, she stated that the summit should consider what
role the IAEA should play in supporting global efforts to reach and
maintain the goals.


8. (U) Nilsson indicated that the Office of Nuclear Security's
four-year plan (2010-13) will be completed by the time of the
summit. (Comment: This document outlines the plans and goals for
the IAEA for the coming years. It will be reviewed and approved by
the board and would therefore have the nominal support of 148 IAEA
Member States. It could be presented at the summit as an important
tool to reach some of the summit goals. It would also allow
participants to understand the role IAEA can play at the
international level. End Comment.)

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Emergency Response
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9. (U) IAEA Incident and Emergency Center Director Stern commented
that the summit would be an excellent opportunity to further endorse
and promote security and emergency response and preparedness
conventions. He mentioned that the summit could call on all States
to join the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear
Accident or Radiological Emergency. Further, the summit could
encourage all States to enhance, where necessary, their own
preparedness and response capabilities for nuclear and radiological
incidents and emergencies, including their arrangements for
responding to acts involving the malicious use of nuclear or
radioactive material and to threats of such acts, and to adopt and
implement relevant international standards and guidelines to
harmonize international arrangements.


10. (U) Finally, he said, it would be helpful if the summit
encouraged States to agree to compare emergency response
capabilities with the objective of identifying and correcting any
gaps or incompatibilities in capabilities among the states. The
initiative could also identify best practices and capabilities to be
shared among the states.

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Regional Meeting in Japan
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11. (SBU) Taniguchi raised that the Agency and Government of Japan
are organizing a regional nuclear security meeting in Tokyo this
fall. Originally, this meeting was going to be technically focused.
However, since the announcement of the summit, Japan has been
considering ways to raise the discussion to the policy level, to
help tee up discussions at the summit. Taniguchi further suggested
the IAEA might host similar preparatory events in Africa and South
America.


12. (SBU) Charge expressed interest in the purpose and scope of
this meeting and asked that Secretariat brief Mission
representatives in more detail in a separate meeting. Noting that
we await guidance regarding many aspects of the March summit, Charge
also urged that the Secretariat refine its ideas and work with
Mission staff to develop clear, detailed proposals that can be
transmitted to Washington soon, as summit planning begins in
earnest. Mission Nuclear Safety Attache plans to begin relevant
consultations with the Secretariat in the last week of July.


PYATT