Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09UNVIEVIENNA380
2009-08-10 15:33:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
UNVIE
Cable title:  

IAEA/ENERGY: HOW DOES THE IAEA FIT INTO THE UN ENERGY

Tags:  AORC ENRG TRGY SENV EAID KNNP IAEA UNIDO 
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VZCZCXYZ0046
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUNV #0380/01 2221533
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101533Z AUG 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9931
INFO RUEHII/VIENNA IAEA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0015
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEANFA/NRC WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000380 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR ISN/NESS, ISN/MNSA, IO/T, EEB, OES
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID
NAIROBI FOR UNEP OFFICER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC ENRG TRGY SENV EAID KNNP IAEA UNIDO
SUBJECT: IAEA/ENERGY: HOW DOES THE IAEA FIT INTO THE UN ENERGY
PLAN?

REF: UNVIE VIENNA 0199

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Summary
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UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000380

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR ISN/NESS, ISN/MNSA, IO/T, EEB, OES
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID
NAIROBI FOR UNEP OFFICER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AORC ENRG TRGY SENV EAID KNNP IAEA UNIDO
SUBJECT: IAEA/ENERGY: HOW DOES THE IAEA FIT INTO THE UN ENERGY
PLAN?

REF: UNVIE VIENNA 0199

--------------
Summary
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1. (U) After years of debate over the IAEA's proper role in
nuclear power promotion, the Agency today enjoys broad agreement
among Member States that the IAEA should encourage consideration of
nuclear power as a sustainable energy option. To assist states in
optimizing a national energy mix, IAEA has developed a variety of
models that measure environmental and economic impact tailored to a
state's specific energy needs and constraints. For those countries
that choose nuclear power, the agency maintains a network of
informational databases on nuclear power and provides technical
cooperation to ensure sound development of energy plans. The IAEA
is a member of the recently-launched initiative, "UN Energy", and
maintains a partnership with its cohabitant in Vienna, United
Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The IAEA has
used these links to further develop and implement its energy use
models; however, IAEA and UNIDO fail to regularly coordinate their
complementary mandates. End Summary.
-
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IAEA and Sustainable
Energy Development
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2. (U) In order to help countries make informed choices about
nuclear power, the IAEA Department of Nuclear Energy (NE) has
programs to help countries determine an efficient national energy
mix. NE stands ready to assist those wishing to develop nuclear
infrastructure. NE's largest activities are designing energy
planning models and publishing much of the world's accumulated
nuclear power knowledge. The majority of NE's spending on nuclear
power activities and sustainable energy development capacity
building -- just under USD 20 million in 2008 -- supports technical
cooperation projects in many member states. The Technical
Cooperation Fund provided a further USD 6 million for nuclear power
and capacity building last year.


3. (U) The IAEA NE Planning and Economic Studies Section (PESS) has

developed six energy planning models that can be used by Member
States to optimize their energy planning. These models analyze
financial costs of various types of power, potential environmental
damage, and projected energy demands. The IAEA models also can
consider constraints such as limited fuel availability and financing
methods. The Agency's analytical tools are currently used in 115
member states, with many states employing more than one model.
According to the IAEA, these models represent the only UN effort to
help nations develop a comprehensive national energy plan. PESS
also arranges national and regional workshops and training courses
about their models. These events teach participants how to collect
and compile input data, operate the models, interpret results, and
synthesize policy recommendations. In addition, the IAEA's
Department of Technical Cooperation recently completed a workshop
for 50 experts from 40 countries on the Agency's tools for nuclear
energy system assessment for long-term planning and development.


4. (U) In addition to its models, NE disseminates information on
planning, human resource development, regulation, power plant
construction, safe and efficient performance, full life-cycle
planning, decommissioning, and spent fuel and waste management. In
total the IAEA has developed 22 databases containing information
about all aspects of nuclear power generation and applications. One
of the largest databases is the International Nuclear Information
System, which boasts over 3 million bibliographic records and
200,000 full text documents.
-

5. (U) These NE efforts coupled with IAEA Technical Cooperation
projects continue to push responsible modeling for nuclear energy.
Examples of TC projects include a regional project in Latin America
to strengthen national capabilities to develop diversified energy
portfolios, a project to improve energy capacities in Haiti, and
nine African and European member states requesting IAEA feasibility
studies for nuclear energy development.

--------------
UN Energy: a link to the MDGs
--------------


6. (U) UN Energy is the United Nations' interagency mechanism
coordinating a global response to energy challenges. The group
seeks to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by

improving and increasing energy usage. The IAEA is one of the 20
member agencies of UN Energy, and with UNIDO is the
co-facilitator/leader of the working group on Energy Efficiency. UN
Energy completed multi-disciplinary demonstration studies of energy
options for Ghana and Sichuan Provence, China, in which IAEA played
a central role. The studies provided a variety of energy policy
options for the target regions, with an emphasis on renewable energy
sources. The IAEA provided modeling and analytical support for the
project through PESS. Though these studies were not meant to be
full policy option papers, they showcased how IAEA modeling can
assist energy planners.

--------------
IAEA and UNIDO
--------------


7. (U) UNIDO's primary objective is to alleviate global poverty by
promoting industrial development in the least developed countries
and to promote international industrial cooperation. UNIDO has
become a key player in energy issues, as exemplified by Director
General Yumkella's chairmanship of UN Energy and a new energy and
climate change task force created by UNSYG Ban. UNIDO's energy and
environment programs are an increasingly high-profile aspect of the
organization's portfolio. In a sign of increasing member state
demand for energy/ environment assistance, UNIDO's latest proposed
budget would increase these programs' share of the budget from 14.4
to 16.1 percent. (Ref A). As co-facilitators/
co-leaders of the UN Energy working group on Energy Efficiency, IAEA
and UNIDO represent a strong potential partnership. According to UN
Energy, the working group's tasks include "review agency work to do,
look to identify potential synergy, cluster work plan under
implementation". The culmination of this work was a paper on energy
options in Ghana.


8. (SBU) UNIDO recently hosted the Vienna Energy Conference 2009,
titled "Towards an integrated energy agenda beyond 2020: securing
sustainable policies and investments". The conference brought
together nearly 500 participants, but surprisingly, the IAEA was not
invited to speak at the conference and did not play a key role.
Shortly before the conference, Andy Garner, IAEA Office of the
Deputy Director General for Nuclear Science and Applications,
privately expressed to us his frustration that the two organizations
could not synchronize their efforts.

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COMMENT
--------------


9. (SBU) The Vienna Energy Conference represents a missed
opportunity for two organizations with complementary mandates.
Improving coordination, an issue for many UN initiatives, will be
key. The IAEA is well positioned to highlight nuclear energy
options and climate change benefits. However, according to senior
IAEA leaders, the lingering concern about backlash from anti-nuclear
stalwarts like Austria and Ireland has discouraged the IAEA from
playing too prominent a role in the UN climate change effort.
Mission will continue to seek opportunities to encourage closer
cooperation between UNIDO and the IAEA and other UN system partners.



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