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

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 -------------- ¶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. - -------------- IAEA and Sustainable Energy Development -------------- ¶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. -------------- 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. PYATT