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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¶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. 
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¶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. 
 
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UN Energy: a link to the MDGs 
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¶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. 
 
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IAEA and UNIDO 
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¶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 
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¶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