VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBW #0236/01 0521716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211716Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0317
INFO RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0025
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0189
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0188
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0045

UNCLAS BELGRADE 000236 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR OES/STC 
DOE FOR BRIAN WAUD, GREG HERDES, DOUG DAHL, AND IGOR 
BOLSHINSKY 
UNVIE FOR IAEA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG KNNP PARM EAID OTRA SR
SUBJECT:  VINCA NUCLEAR INSTITUTE: CAS STAFFING, VIND 
PROGRAM, AND OTHER UPDATES 
 
REF:  A) 05 STATE 215031; B) 05 BELGRADE 1980 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:   Embassy has been informed by 
Vinca Nuclear Institute direction that the Department 
of Energy (DoE)-built Central Alarm Station (CAS) will 
be staffed in the near future.  After the institute 
and the Ministry of Interior (MUP) reached an 
agreement on CAS staffing, Vinca identified 
individuals to staff the CAS and scheduled training to 
begin around February 20.  Additionally, the 
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to 
identify funding for the Vinca Institute Nuclear 
Decommissioning (VIND) program, and preparations for 
the repackaging and transportation of the spent fuel 
are underway.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Staffing of the CAS:  During a meeting at 
Vinca on January 23, Vinca Director Dr. Jovan 
Nedeljkovic informed Econ Chief and ESTH officer that 
a compromise had been reached with the MUP on staffing 
of the CAS.  MUP police officers would remain at the 
institute, but some would be pulled from gate duty to 
patrol the compound, while others would help man the 
CAS (MUP had planned to remove police officers from 
the institute completely.)  Vinca agreed to designate 
some of its staff to also man the CAS.  The Director 
believed that the Ministry of Science would fund part 
or all of salaries for those who staff the CAS.  Below 
is the staffing schedule agreed upon by Vinca and the 
MUP: 
 
(V = Vinca employee; P = MUP police officer) 
 
0700-1500: 
 Reactor buildings:  In use by Vinca staff 
 CAS:  1 V and 1 P 
 Gates:  1 V and 1 P each gate 
 Mobile:  2 P 
1500-2300: 
 Reactor buildings:  Closed at 1500 
 CAS:  1 V and 1 P 
 Gates:  1 V and 1 P each gate 
 Mobile:  2 P 
2300-0700: 
 CAS:  1V and 1P 
 Gates:  2 P each gate.  Gate towards Belgrade 
shut at 2300; gate towards village of Vinca remains 
open all night. 
 Mobile:  2 P 
 
On weekends, the institute is closed, and staffing is 
handled as with the night shift. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Dr. Milan Orlic, who was hand picked by the 
new Director to be his Assistant Director, also 
handles security at Vinca.  ESTH officer met Orlic 
during a site visit on February 6, and he and the 
Director both repeated their conviction that training 
would begin very soon.  On February 13, the Director 
telephoned ESTH officer to inform her that final CAS 
equipment checks would take place on February 16, and 
that training would begin on February 20.  CAS 
staffing has been a long-term priority for Post 
(Reftel b), and ESTH officer has been pushing the 
issue since shortly after arrival at post in March 
¶2005.  In July 2006, the Ambassador wrote the 
Ministers of Science and Interior to encourage the two 
to cooperate in reaching a solution. 
 
IAEA Pushes on Security 
---------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On February 24, ESTH officer met with 
Miroslav Gregoric, Section Head, and Pierre Legoux, 
Physical Protection Specialist, from the IAEA's Office 
of Nuclear Security (ONS).  The ONS officers were 
likewise keen to see the CAS staffed, and informed 
ESTH officer that they had driven home that point 
during a meeting held with the Vinca Director the day 
 
before.  IAEA's VIND program manager Mike Durst made 
the same point.  They claimed that staffing of the CAS 
had also been one recommendation from the 
International Physical Protection Advisory Service 
(IPPAS) survey they conducted early in 2006. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The ONS officers said that they were 
disappointed in the Director's timeline for CAS 
staffing; they were sure that the "weeks" that had 
been promised, already too long of a delay, would in 
fact become "months."  They told ESTH officer that if 
there would be a significant delay in re-opening the 
DoE contract to fund training for CAS staff, then the 
IAEA would fund the training itself (although the 
preference was for DoE to pay, to leave the IAEA funds 
for another project).  Claims from the Vinca DIRECTOR 
that CAS staff could not begin work until a new 
government was formed are questionable; the ONS 
officers were informed by the Ministry of Science and 
Environmental Protection (MOS) that as soon as the 
Director signed the annual contract for Vinca staff, 
Ministry money would be forthcoming. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The ONS officers said they had pointed out 
the fact that no rules of engagement for the police 
had yet been determined, and questioned what the 
officers would do if they do found someone trying to 
illegally access sensitive buildings.  The ONS 
officers also criticized the lack of "housekeeping" at 
the facility, with miscellaneous debris scattered 
about the rooms, citing it as a problem not just for 
physical safety, but also radiation protection.  Other 
complaints included the lack of safety and security 
culture on site at the Reactor "A" (RA) building when 
steel cut from the fuel pool was being offloaded, and 
the lack of a clearly marked control point where all 
who exit must stop for a radiation contamination check 
before leaving.  Additionally, Vinca is apparently not 
a "critical asset" under the law on critical assets to 
be given priority protection by the state in case of 
an emergency, whereas embassies, for example, are. 
 
VIND program slowly moves ahead 
-------------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) VIND program:  During a meeting on January 
22, IAEA officers Mike Durst and Ira Goldman informed 
Econ Chief and ESTH officer that they had learned from 
the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) (via a 
letter and a personal meeting in Belgrade) that the EU 
intended to provide some funds for the VIND program. 
The Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) came into force 
on January 1, 2007, to cover all projects funded in 
countries with candidate and potential candidate 
status, and Durst said the EU officials indicated 
that, from one particular EUR 20 million fund, as much 
as EUR 5.4 million had been earmarked specifically for 
the VIND project, to cover transport of spent fuel 
from Vinca to Russia.  However, they were advised in a 
meeting with the Belgrade EAR office that funding may 
not be available before 2008.  Durst and Goldman 
intend, therefore, to push for bridge funding in the 
meantime.  Durst and Goldman also said that they would 
seek a donation from Norway or other interested 
parties to pay for the environmental remediation 
projects demanded by Russia, which account for $3 
million of the $19.5 million in spent fuel 
reprocessing costs.  They also continue to seek G-8 
Global Partnership funding from Canada, funding from 
other European nations, and increased funding from 
DoE.  They hope to schedule another donors' conference 
later this year. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) According to the IAEA officers, in addition 
to the U.S. promise of funding and equipment for the 
VIND program, the UK and Hungary will donate equipment 
and in-kind services, and Slovenia has promised 
regulatory expertise and perhaps a cash donation.  It 
is anticipated that the total donations will soon 
reach more than USD 1 million, thereby reducing the 
 
amount of overall project dollars required.  To help 
with fundraising, ESTH officer has, at the request of 
IAEA officers, individually approached representatives 
from a number of Belgrade-based missions to give an 
informal briefing about the project and encourage 
donations.  ESTH officer held meetings with Japanese, 
Israeli, French, and South Korean diplomats. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Durst and Goldman informed Embassy officers 
that the contract for repackaging and transport of the 
fuel rods was signed with a Russian company in 
September 2006.  Preparations were ongoing, and they 
expected that transportation could take place in 
approximately 24-36 months.  Incidentally, the 
radiation leak in the spent fuel pool is greater than 
was originally believed.  Steel structures in the pool 
are being removed in preparation for repackaging 
operations.  The contamination and dose levels 
observed are several times higher than anticipated; 
this implies that the fuel leakage may be much higher 
than the 30 percent predicted. 
 
GOS Control over Vinca Strengthened 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Because of the problems experienced in convincing 
the GOS to fully implement the CAS project, Econ Chief 
and ESTH officer inquired about how the Vinca Director 
General was chosen, and whether the position came 
under the ultimate authority of the Government of 
Serbia (GOS).  Vinca is a semi-autonomous institute, 
earning approximately half of its budget from private, 
commercial activity, and the MOS had indicated that it 
had little control over the Director. 
 
¶11.  However, a new law governing scientific institutions 
in Serbia was passed in 2006.  During the January 23 
meeting, new Director General Nedeljkovic informed Embassy 
officers that 70 of the 400 scientists at Vinca are elected 
to the institute's Scientific Advisory Board, and that this 
board chooses the new Director.  The scientific board's 
decision is presented to the institute's managing board, 
comprised of four members of Vinca and four employees of 
the MOS, who must confirm the choice, which is then 
presented to the MOS.  The MOS has final authority, but its 
policy is generally to agree with the managing board's 
recommendation, the Director said.  The Director serves a 
four-year mandate, and is free to run again in the next 
elections.  The Managing Board can dismiss the Director 
before his mandate expires for various specified reasons, 
such as poor performance.  Incidentally, Nedeljkovic, an 
optical chemist by education, received his PhD from 
Clarkson University in upstate New York, and worked for 
seven years at Argonne National Laboratory. 
 
¶12.  Comment. As we understand results of the February 
9 conference call, DoE and other Washington agencies 
are now willing to go forward on providing equipment 
for the VIND program, given positive movement on CAS 
staffing.  We endorse such a move, as well as 
continued USG involvement in helping to round up 
sufficient funding to cover total costs of the VIND 
project.  We will keep tabs on the CAS staffing and 
other security issues to make sure the GOS is doing 
its part.  End comment. 
 
POLT