VZCZCXRO5994
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHWR #1870 2431324
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311324Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2697
RUEHKW/AMCONSUL KRAKOW 1813
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5095
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS WARSAW 001870 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, EUR/PRA, ISN/NESS 
EUR/NCE FOR BPUTNEY 
EUR/PRA FOR TYEAGER AND SSZUCHLEWSKI 
ISN/NESS FOR DFENSTERMACHER 
DOE FOR PARRISH STAPLES AND BRIAN WAUD 
VIENNA FOR UNVIE LISA HILLIARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ENRG IAEA KNNP KTIA PARM PL RS
SUBJECT: POLAND: RUSSIAN RESEARCH REACTOR FUEL RETURN 
PROGRAM STALLED 
 
REF: STATE 70448 
 
¶1.  (U)  Sensitive but unclassified - not for Internet 
distribution. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Econcoff met with Anna Mank, a director in the 
Polish Ministry of the State Treasury (MST) and Ivan 
Bolshinsky, a senior technical advisor with the U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE), on August 27 to discuss the 
status of Poland's progress on spent nuclear fuel (SNF) 
return under the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return (RRRFR) 
program.  At the time of the meeting, work had not yet begun 
on processing SNF because the GOP had not signed the 
implementing agreement. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Mank began the meeting by announcing that the 
legal department in the MST had recently completed a study of 
the RRRFR program and determined that MST does not have the 
authority to administer the RRRFR program or sign the 
implementing agreement for it.  She added that MST sent a 
letter on August 10 to the Prime Minister's office, 
requesting a designation of the responsible agency and 
establishment of an interagency working group within the GOP 
to carry out the RRRFR program.  She said MST had not yet 
received a response. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Bolshinsky reminded Mank that, as the U.S. 
legislation funding the RRRFR requires that all SNF be 
shipped by the end of 2010, it is important to act soon. 
Bolshinsky also pointed out that, according to the 
implementing agreement, Russia will store the SNF on its 
territory for 20 years at no charge to Poland.  After the 
initial 20 year period, the GOP could either pay for future 
storage on Russian territory, or have the SNF returned to 
Poland for storage.  Bolshinsky asked Mank if MST could agree 
to a contract authorizing DOE to calculate the respective 
costs to Poland of storing the SNF in Russia or having it 
returned.  He emphasized that the contract would not incur 
monetary costs or additional obligations to GOP.  Mank 
responded, however, that MST would not agree to any steps 
without authorization from the Prime Minister's office. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  After the meeting, Bolshinsky mentioned to econoff 
that 15 countries had been invited to participate in the 
RRRFR program.  Of those 15, only two had taken no steps 
toward implementing the return of SNF: North Korea - which 
declined to participate - and Poland. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Comment: In Poland's current political climate, 
the MST will not make a decision on participating in this 
program absent explicit directions from the Prime Minister's 
office.  While post will continue to urge the GOP to sign the 
implementing agreement, we note that no decisions are being 
made by the Prime Minister's office on many issues, pending 
resolution of parliament's vote of self-dissolution scheduled 
for September 7.  End comment. 
ASHE