VZCZCXYZ0003
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBS #1006 1841408
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021408Z JUL 08
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHUP/AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST PRIORITY
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY

UNCLAS USEU BRUSSELS 001006 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOE FOR NNSA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG HU KNNP OTRA RS TRGY
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND HUNGARIAN REPRESENTATION 
TO EU FORESEE NO PROBLEMS WITH AGREEMENT TO SHIP SPENT 
NUCLEAR FUEL 
 
REF: BUDAPEST 00665 
 
¶1. (SBU) European Commission Officials and the nuclear energy 
desk officer at the Permanent Representation of Hungary to 
the EU do not foresee any problems with the EU's approval of 
the required Hungary-Russia bilateral agreement required to 
move Russian-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) spent 
nuclear fuel from Hungary to Russia, under the auspices of 
the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security 
Administration's Global Threat Reduction Initiative. 
However, Euratom's legal officer stated that the answer to 
the draft agreement will be sent in two weeks' time to 
Hungarian authorities. 
 
¶2. (SBU) USEU EconOff was told in an initial discussion on 
June 28 with Attila Nagy, the nuclear energy desk officer at 
the Permanent Representation of Hungary to the EU, that the 
Hungarian delegation in Brussels was not concerned about the 
status of the agreement.  To their understanding, the 
European Commission had received the draft from the Hungarian 
authorities and through informal communications between the 
European Commission and the Hungarian Energy Commission the 
Hungarians learned that there were no major problems with the 
text.  They therefore expected approval shortly. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Nagy recommended that USEU EconOff contact the 
European Commission for follow-up, providing the name of 
Zsolt Pataky, the Euratom desk officer.  Pataky forwarded the 
request to the Euratom legal officer for a formal response, 
but explained on July 1 that there were no specific problems 
with the draft text.  The draft had been circulated through 
inter-service consultations, and that it simply takes time to 
approve.  Pataky also expressed no concerns with the approval. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The legal office of Euratom communicated to USEU 
EconOff on July 1 that: "the draft agreement was notified to 
the European Commission, under Article 103 of the Euratom 
Treaty, and is presently being assessed.  An answer will be 
sent in two weeks' time to the Hungarian authorities." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Please advise if the response from the legal office 
of Euratom implies any risk to the timely implementation of 
the spent nuclear fuel shipments.  If there is a significant 
risk, we will re-contact the Permanent Representation of 
Hungary here.  We do not know how much flexibility Euratom 
would have to advance their reply date to the Hungarians.  If 
we want this done however, Mission would appreciate a brief 
instruction from the Department. 
 
MURRAY 
.