VZCZCXRO4646
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHBK #2813/01 2611027
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171027Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4372
INFO RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 5646
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 002813 
 
DEPT FOR T (JWOLCOTT, MHUMPHREY), ISN/NESS (ABURKART) AND EAP/MLS 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (KFOGGIE, SBURNS, 
JRAMSEY, KHENDERSON), NNSA/NA-21 (JMCLELLAND-KERR) 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958, as amended: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG ECON PARM TRGY KNNP TH
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR WOLCOTT DISCUSSES CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION 
UNDER JOINT DECLARATION WITH THAI COUNTERPARTS 
 
REF:  STATE 54213 
 
BANGKOK 00002813  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  On August 25, Ambassador Jackie Wolcott led an 
interagency delegation to discuss civil nuclear cooperation with 
officials from Thailand's Nuclear Power Plant Development Office 
(NPPDO, responsible for overseeing the introduction of nuclear 
power) and the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP, responsible for 
nuclear policy and safety regulation).  The delegation was impressed 
with the detailed four-phase roadmap the NPPDO has developed, 
largely based on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
Milestones process, which calls for a first nuclear power plant to 
go operational in Thailand by approximately 2020.  RTG officials 
explained Thailand is in the preliminary phase of this plan and will 
soon select a foreign consultant to conduct a 20-month feasibility 
study.  The Thais seemed particularly interested in the areas of 
human resources and regulatory cooperation with the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC), and in potential participation under 
the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).  Wolcott urged 
Thailand to ratify the Additional Protocol (which it has signed) and 
to carefully consider joining a number of important safety, 
security, and liability conventions.   Discussions indicate that 
political, regulatory, legislative, and organizational impediments, 
including the need to more clearly define agency responsibilities 
and roles, must be resolved before Thailand realizes its goal of 
building an operational nuclear power plant by 2020. End Summary. 
 
Comments 
-------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) NNPDO, which was formed less than a year ago, is composed 
of many eminent Thai scientists and experts in various fields, some 
of whom have recently come out of retirement.  These NNPDO board 
members possess a vast range of experience at the international and 
national levels.  OAP, meanwhile, which was initially established in 
1961 and subsequently restructured in 2002, appears to consist of 
career civil servants with significantly less experience.  While it 
was not made explicit as to which of these bodies would take the 
lead on regulatory and policy issues, the delegation's impression 
was that NPPDO could eventually call for the establishment of a new 
or reinvigorated  governmental entity to oversee nuclear power plant 
safety, licensing, and regulation. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Thailand has made substantial first steps towards building 
nuclear power plants, including establishing new agencies and 
beginning a multi-year feasibility study.  However, the various 
agencies handling nuclear energy issues will need to establish 
clearer divisions of duties before they can work together 
effectively and cohesively.  Other potential obstacles to Thailand 
realizing its goal of operational nuclear power plants by 2020 
include negative Thai public opinion towards power plants and an 
unstable financial and political atmosphere.  While the delegation 
was impressed by the planning conducted by the NNPDO and the 
dedication evident in the Thai officials it met, it was also of the 
view that the projected schedule for introduction of the first 
nuclear power plant is unrealistic and will eventually have to be 
modified. 
 
Visit Details 
------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Ambassador Jackie Wolcott, Special Envoy for Nuclear 
Nonproliferation, led an interagency delegation to Bangkok, Thailand 
on August 25, 2008 to discuss civil nuclear cooperation under the 
Joint Declaration on Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation, a July 
2007 Presidential initiative.  Wolcott's delegation included Alex 
Burkart and Marc Humphrey of the State Department, and Steve Burns 
of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  Meetings were held 
with the Nuclear Power Program Development Office (NPPDO), which was 
formed within the past year under the Ministry of Energy to oversee 
the development of nuclear power, and the Office of Atoms for Peace 
(OAP), which operates as the nuclear and radioactive source 
regulator under the Ministry of Science and Technology.  Wolcott 
emphasized to both bodies, in separate meetings, that the USG 
supports the expansion of nuclear power in Thailand, and opened a 
dialogue on potential areas of cooperation to facilitate the 
development of the highest safety, security, and nonproliferation 
standards. 
 
Thailand's Nuclear Power Plans 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) NPPDO Advisor Dr. Kopr Kritayakirana explained that 
Thailand had just entered a "third round" of consideration for 
nuclear energy, following an initial plan in 1976 that was postponed 
when large gas reserves were discovered in the Gulf of Thailand and 
a second iteration that was shelved in light of the 1997 economic 
 
BANGKOK 00002813  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
crisis.  The current effort, the planning for which began in early 
2007, calls for the deployment of 2,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020 
followed by an additional 2,000 MW the following year.  To implement 
this plan, the Thai Cabinet has established three teams:  (1) the 
Infrastructure Development Program (headed by Kritayakirana), which 
over the next three years will focus on the development of legal and 
regulatory frameworks, human resources, and industrial 
infrastructure; (2) the Utility Development Program, which will 
oversee the construction of the first nuclear plant (to be operated 
by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, a state-owned 
utility company) and the distribution of electricity; and (3) the 
Public Information and Acceptance Program, which will attempt to 
overcome the public resistance to nuclear power seen in the two 
previous attempts at its deployment. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The development of nuclear power will occur over four 
phases, Kritayakirana explained, largely based on the IAEA 
Milestones process.  Thailand is currently in an initial 
"Pre-project Activity Phase," during which a 20-month feasibility 
study will be conducted to assist with site surveys, technology 
selection, and environmental impacts.  Thailand expects to select an 
international consultant within the next month to lead this study, 
and Burns and Roe, a longtime collaborator on other engineering 
projects in Thailand, was the sole U.S. firm to bid for the 
contract.  (Comment:   The call for proposals was heretofore unknown 
to Embassy and Department officials.  End Comment.)  This 
pre-project phase is scheduled to conclude in 2011 with the 
realization of the first milestone - an ability to make a 
knowledgeable commitment to nuclear power.  The next phases would 
include the "Program Implementation Phase" (2011-2014) and the 
"Construction Phase" (2014-2020), to be followed by the "Operation 
Phase." 
 
Technical Conventions 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) In both meetings, Wolcott welcomed Thailand's signature of 
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) along with its 
Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, but stressed the importance of 
Thailand's adoption of the Additional Protocol, as well as a number 
of international safety, security, and liability conventions, if it 
is to seriously pursue nuclear power.  Specifically, she cited the 
Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS), the Convention on the Physical 
Protection of Nuclear Material, the Joint Convention on the Safety 
of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste 
Management, and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for 
Nuclear Damage (reftel). NPPDO Technical Advisor Pricha Karasuddhi 
replied that Thailand was "planning on signing" the CNS, and Legal 
Advisor Dr. Thanes Sucharikuo added that Thailand was currently 
studying other countries' laws and treaties intensively and that it 
therefore welcomed assistance from U.S. experts in the development 
of its nuclear law.  Kritayakirana added that Thailand was a "great 
admirer of the U.S. system" and commented that assistance with 
regulatory framework development was a "good area for U.S. 
cooperation."  Burns informed NPPDO and OAP officials that this type 
of assistance could be greatly facilitated via an Information 
Exchange Arrangement between U.S. and Thai regulatory bodies. 
 
Nuclear Fuel Supply 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) With regard to fuel supply, Karasuddhi noted that the U.S. 
had supplied Thailand with research reactor fuel for 50 years and 
that Thailand would be interested in a similar fuel leasing 
arrangement with the U.S. for power reactor fuel, perhaps as part of 
the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).  Burkart explained 
that the laws governing power reactor fuel were significantly more 
complex, but that the U.S. and other GNEP partners were working on 
developing new policies to facilitate fresh fuel provision and spent 
fuel management.  Wolcott encouraged Thailand to join the Global 
Nuclear Energy Partnership, and NPPDO officials asked what needs to 
be done to attend the October 1 GNEP Ministerial meeting in Paris. 
They added that an expert on Thai utilities had been designated to 
consider GNEP (though he was unfortunately absent during the 
meeting).  Wolcott noted the importance to emerging nuclear energy 
states of the Reliable Access to Nuclear Fuel initiatives currently 
being developed under the IAEA, and encouraged Thailand to express 
its views on this within the Board of Governors.  Kritayakirana also 
noted that IAEA officials had advised Thailand against the 
development of indigenous enrichment and reprocessing capacity, and 
that Thailand was "not making provisions" for the development of 
these technologies. 
 
World Bank Study on Nuclear Energy 
---------------------------------- 
 
 
BANGKOK 00002813  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Ambassador Wolcott raised with NPPDO officials the 
importance of nuclear power plant financing as Thailand moved to 
develop nuclear power.  The World Bank is considering a study on the 
cost competitiveness of nuclear power, a favorable report could help 
overturn the Bank's policy against nuclear power.  However, since 
this study has been temporarily suspended by certain anti-nuclear 
countries, Wolcott suggested that the Thai representative at the 
World Bank express support for its completion. 
 
¶10. (SBU) On September 4, Wolcott met with Thai Charge Damrong 
Kraikruan in Washington to follow-up on her meetings in Bangkok.  In 
addition to nuclear energy, Wolcott and Kraikruan discussed the 
current political unrest in Bangkok.  Wolcott noted political 
stability will be an important factor weighed by those considering 
nuclear cooperation with Thailand. 
 
¶11.  (U)  Ambassador Wolcott has cleared a draft of this cable. 
 
JOHN