VZCZCXRO3465
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2777/01 2600346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160346Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9989
INFO RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEANFA/NRC WASHDC
RUEHII/VIENNA IAEA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 5069
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 2952
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 3313

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 002777 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNNP PREL KTIA ENRG RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA'S NUCLEAR REGULATOR STRIPPED OF INDEPENDENCE AND 
PERSONNEL; IAEA SAFETY COMMITMENTS NOT BEING MET 
 
Ref A:  Moscow 1507; Ref B:  Dunkley-Young (EUR/PRA) and 
Dunkley-Young (NRC) telcons and e-mails 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.   Please protect. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials 
believe that Russia is no longer meeting some of its commitments in 
the IAEA Nuclear Safety Convention and the IAEA Joint Convention on 
the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive 
Waste Management.  After Russia's nuclear regulatory body, the 
Federal Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight Service 
(Rostekhnadzor), was placed under the Ministry of Natural Resources 
and Environment (MNRE) in May (ref A), two decrees deprived it of 
its independent status, making its mandate to develop and enforce 
regulations murky (ref B).  Rostekhnadzor's effectiveness was 
further reduced when fifteen percent of its Moscow-based nuclear 
supervision staff were fired in August, with further cuts expected. 
On September 5, PM Putin accepted the resignation of Rostekhnadzor 
Head Konstantin Pulikovskiy, appointing Rostekhnadzor Deputy Head 
Nikolay Kutin as Acting Director.  Given Russia's plans to intensify 
efforts to develop nuclear power, respected Russian nuclear experts 
have begun to criticize Rostekhnadzor's evisceration.  Insiders 
speculate that Rostekhnadzor's nuclear regulatory arm may be split 
off, recreating a separate nuclear regulatory agency.  End Summary. 
 
 
Notorious Pulikovskiy Finally Out; Who Will Be In and When? 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On September 5, PM Putin accepted Pulikovskiy's 
resignation, putting an end to the rumors that had been swirling for 
more than a month about Pulikovskiy's imminent dismissal.  Although 
one news source reported that Pulikovskiy left "at his own request," 
our MNRE sources highlighted his stormy relationship with MNRE 
Minister Yuriy Trutnev.  Pulikovskiy, a two-star general notorious 
for shelling Grozniy while Commander of Russian forces in Chechnya, 
began serving as chairman of Rostekhnadzor in December 2005. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  PM Putin elevated Rostekhnadzor Deputy Director Nikolay 
Kutin to Acting Director.  Kutin, 43 years old with a PhD in Law, 
has been deputy head of Rostekhnadzor since November 2005.  He 
worked previously as assistant chairman of a district executive 
committee in Saint Petersburg.  Kutin has a strong reputation from 
his work in the industrial safety arena.  However, since he was not 
made Director outright, Rostekhnadzor staff are not certain how long 
he will be in charge. 
 
Rostekhnadzor Stripped of Independence and Staff 
--------------------------- 
¶4.  (SBU)  Pulikovskiy's dismissal is the latest installment in 
President Medvedev's government reorganization affecting 
Rostekhnadzor, which included consolidating GOR bodies working on 
environment issues under the umbrella of the MNRE (ref A).  Decree 
724, signed May 12, stripped Rostekhnadzor of its independent 
status.  A second decree, "On the MNRE," changed Rostekhnadzor's 
mission statement by deleting the language that had imparted its 
status as the GOR's nuclear and radiation safety regulatory body. 
Because the decree did not reassign this function to any other 
government body, it left Russia, at least on paper, without a 
designated nuclear safety regulatory authority. 
¶5.  (SBU)  Rostekhnadzor staff has been whittled down.  At the end 
of August, approximately 12 employees were formally dismissed, 
bringing Rostekhnadzor's Moscow-based nuclear supervision staff down 
to 72 employees responsible for the regulatory oversight of Russia's 
31 nuclear reactors.  [Note:  We have heard of no dismissals, 
however, of Rostekhnadzor staff working at the nuclear power plants. 
 Rostekhnadzor's nuclear supervision staff in Moscow now stands at 
less than half of the 150 employees it had in 2001.  Although the 
U.S. and Russian regulatory systems are set up differently, in 
comparison, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has roughly 
2000 employees at its headquarters in Maryland.  The NRC regulates 
104 U.S. nuclear reactors.  End Note.]  Many of the fired staff had 
been trained by the IAEA to carry out the Service's enforcement 
functions; their departure will result in a permanent loss of 
capability.  Rostekhnadzor's International Department was also 
disbanded, with its functions transferred to the MNRE's 
International Department, which has no experience in nuclear issues. 
 Rostekhnadzor contacts expect further personnel cuts, even as 
Rosatom pushes to increase domestic nuclear power plant (NPP) 
construction.  They fear that the increased workload, decreased 
staffing, and loss of expertise will make it extremely difficult for 
Rostekhnadzor to execute its regulatory and inspection functions 
effectively, even if its authority is re-established. 
 
Russia not in Compliance with IAEA Conventions? 
 
MOSCOW 00002777  002 OF 002 
 
 
------------------------- 
¶6.  (U)  Article 8 of the IAEA's Nuclear Safety Convention, to which 
Russia is a party, requires that "Each Contracting Party shall 
establish or designate a regulatory body entrusted with the 
implementation of the legislative and regulatory framework and 
provided with adequate authority, competence and financial and human 
resources to fulfill its assigned responsibilities.  Also, each 
Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure an 
effective separation between the functions of the regulatory body 
and those of any other body or organization concerned with the 
promotion or utilization of nuclear energy." 
¶7.  (U)  Article 20 of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent 
Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management 
notes that "Each Contracting Party shall establish or designate a 
regulatory body entrusted with the implementation of the legislative 
and regulatory framework referred to in Article 19, and provided 
with adequate authority, competence and financial and human 
resources to fulfill its assigned responsibilities." 
¶8.  (SBU) Rostekhnadzor officials believe that Rostekhnadzor has 
lost its mandate to develop and introduce regulations on nuclear 
matters and to execute enforcement actions and the personnel to 
fulfill its responsibilities.  Although EST contacts report that 
MNRE has not interfered to date with Rostekhnadzor's work, they note 
that they have not yet tested the limits of their authority.  They 
have decided to wait for the first case where "disaster strikes" to 
demonstrate the damage this realignment has caused. 
¶9.  (SBU)  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) is aware that 
Russia is not meeting its IAEA Nuclear Safety Convention 
commitments.  EST LES was shown a memo in which DFM Kislyak informed 
FM Lavrov in late June that, "Thus there is a situation in the 
Russian Federation when there is no established independent 
governmental body to regulate safety in the nuclear area, which 
contradicts Russian commitments stipulated in the Nuclear Safety 
Convention and the Convention on Safe Management of Spent Fuel and 
Radioactive Waste."  Lavrov's handwritten note on the memo stated 
that he "agreed" with Kislyak's concerns and would address this at 
"the Governmental level."  (Note:  We have seen no evidence that the 
MFA has raised this issue.  However, this week EST contacts began to 
speculate that Rostekhnadzor, formed by the merger of three separate 
agencies, may be split apart into its original agencies, including 
recreating the separate nuclear regulatory agency formerly known as 
Gosatomnadzor.  The press has not yet carried this rumor.  End 
note.) 
 
Russian Experts Criticize Rostekhnadzor's Reorganization 
---------------------------- 
¶10.  (SBU)  A few Russian experts have begun to publicly criticize 
in the Russian nuclear press Rostekhnadzor's move to the MNRE and 
the corresponding degradation of its ability to perform its mission. 
 In an article published September 3, Viktor Sidorenko - considered 
the patriarch of the Russian civilian nuclear industry and first 
deputy chairman of Gosatomnadzor in mid-80's - stated that it is 
impossible to develop nuclear energy extensively if the Russia's 
regulatory authority is not independent.  The pronuclear.ru news 
website on September 9 carried an interview with former First Deputy 
Minister of Minatom (and former Duma member) Valentin Ivanov.  When 
asked, "Can Rostekhnadzor reliably execute its duties in its 
existing organizational structure and under the condition of 
accelerated development of nuclear energy," Ivanov replied, 
"Categorically no!  The situation should be corrected.  We need to 
set all of the bells ringing if we do not want to damage nuclear 
energy in the future.  It is a necessity to restore and strengthen 
Rostekhnadzor and the GOR is responsible for this." 
Beyrle