VZCZCXRO4155
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRL #1608 3371642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021642Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2747
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUCNNSG/NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP
RUEHII/VIENNA IAEA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0257
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0371

UNCLAS BERLIN 001608 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR EUR/CE (SCHROEDER) 
STATE FOR ISN\FO FOR RICHARD STRATFORD 
STATE FOR ISN\NESS FOR ROBIN DELABARRE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG ETTC KNNP MNUC PARM TRGY SF GM
SUBJECT: GERMANY OFFERES STRONG SUPPORT FOR AMENDING NSG 
NUCLEAR ENR TRANSFER GUIDLINES 
 
REF: A. STATE 126581 
     ¶B. STATE 115509 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Germany, current Chair of the Nuclear Suppliers 
Group (NSG), confirmed their full support for the 
U.S.-proposal to amend NSG guidelines regarding transfer of 
enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) equipment/technology and 
expect little resistance from members with the possible 
exception of South Africa.  Germany believes that South 
Africa (SA) will likely take a cautious approach, carefully 
reviewing the proposal and its impact on Non-Aligned Movement 
(NAM) countries, but will ultimately support it.  In 
addition, Germany is to a lesser degree concerned about the 
response from the Urenco group regarding the technical 
aspects of the proposal.  (COMMENT: Urenco is an independent 
international energy and technology group from the United 
Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States offering 
complete services in the nuclear fuel supply chain.  END 
COMMENT) 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On December 2, EconOff met with MFA Nuclear Energy 
Policy officer, Dr. Joerg Polster, to discuss Germany's views 
on the U.S. ENR proposal to the International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA) INFCIRC 254 paragraphs 6 and 7.  Polster 
conveyed Germany's strong support for the ENR proposal and 
emphasized that Germany, as NSG Chair, is willing to "make 
some phone calls" in the interest of achieving quick 
consensus on the ENR proposal.  Specifically, Polster said 
that Ambassador Viktor Elbling, German MFA Deputy Director 
General for International Energy and Sustainable Development, 
is ready to step in if needed. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Polster said that the political ambitions of SA's 
Deputy Director General for Disarmament, Ambassador Abdul 
Minty, to succeed IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei 
will likely cause SA to take a very cautious approach in 
supporting the ENR proposal and will make achieving consensus 
by December 12 difficult.  However, Polster does believe that 
at a core Minty is supportive of the ENR proposal and that 
Germany would be inclined to work with the USG bringing SA 
along. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Other potential problem areas that Polster 
identified were Canada's issues with "black box" technology 
transfer and Brazil and Argentina's response to INFCIRC 254 
PARA 6 (ii).  Polster said that he feels Canada is 
comfortable with the compromised language in INFCIRC 254 PARA 
7, but does not have a good read on Brazil's and Argentina's 
reaction yet. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶5.  (SBU) Polster said that approval for the ENR proposal is 
a "high priority" for Germany and their position is to "just 
get it done."  Polster, who usually is somewhat pessimistic 
regarding the NSG's ability to achieve timely consensus, was 
actually optimistic regarding the ENR proposal.  Emphasizing 
SA as the primary trouble spot, he believes that a 
coordinated effort by NSG members to bring SA to consensus 
will be effective.  Polster stated that if NSG consensus is 
not achieved by December 12, he feels that another NSG 
Consultative Group (CG) could be called to order by March of 
next year to revisit the issue. 
TIMKEN JR