VZCZCXRO9880
RR RUEHSK
DE RUEHBR #1567 3401932
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051932Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3048
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 3165
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6957
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8780
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5963
RUCNNSG/NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001567 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR ISN/NESS ROBIN DE LABARRE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNNP ENRG ETTC MNUC PARM TRGY BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL SEEKING REASSURANCE ON ARGENTINA WILL CONFER WITH 
BRAZIL BEFORE 
CONFIRMING ITS AGREEMENT ON NSG AD REF TEXT 
 
REF: A) STATE 126581, B) BRASILIA 1529 
 
¶1.  (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR 
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On December 3, Science Counselor and Science Officer met 
with the Brazilian Ministry of Exterior Relations' Director of the 
Division for Disarmament and Sensitive Technology, Min. Santiago 
Mourao, to deliver the points in REFTEL A concerning the effort to 
reach a consensus on the USG non-proliferation proposal at the 
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) before December 12.  Mourao said that 
the Government of Brazil (GOB) doesn't have a definitive response 
yet and hopefully would have one - a positive one - next week. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Mourao said he was in frequent contact on this matter with 
Richard Goorevich of the National Nuclear Security Administration 
(NNSA).  He explained that the issue for the GOB is how to make 
clear that the present Brazilian-Argentine arrangement with the 
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which references the 
Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear 
Materials (Agencia Brasileiro-Argentina de Contabilidade e Controle 
de Materiais Nucleares or ABACC), is covered by the proposal on 
transfer of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology. 
Presumably, Mourao is referring to the language in Paragraph 
6(a)(ii) of the proposal to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).  He 
said in his mind that the language would cover the existing 
situation for Brazil and Argentina, but that others (unidentified) 
in the GOB wanted to make the point absolutely clear.  They want to 
leave no doubt that Brazil and Argentina do not have to make any 
changes to qualify. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Mourao was focusing on methods to make definitely clear 
that the Brazil-Argentina ABACC arrangement - as is - would be 
satisfactory.  The GOB was not seeking to make changes to the 
language of the proposal itself.  He mentioned the possibility of 
getting something on the record to that effect as part of a 
President's statement. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In addition, Mourao noted that Minister of Defense Nelson 
Jobim should be able to respond to inquiries about this matter 
during his December 4-5 visit to the United States.  However, Mourao 
doubted that Min. Jobim would have a different answer than the one 
Mourao gave.  He did recognize that raising the issue with Min. 
Jobim would underscore the importance the U.S. Government places on 
reaching a consensus by December 12.  Mourao said that the GOB 
wanted to reach a consensus by then too. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) COMMENT.  The GOB from the highest levels on down is aware 
of the USG desire to advance this proposal as quickly as possible. 
(See REFTEL B)  It appears that with some reassurances on the side 
(i.e., not directly in the language of the proposal) about the 
implications of the language for the Brazil-Argentina ABACC 
arrangement the GOB should be on board.  END COMMENT. 
 
KUBISKE