VZCZCXRO1805
PP RUEHLN
DE RUEHMO #1107 1191022
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291022Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3083
INFO RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 5337

UNCLAS MOSCOW 001107 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
Dept for T - J. Timbie 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KNNP PARM EWWT RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA'S ST PETERSBURG PORT OPENING NEW CLASS VII 
(RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS) PIER ON MAY 1 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary. On April 20, EST officer and senior FSN visited the 
Class VII pier in Region 4 of the St. Petersburg port.  Beginning 
May 1, all HEU - LEU contract shipments to the U.S. Enrichment 
Corporation (USEC) will commence from this location in Region 4. 
EST officer was assured by Isotope, Port Authority and Neva - Metall 
Stevedore Company representatives that the General License for 
loading LEU will be issued by the Ministry of Transportation on or 
before May 1. (End Summary.) 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On April 20, EST officer met with Isotope Company Deputy 
Director General Sergei Shambarov and Neva Metall Stevedore Company 
Director Kirill Romanov.  A representative of the St. Petersburg 
Port Authority was present as a guide/observer.  Isotope is the 
Tekhsnabexport (TENEX) contractor which executes all Highly Enriched 
Uranium (HEU) - Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) contract logistics in the 
St. Petersburg region.  It accepts and stores LEU products from 
Russia's enrichment combines, transports the LEU casks by truck to 
the port, and supervises loading operations and security enroute to 
the Port.  Neva Metall is the stevedore company that physically 
transfers the LEU casks from the trucks onto the ship. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Per Shambarov and Romanov, until May 1, LEU shipments will 
continue through the existing Class VII pier in Region 3 of the 
Port.  The relocation to Region 4 after April 30 is the result of 
planned reconstruction work in the Region 3 area.  Relocating the 
loading point requires a new license for Neva Metall which handles 
the LEU trans-loading operation.  Obtaining this particular license 
is a lengthy, and administratively painful, procedure due to the 
Russian bureaucratic environment surrounding anything involving 
nuclear materials, as it involves receiving multiple approvals from 
several agencies.  Both Shambarov and Romanov emphatically stated 
the license would be issued and the pier and all transport loading 
equipment will be ready for LEU cask loading operations by May 1. 
 
BEYRLE