VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUNV #0344/01 1981541
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171541Z JUL 09
FM USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9846
INFO RUEHII/VIENNA IAEA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEBAAA/DOE WASHDC
RUEANFA/NRC WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS UNVIE VIENNA 000344 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR T, S/SANAC, IO, ISN, VCI 
DOE FOR NA-20, NA-23, NA-24, NA-25 
NRC FOR OIP - DOANE, HENDERSON, SCHWARTZMAN 
NSC FOR SAMORE, HOLGATE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: AORC PTER KNNP TRGY MNUC
SUBJECT: IAEA ENERGIZING FOR NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) Hitching his wagon to the President's priority issue, IAEA 
DG-designate Amano is expressing his ambition that the Agency figure 
substantively in the concept and conduct of the global nuclear 
security summit in March 2010.  Apparently spurred by Amano, IAEA 
DDG Taniguchi and Nuclear Security program chief Nilsson invited 
Charge to an early exchange of views on July 16.  The Secretariat 
presented several topics for discussion at the summit, including: 
the definition of nuclear security, recognizing and giving due 
emphasis and resources to its many facets, improving national 
emergency response and preparedness, and enunciating a 
forward-looking global security vision and the role of the IAEA in 
that vision.  End Summary. 
 
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Security Tops Amano's List 
-------------------------- 
- 
¶2.  (U) Charge met July 16 with IAEA Deputy Director General for 
Safety and Security Tomihiro Taniguchi and directors in his 
department -- Anita Nilsson of the Office of Nuclear Safety, and 
Warren Stern of the Incident and Emergency Center.  Director General 
ElBaradei's Chef de Cabinet Antoine van Dongen also participated. 
(Comment: Van Dongen's unprecedented presence in a meeting between 
Mission and a DDG may relate to his positioning himself for the 
Amano era.  End Comment.)  Taniguchi and Nilsson had asked for a 
meeting soon after the announcement of the March 2010 date for the 
global nuclear security summit.  They wanted to discuss the purpose 
of the summit, how IAEA could participate, and to suggest topics for 
discussion. 
 
¶3.  (U) DDG Taniguchi opened the meeting by stressing that DG-elect 
Amano has stated he will focus on security during his tenure. 
Taniguchi said there were a lot of important security issues and 
that these issues needed to be viewed as a whole, not piecemeal as 
in the past.  For example, he stated we need better thinking with 
regard to the protection of installations.  Up to now the IAEA has 
been more focused on physical protection, but that needs to be 
balanced with a focus on internal sabotage and other issues.  He 
also stressed that all attention on sources has been on the control 
of sources, better protection for those using sources, and recovery 
of orphan sources.  But, he said, there should also be a focus on 
the monitoring, tracking and mapping of the sale and movement of 
sources.  It is more cost effective to track sources while in use 
than to clean up or recover later after use, he argued. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Taniguchi also stressed that the commitment to nuclear 
security is improving in many countries in the last few years and 
that the IAEA will now focus on the gaps in the Global Nuclear 
Safety and Security Regime.  He believes that an important topic for 
the March summit should be the definition of nuclear security: What 
does it include and what does it not include?  He expressed the view 
that world leaders are looking at many security-related issues such 
as non-proliferation, terrorism, and arms control in an "emotional" 
and fragmentary way.  He said that some facets of security are 
"neglected" while other areas are "over exaggerated".  The summit 
should discuss what the definition of nuclear security is and then 
raise awareness that all parts of security must be addressed. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Discussion turned to the need to raise the awareness of 
security issues to a political level.  Office of Nuclear Security 
(ONS) Director Nilsson opined that, generally, developing nations 
realized the importance of security once there was an incident in 
their country.  She advocated clear initiatives that are action 
oriented, and stated the summit presents a unique opportunity to 
look at security in a global perspective. 
 
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Secretariat Proposes Themes 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Nilsson suggested three related topics or structural 
elements for discussion at the summit.  First, participating states 
should project the goals for the future of global nuclear security 
and declare their intention to work towards those goals.  These 
should including common norms, conventions and treaties, 
interactions, and confidence building.  (Comment: Although she did 
not specify it, "common norms" means IAEA security standards, and 
there has been IAEA-internal discussion about encouraging "universal 
adherence" to these standards.  End Comment.) 
¶7.  (U) Second, Nilsson stated the summit should consider how best 
to handle the legacy of the past, including minimizing the civil use 
of HEU, securing and removing vulnerable materials, and building 
strong infrastructure to establish and sustain effective nuclear 
security.  Thirdly, she stated that the summit should consider what 
role the IAEA should play in supporting global efforts to reach and 
maintain the goals. 
 
¶8.  (U) Nilsson indicated that the Office of Nuclear Security's 
four-year plan (2010-13) will be completed by the time of the 
summit.  (Comment: This document outlines the plans and goals for 
the IAEA for the coming years. It will be reviewed and approved by 
the board and would therefore have the nominal support of 148 IAEA 
Member States.  It could be presented at the summit as an important 
tool to reach some of the summit goals.  It would also allow 
participants to understand the role IAEA can play at the 
international level.  End Comment.) 
 
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Emergency Response 
------------------ 
 
¶9. (U) IAEA Incident and Emergency Center Director Stern commented 
that the summit would be an excellent opportunity to further endorse 
and promote security and emergency response and preparedness 
conventions.  He mentioned that the summit could call on all States 
to join the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear 
Accident or Radiological Emergency.  Further, the summit could 
encourage all States to enhance, where necessary, their own 
preparedness and response capabilities for nuclear and radiological 
incidents and emergencies, including their arrangements for 
responding to acts involving the malicious use of nuclear or 
radioactive material and to threats of such acts, and to adopt and 
implement relevant international standards and guidelines to 
harmonize international arrangements. 
 
¶10. (U) Finally, he said, it would be helpful if the summit 
encouraged States to agree to compare emergency response 
capabilities with the objective of identifying and correcting any 
gaps or incompatibilities in capabilities among the states.  The 
initiative could also identify best practices and capabilities to be 
shared among the states. 
 
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Regional Meeting in Japan 
------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Taniguchi raised that the Agency and Government of Japan 
are organizing a regional nuclear security meeting in Tokyo this 
fall.  Originally, this meeting was going to be technically focused. 
 However, since the announcement of the summit, Japan has been 
considering ways to raise the discussion to the policy level, to 
help tee up discussions at the summit.  Taniguchi further suggested 
the IAEA might host similar preparatory events in Africa and South 
America. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Charge expressed interest in the purpose and scope of 
this meeting and asked that Secretariat brief Mission 
representatives in more detail in a separate meeting.  Noting that 
we await guidance regarding many aspects of the March summit, Charge 
also urged that the Secretariat refine its ideas and work with 
Mission staff to develop clear, detailed proposals that can be 
transmitted to Washington soon, as summit planning begins in 
earnest.  Mission Nuclear Safety Attache plans to begin relevant 
consultations with the Secretariat in the last week of July. 
 
 
PYATT