VZCZCXRO8547
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHSA #2435/01 3291358
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251358Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0378
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1049
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 1409
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0897
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1817
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1053
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0857
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1660
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1322
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0348

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 002435 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR ISN, AF/S, EEB/ESC AND CBA 
DOE FOR TSPERL, GPERSON, MSCOTT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG PREL EPET EMIN MNUC KNNP SF
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR JENKINS DISCUSSES COOPERATION WITH 
SOUTH AFRICA'S DOE 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST: Ambassador Bonnie 
Jenkins called on South African Department of Energy Acting 
Chief: Nuclear, Ditebogo Kgomo, on November 9.  They 
discussed the Nuclear Security Summit and the bilateral 
agreement on cooperation in nuclear energy R&D.  Kgomo said 
the SADOE had submitted recommended names for a Sherpa and 
Sous-Sherpa to the Presidency, but no decision had yet been 
reached.  Kgomo expressed enthusiasm about the nuclear R&D 
agreement, but asked for more time to generate ideas.  Post 
requests that the USDOE, with the NSC and the Department, 
consider ideas on next steps in implementing the R&D 
agreement and proposing a general energy dialogue in advance 
of a yet-to-be-scheduled initial call by Ambassador Gips on 
the Minister of Energy.  Post requests Washington agencies' 
assistance to forward nuclear R&D cooperation and broader 
energy dialogue(See paragraph 7 for details).  End Summary 
and Action Request. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT: Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins 
called on South African Department of Energy Acting Chief: 
Nuclear, Ditebogo Kgomo, on November 9.  Ambassador Jenkins 
noted that South Africa had not sent a representative to the 
recent Sous-Sherpa meeting in Washington and apologized if 
there had been a communication snafu.  Kgomo said she had 
attended the first Sherpa meeting in Vienna and expressed the 
SAG's commitment to participating in the Summit.  She said 
the President had not yet named a Sherpa or Sous-Sherpa, but 
the SADOE had submitted names.  Ambassador Jenkins briefed on 
the status of the outcome document and planning for Heads of 
State statements.  Kgomo said that South Africa is preparing 
for the next planning meetings in December in Tokyo and in 
February in the Hague.  Ambassador Jenkins noted that the 
Summit will mark the start of President Obama's four-year 
effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) REGIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY TRAINING CENTER: 
Ambassador Jenkins expressed support for the idea of a 
regional nuclear security training center in South Africa - 
broached at the Einhorn-Minty dialogue in August - as a way 
to augment bilateral and trilateral cooperation.  Kgomo said 
South Africa liked the idea, but was still evaluating the 
proposal. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) NUCLEAR R&D AGREEMENT: Ambassador Jenkins said the 
signing of the bilateral nuclear R&D agreement in Vienna in 
September had been an important positive step and asked Kgomo 
for her views on next steps.  Kgomo agreed that the agreement 
was important and needed to be made a living agreement.  She 
said that the SADOE was still distracted with its split from 
minerals (from the former DME) and said there were still gaps 
in personnel and many acting officials.  Moreover, the SADOE 
would shortly be moving into a new building, so she asked for 
more time to evaluate next steps and ideas for cooperation. 
Ambassador Jenkins also mentioned the long-standing idea for 
a Joint Standing Committee on Nuclear Energy Cooperation, but 
Qa Joint Standing Committee on Nuclear Energy Cooperation, but 
both interlocutors agreed that they should focus on 
priorities and that this cooperation might be effectively 
conducted under separate initiatives. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) ENERGY DIALOGUE: Ambassador Jenkins inquired about 
the status of the broader, high-level energy dialogue to 
include nuclear and renewable energy and energy efficiency, 
proposed by Robert Einhorn in August.  The energy dialogue 
had not been specifically advanced at the meeting of the two 
Energy Ministers in Vienna in September.  Kgomo said the 
SADOE was interested in the idea and would welcome further 
discussion on partnering in key areas. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) USDOE participants also broached cooperation 
imminent and underway in Megaports and Commodity 
Identification Training, respectively.  Michael Stafford 
presented the proposal for enhancing cooperation through the 
Nuclear Smuggling Outreach Initiative to prevent, detect, and 
 
PRETORIA 00002435  002 OF 002 
 
 
respond to nuclear smuggling attempts, noting that the area 
most relevant to the SADOE would be nuclear security. 
Stafford acknowledged the SAG's reported preference for 
working with the IAEA on its own nuclear security, but noted 
the U.S. interest in collaborating with both the SAG and IAEA 
to help other African countries in this area. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST:  Energy Officer noted 
that the on-going nuclear security dialogue, the nuclear R&D 
agreement, and the energy dialogue were key action items 
under the bilateral mechanism that Secretary Clinton and the 
South African Foreign Minister had committed to developing 
during the Secretary's visit in August.  Ambassador Gips will 
soon meet with Energy Minister Dipuo Peters to advance these 
initiatives, but a date has not yet been set.  Post requests 
that the USDOE, with the NSC and the Department, develop 
ideas for next steps and areas for cooperation under the 
nuclear R&D agreement and the proposed broader energy 
dialogue. 
 
¶8.  (U) This cable has been cleared by Ambassador Jenkins. 
GIPS