Cablegate: Germany Offeres Strong Support for Amending Nsg

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

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