Cablegate: Brazil and the Iaea: Agreement Pending On Resende

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS BRASILIA 002762

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KNNP PARM MNUC BR IAEA
SUBJECT: BRAZIL AND THE IAEA: AGREEMENT PENDING ON RESENDE
NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT FACILITY

REF: BRASILIA 2621

1. (SBU) Reacting to press reports concerning preliminary
IAEA approval to Brazil's proposed inspection regime at the
Resende nuclear enrichment facility, Ministry of External
Relations (MRE) Disarmament and Sensitive Technologies (DDS)
Division Chief Santiago Mourao acknowledged that the reports
sounded correct, although to his knowledge the GOB had yet to
receive a formal reply from the IAEA approving the inspection
regime. He anticipated such a response shortly.

2. (SBU) Mourao again reiterated the routine and technical
nature of the pending agreement on Resende, reminding poloff
that Brazil already had IAEA safeguards agreements on 35
other domestic nuclear facilities. Many of the very
technical issues at Resende, Mourao confessed, were
understandable only by the experts. Following months of
intensive negotiations, the October IAEA visit to Resende, he
understood, dealt primarily with mundane technical matters.
Despite the overwhelming political attention, the GOB and the
IAEA officials involved with the process were experienced
enough to know how to reach closure. Unfortunately, costs
associated with such IAEA inspections have gone up
substantially in recent years -- a problem both the GOB and
the Agency recognized and are seeking to address, Mourao
noted.

Danilovich

© Scoop Media