LETTER FROM U/S OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS GIANNI LETTA

cable 06ROME439, DISPOSITION OF ELK RIVER SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL:
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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06ROME439 2006-02-13 17:05 2011-03-24 11:11 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Rome

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000439

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR ISN/NESS (WHAMMACK, EUR/WE (FETCHKO), AND EUR/PRA
(JCONLON), DOE FOR NNSA/NA-212 (TANNO)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2015
TAGS: ENRG KNNP KSTC IT ITALY NATIONAL ELECTIONS

SUBJECT: DISPOSITION OF ELK RIVER SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL:
LETTER FROM U/S OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS GIANNI LETTA TO
AMBASSADOR

REF: 04 ROME 003592

Classified By: AMBASSADOR RONALD P. SPOGLI, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)



¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST: On February 6, the
Ambassador received a letter from Gianni Letta, Under
Secretary to the Council of Ministers requesting assistance

SIPDIS
to return to the United States 64 thorium-uranium bundles of
spent nuclear fuel (SNF) originally from the Elk River, MN
plant. Letta requested a response by the end of February.
The Under Secretary made the same request directly to the
Department of Energy (DOE) in August 2004 (reftel), but in
January 2005, former Secretary of Energy Abraham responded
that after thorough technical and legal review, the DOE could
not accept the spent nuclear fuel under any existing
programs. The reason the GOI has repeated the request on an
urgent basis is because the issue is politically sensitive
for Prime Minister Berlusconi's center-right coalition, which
is facing a tough battle for re-election in April. With the
election looming, Letta writes, the GOI will be ""forced"" to
transfer the Elk River SNF to Russia if it cannot be
repatriated to the United States. An unofficial translation
of Letta's letter (para. 2-5), along with the Ambassador's
proposed reply (para. 9-11) follow. ACTION REQUEST:
Department please review U/S Letta's letter and proposed
response from the Ambassador in paragraphs 9 through 11, and
provide comments/clearance by February 17. END SUMMARY AND
ACTION REQUEST.

BEGIN TEXT OF INFORMAL EMBASSY TRANSLATION



¶2. (C) Dear Mister Ambassador,
I am writing you to call your attention to an issue about
which your embassy has probably already informed you. It is
a very important issue for the (Italian) government even from
the psychological point of view. We will soon be sending our
nuclear waste currently stored in Piedmont and Emilia Romagna
to France. The spent fuel will remain in France until 2025
at least, when Italy should have its own nuclear waste
storage site. This is causing protests in the South. In
fact, sixty-four thorium-uranium bars of spent fuel are
stored in the ITREC (Trisaia Research Center) site at
Rotondella (in the province of Matera), and these bars cannot
be reprocessed in Europe. These came to Italy from the U.S.
Elk River Plant in 1970, during a joint project, which was
later abandoned, between CNEN (now ENEA - the Agency for New
Technologies, Energy and the Environment) and the AEC (Atomic
Energy Commission) (now DOE). Hundreds of such bars (which
contain uranium-235 at 93% and even up to 95% when combined
with thorium, are currently stored at the U.S. Savannah River
site.



¶3. (C) We have asked the U.S. authorities (the President
and DOE) to bring to that site also the few bars stored at
Rotondella, which are contained in two casks made according
to U.S. requirements for storage and transport. Italy will
provide full funding for the operation. As you can see, it
is a small thing. But if the practical issue is painless,
the psychological and thus political impact is the opposite.
The issue has been used already by local and national
opposition forces, which state that the Berlusconi government
supports the north more than the south.



¶4. (C) On November 9, 2005, the President of SOGIN (the
Agency for Administration of Nuclear Plants) repeated the
same request to the Department of Energy and other embassy
representatives, underlining that Italy needed a reply by the
end of February. If not received by then, reasons of
relevant opportunity - in practice, in order to avoid
demonstrations - would force us to transfer the two casks to
Russia for about fifty years. A company of Rosatom (formerly
Minatom) has already shown interest in storing the two casks
for a decidedly modest price. Given the military level of
enriched uranium in the ITREC bars, the operation could be
included under the Global Threat Reduction initiative, since,
as I have said, the fuel came from a U.S. plant. SOGIN is
available to provide you with all the details. The U.S.
decision could be made known at a public meeting to which I
would invite local and neighboring regional authorities and
the media.



¶5. (C) Being sure of your interest in this matter, I thank
you in advance on behalf of the government, and underline
once again that we need an answer by the end of February.
With warm regards, //ss// Gianni Letta.
END TEXT OF INFORMAL EMBASSY TRANSLATION.


COMMENT
-------

¶6. (C) The south, especially the region of Puglia which
adjoins Matera to the east, will be a key battleground in the
April 9 elections. Hence the Berlusconi government's
interest in defusing the potentially negative publicity that
could ensue from demonstrations over the spent fuel issue.
END COMMENT.

¶7. (C) We want to respond in a timely manner to Under
Secretary Letta. He is one of the best and senior-most

SIPDIS
contacts for the embassy, and is someone to whom we turn for
help on issues critical to the U.S. interest. U.S.-Italy
relations traditionally have been strong regardless of the
party in power, but have been especially close under Prime
Minister Berlusconi and his center-right coalition
government. Berlusconi's close personal relationship with
the President is a key factor in maintaining Italian military
contributions in Iraq in the face of significant popular
opposition, and reflects our strong bilateral cultural and
historical ties. Italy also provides other funding and
troops (over 10,000 total peacekeeping troops deployed
worldwide), including assets in Afghanistan, the Balkans, and
Darfur.



GLOBAL THREAT REDUCTION INITIATIVE
----------------------------------


¶8. (C) We understand, based on Secretary Abraham's January
2005 letter and on DOE's November discussions with SOGIN on
the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) ""gap"" materials
disposition program, that DOE does not consider the Elk River
SNF sufficiently ""high-risk"" to be given priority under GTRI
programs at this time. We propose the following response to
Under Secretary Letta.


PROPOSED RESPONSE FROM AMBASSADOR TO U/S LETTA
--------------------------------------------- -

BEGIN PROPOSED TEXT:


¶9. (C/Releasable to Italy) Dear Under Secretary Letta:

Thank you for your letter of February 6 concerning the
disposition of uranium-thorium spent nuclear fuel stored at
the ITREC (Trisaia Research Center) at Rotondella, in the
province of Matera. I have been fully briefed on the history
of the efforts to repatriate this material, originally from
the Elk River nuclear plant, to the Savannah River National
Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina.



¶10. (C/Releasable to Italy) I can assure you that we
understand the government of Italy's pressing need to find a
disposition path, and I have followed up carefully on this
issue with the Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of
Global Nuclear Material Threat Reduction of the National
Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has carefully reviewed
your request. DOE officials reviewed the matter again after
NNSA representatives met with the President of SOGIN last
November. And I have inquired myself. Unfortunately, there
has been no change in the Department of Energy's position
that it cannot accept the Elk River material.

¶11. (C/Releasable to Italy) As you know, the United States
greatly values its strong partnership with Italy on
nonproliferation cooperation and on the development of
nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. We
have tried to be helpful where possible on the difficult
issue of nuclear waste disposal. In this case, although the
answer is negative, I wanted to be sure to respond
expeditiously, so that you could proceed if necessary with
the alternate remedies you described in your letter.
(Complimentary close)
END PROPOSED TEXT.
SPOGLI
" Classification: UNCLASSIFIED