EL TEMA NUCLEAR (http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/06/09CARACAS728.html)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000728
SIPDIS
HQ SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD COMMERCE FOR 4332/MAC/WH/JLAO TREASURY FOR RJARPE NSC FOR RKING
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2019
TAGS: ECON
PGOV
PREL
ETRD
EINV
ENRG
TRGY
EMIN
PTER PINR, ASEC, MOPS, PARM, VE
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA INCAPABLE OF SUBSTANTIVE NUCLEAR COOPERATION WITH IRAN/RUSSIA
REF: A. CARACAS 26 ¶B. LA PAZ 806
Classified By: Economic Counselor Darnall Steuart for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A plain-spoken nuclear physicist told Econoff that those spreading rumors that Venezuela is helping
third countries (i.e. Iran) develop atomic bombs "are full of (expletive)." He said Venezuela is currently unable to
provide such assistance particularly as the Chavez administration "does not trust scientists." He added that
Venezuela's nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia finalized May 4 is pure political theater as Venezuela is
incapable of cooperation with Russia on the development, design, construction and operation of nuclear reactors. Also
contrary to the agreement with the Russians, to the knowledge of the scientific community, there is no exploration or
exploitation of uranium, ongoing or planned, in Venezuela.
The scientist contended that, even if the Venezuelan government used all Cuban scientists, exploring for
commercially viable uranium deposits in Venezuela would require a large taskforce and news of such an effort would
leak quickly. END SUMMARY.
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RUSSIAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT POLITICAL THEATER
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¶2. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX told Econoff
June 3 that the agreement between Venezuela and Russia on nuclear cooperation has no real substance. The agreement,
signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2008, but approved and formally issued by Venezuela's National
Assembly May 4, lays out cooperation between the Venezuelan Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and Russia's Rosatom in the
following areas: 1. Basic Nuclear Research; 2. Controlled Thermonuclear Synthesis; 3. Development, design, construction
and operation of nuclear reactors; 4. Industrial production of inputs and components for nuclear reactors; 5. Exploration
and exploitation of uranium and thorium; 6. Infrastructure development for nuclear energy; and 7. the development of a
legal framework in the sector.
¶3. (C) In a previous conversation with XXXXXXXXXXXX (strictly protect throughout) on December 2, XXXXXXXXXXXX stated that the only part of the Russian agreement that had any potential might be the exploration and exploitation of thorium, as he believes Venezuela has significant deposits of that resource (Ref A). XXXXXXXXXXXXemphasized that as to the rest of the agreement, meaningful cooperation is not possible. All Venezuela is currently capable of, he argued, is the purchase of finished materials and technology.
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URANIUM EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION NOT HAPPENING
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¶4. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX bluntly discounted the idea of cooperation with the Russians on uranium exploration and exploitation, as well
as rumors that Venezuela is providing Venezuelan uranium to assist other countries (i.e. Iran) with "atomic bombs."
(Note: International press reports citing an Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry document leaked May 25 alleged that Bolivia
and Venezuela are supplying uranium to Iran. For a similar perspective from La Paz on the dubiousness of this claim, see
Ref B.) XXXXXXXXXXXX added that former Venezuelan President of the Inter-American Commission on Atomic Energy Julio Cesar
Pineda's May 8 statements to the press about Venezuela having more than 50,000 tons of uranium were "funny" and "not too
clever."
¶5. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX said that in the states of Merida and Trujillo, there might be uranium deposits ranging between 60 parts per
million (ppm) and 2,000 ppm, with 200 ppm being the minimum for an economically viable deposit. He contended that no one
could be sure, however, since the last meaningful study concluded in 1976. He noted that his lab has conducted a
"yellow cake" experiment with a few milligrams of Venezuelan uranium, but that it is impossible to extrapolate or even
guess at the amount of uranium in Venezuela from such limited testing.
¶6. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX explained that currently, as with all nuclear related materials, if Venezuela had a need for refined
uranium, it would make much more economic sense to simply buy it rather than try to produce it itself. For political
reasons, however, the government could decide to refine uranium anyway, XXXXXXXXXXXX suggested. He claimed that no
Venezuelan scientists would be involved in such a decision as the Chavez administration "does not trust scientists."
Nevertheless, he added, there is no indication of any interest on the part of the government to resume uranium
exploration or exploitation.
¶7. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that the last uranium exploration effort involved multiple labs and more than 30 scientists. Such a
major undertaking would not be easy to hide for long, he said, even if the government avoided using Venezuelan
scientists and opted instead for a 100 percent foreign team consisting primarily of Cuban members. Additionally, there
are only three labs in Venezuela that could measure whether or not uranium concentrations are high enough to exploit.
All three labs, including the one at USB, XXXXXXXXXXXX reluctantly admitted, either have broken equipment or no nitrogen. None
of the three, he said, could currently participate in such a study.
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COMMENT
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¶8. (C) Although rumors that Venezuela is providing Iran with Venezuelan produced uranium may help burnish the government's
revolutionary credentials, there seems to be little basis in reality to the claims. Similar to the conclusions drawn by
La Paz in Ref B, it is highly unlikely that Venezuela is providing Venezuelan uranium to third countries. At one
point, Venezuela may have been able to make good on Chavez's claims that it would purchase multi-billion dollar nuclear
power plants from the Russians, but even that type of "nuclear cooperation" is doubtful due to the Venezuelan
government's current financial difficulties.
CAULFIELD
