US embassy cable - 04HANOI727

UNCLAS HANOI 000727 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NP/MNA, EAP/BCLTV, OES/PCI, OES/STC 
DOE FOR NA-25 (HUIZENGA/TITTEMORE) 
UNVIE FOR IAEA JBLAHA 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: AORC, PTER, KNNP, KNNP, VM, IAEA, ENRGY 
SUBJECT:  IAEA - UPDATE ON VIETNAM'S RESPONSE TO OFFER OF 
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN SECURING HIGH RISK RADIOACTIVE 
SOURCES 
 
REFS: A. 03 STATE 291311 
 
      B. 03 HANOI 2268 
      C. 03 STATE 238713 
 
1.  This is an action cable.  Please see Paragraphs 6 and 7 
below. 
 
2.  On January 9, 2004, Embassy EST Officer met with Dr. 
Dang Thanh Luong, Director, Vietnam Radiation Protection and 
Nuclear Safety Authority (VRPNSA) to follow-up on the U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE)'s proposal regarding Vietnam's 
possible participation in DOE's Radiological Threat 
Reduction (RTR) program. 
 
3.  Dr. Luong was receptive to the proposal, but stated he 
would like to have more details on the RTR program and a 
work plan to present to the Ministry of Science and 
Technology (MOST), the parent agency of VRPNSA.  EST Officer 
responded that a work plan could not be prepared without 
data from the Vietnamese side, and that a work plan was more 
appropriate after a DOE team visited Vietnam to work with 
VRPNSA on a technical survey.  EST Officer suggested that, 
prior to sending out a full team to perform a survey as 
proposed in Reftel C, perhaps DOE could send a smaller 
technical team to discuss the program in more detail and 
answer Luong's questions.  Luong agreed with this 
suggestion. 
 
4.  Subsequently, EST Officer corresponded via e-mail with 
Craig Johnson, Office of RTR, National Nuclear Security 
Administration (NNSA), DOE to relay Dr. Luong's comments. 
Based on this informal exchange, EST Officer informed Dr. 
Luong that Mr. Johnson (and perhaps one other DOE officer) 
could visit Hanoi in March 2004.  Mr. Johnson also provided 
a more detailed written description of the RTR program, 
which EST Officer relayed to Luong. 
 
5.  On February 26, Dr. Luong informed EST Officer that he 
(Luong) had tried his best to move forward on this issue. 
On February 25, MOST held a meeting to review the RTR 
program based on information provided by EST Officer and 
DOE.  According to Luong, MOST appreciated the proposed 
offer of support and welcomed a DOE delegation to visit 
Vietnam to introduce the program in more detail.  However, 
Luong said that many key relevant officials would not be 
available in March to meet with the DOE team.  Luong stated 
that he would contact the Embassy as soon as possible to 
propose a suitable time for the DOE team to visit Vietnam. 
 
6.  Luong also revised his earlier request for information, 
asking for DOE to share the experiences that they have got 
during implementation of the RTR program in other countries. 
He also asked for examples of other RTR 
agreements/contracts, noting that DOE's visit would be more 
productive if MOST officials can better understand the RTR. 
Request that DOE attempt to respond to Luong's request. 
 
7.  Post asks that DOE confirm its willingness to send a 
team (one or two technical experts) to Vietnam to provide a 
more in-depth explanation of the RTR program and engage 
VRPNSA in a dialogue on the status of Vietnam's high-risk 
radioactive sources.  Dr. Luong is the Vietnamese point of 
contact for this effort.  His e-mail address is 
dtluong@most.gov.vn.  As of mid-April, the Embassy's contact 
point will be Econ Officer Johnathan Hilton, e-mail 
hiltonja@state.gov. 
BURGHARDT