US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN2526

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 002526 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, INR, NP/ECC, EUR/ACE, CBP/INA, NP/PTR, 
EUR/RUS, EUR/RPM, DS, IO/T, INR/SPM, S/CT, S/P, S/S-O 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/22/2014 
TAGS: PINR, KNNP, MNUC, PARM, KCRM, PTER, ASEC, AM, KPRP 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CESIUM-137 CONFISCATED FROM ARMENIAN 
NATIONAL 
 
REF: A) STATE 236159 B) YEREVAN 02450 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) We met November 18 with Ashot Martirosyan, head of the 
Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (ANRA) and underscored the 
USG's continued interest in this cesium-137 seizure case 
(refs A and B).  Martirosyan stated that he had still not 
received any substantive information from the Armenian 
National Security Service (NSS) about the seizure and/or why 
the Armenian national had the material.  NSS officials had 
only informed Martirosyan that the Armenian national in 
custody refused to say where he acquired the cesium. 
Martirosyan told us that he had not informed the 
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of this incident 
because he did not have even basic information about the 
radioactive source, or whether there was any contamination 
into the local environment.  Martirosyan told us that when he 
received this information he would report in full to the 
IAEA.  We pressed Martirosyan to ensure that Armenia 
fulfilled its reporting obligations. 
 
2. (C) Martirosyan told us that he reported the December 
2003, Government of Armenia (GOAM) seizure of a container of 
strontium-90 to the IAEA.  Martirosyan stated that there was 
a IAEA release from February 9, 2003, describing a level 2 
INES event out of Armenia, titled "Unshielded Radioactive 
Source Found in Metal Scrap."  Martirosyan also showed us 
that the event was listed on the Nuclear Events Web-based 
system (NEWS).  Martirosyan stated that the GOAM had 
contacted Russian authorities concerning this container. 
Russian authorities could only confirm that the container was 
produced during the Soviet period and that the records 
pertaining to the container were lost and probably not 
retrievable.  Martirosyan was not optimistic that the origin 
of the strontium-90 container would be ever clear. 
EVANS