US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN154

C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000154 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NP/PTR (CURRY), EUR/CACEN, INR, NP/EDD, CBP/INA, 
NP/ECC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2015 
TAGS: PINR, MNUC, PARM, KCRM, PTER, ASEC, TU, AM 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CESIUM 137 CONFISCATED ON THE TURKISH 
BORDER 
 
REF: YEREVAN 131 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) On January 31, we met with Armen Israelian, head of 
the MFA's Department for Arms Control and International 
Security to follow up on the reported (ref) seizure on the 
Georgia-Turkey border of cesium-137 reportedly originating in 
Armenia.  Israelian said that the Armenian National Security 
Service (NSS) had the lead in investigating the Cesium-137 
which was seized at the Turkish-Georgian border. 
 
2.  (C) Israelian stated he had no new information concerning 
the origin of the radioactive material and complained that 
the GOAM had so far not received proof from the government of 
Turkey that the source of the cesium-137 was in fact Armenia. 
 Israelian questioned how the material could have crossed the 
Armenia - Georgia border, since both the Armenian and 
Georgian customs officials are equipped with hand-held 
radiation detectors. 
 
3. (C) We expressed our concern that Armenia was the apparent 
source for the material and pressed for the GOAM to take 
measures to prevent recurrence.  Israelian said he did not 
believe that Armenia was becoming a transit country for 
Cesium 137 sources or even an area where such sources are 
bought and sold.  Israelian said that the GOAM was open about 
its seizures of radioactive sources and willing to share this 
information with its western counterparts.  Israelian stated 
that the GOAM was committed to working with the USG and other 
western non-proliferation organizations to properly identify 
these sources, prosecute the individuals involved, and 
prevent the unlicensed transit of sources through Armenia. 
4. (C) The strength of the seized cesium-137 per reftel was 
incorrectly reported originally.  The correct strength was 60 
microSieverts/hour. 
EVANS