US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN312

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000312 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/CACEN, NP, IO/T, S/CT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2015 
TAGS: MNUC, PARM, KCRM, PTER, ASEC, AM, TU, KPRP 
SUBJECT: LITTLE PROGRESS ON INVESTIGATING SEIZURE OF 
CESIUM-137 AT TURKISH/GEORGIAN BORDER 
 
REF: A) YEREVAN 131 B) ANKARA 810 
 
Classified By: CDA A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1.  (C) Armenia asserts that it has still not received formal 
notification that from either the IAEA or from the Turkish 
authorities that Cesium-137 seized on the Georgia-Turkey 
border in December 2004 originated in Armenia.  Armenian MFA 
experts tell us they will insist on a formal investigation 
and an official notification, without which a criminal 
prosecution in an Armenian court would not be possible.  End 
Summary 
 
2.  (C) We met on February 16 with Armen Israelian, head of 
the Armenian MFA's Department of Arms Control and 
International Security, to follow-up discussions on the 
seizure of an truck from Armenia found to contain Cesium-137. 
 Israelian claimed that the only notification the Government 
of Armenia had received was a fax from the Turkish Atomic 
Energy Authority to the Deputy Head of Armenia's Agency for 
Emergency Situations.  Neither his office -- which is the 
official IAEA point of contact -- nor the National Security 
Service had been formally notified.  He further claimed that 
the only copy of the IAEA Incident Notification Form he had 
seen was the one shown to him by the U.S. Embassy. 
 
3.  (C) Israelian said that Armenia will insist on an 
official notification and a formal investigation.  Since -- 
if it turns out that the source originated in Armenia -- the 
end result of an investigation would be a criminal trial, any 
evidence obtained must be kept in proper channels and be 
strictly accounted for. 
 
4.  (C) Israelian said that the GOAM was not ready to concede 
that the Cesium-137 originated in Armenia.  He admitted that 
truck began its trip in Armenia, but argued that the truck 
was in the sole custody of the driver all the way across 
Georgia and the radioactive material could technically have 
been obtained there.  While an "official" investigation would 
not begin before Armenia received a formal notification, 
Israelian said that Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) 
had already begun investigating the incident.  The NSS 
determined that the truck crossed from Armenia into Georgia 
at the Bagratashen border crossing (the main crossing point 
for cargo).  He said that the fact that Georgia's radiation 
detector did not detect the Cesium-137 when the truck crossed 
the border called into serious question Turkey's assertion 
that the radioactive source originated in Armenia.  (Note: A 
recent visitor from the IAEA told Embassy Yerevan's Customs 
Adviser that the radiation detection equipment on the 
Georgian side of the border had been inoperative for four 
months.  End Note.) 
 
5.  (C) In a follow-up conversation to the February 16 
meeting, CDA on February 23 pressed Israelian to engage with 
the Georgian and Turkish authorities to begin an 
investigation in earnest.  Israelian said that the NSS would 
continue its inquiries, even absent a formal request. 
Israelian told us that the NSS had made an approach to U.S. 
intelligence representatives to request appropriate 
cooperation from Georgia.  Israelian stated that it would 
also be useful if the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK) 
would officially notify their counterpart agency in Armenia, 
the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (ANRA) about the 
seizure. 
 
Comment 
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6,  (C) We do not question whether the Cesium-137 originated 
in Armenia.  Israelian knows that the Bagratashen radiation 
detector's failure to detect the material is not dispositive. 
 We are frustrated that the Armenian NSS has no effective 
links with its neighbor's intelligence service.  But we 
recognize that the NSS has been frustrated by a lack of a 
consistent counterpart in Georgia as structural changes 
continue there.  Armenia's lack of diplomatic relations with 
Turkey hampers progress in this case.  We will continue to 
press the GOAM to take this more seriously and to recognize 
that non-proliferation cooperation issues must not be hostage 
to bilateral disputes.  Nevertheless, formal notification of 
the seizure by either the IAEA or Turkey would help.  Armenia 
has recent experience in which poor procedure almost led to 
the acquittal of an Armenian who attempted to smuggle 
weapons-grade HEU across state lines. 
GODFREY