US embassy cable - 05THEHAGUE2666

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 002666 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE TO T STAFF/JIM TIMBIE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM, KNNP, NL 
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS: RESPONSE TO INVITE ON FUEL SUPPLY 
ASSURANCES 
 
REF: A. STATE 180457 
 
     B. STATE 172017 
 
1. Post delivered ref A letter to the office of Hugo Siblesz 
(Director General for Political Affairs, MFA) on September 
30.  On October 4, Charge followed up directly with Siblesz. 
Siblesz said the Dutch definitely plan to participate in the 
October 12 and 13 London meetings on fuel supply assurances. 
Although he had not made a final decision regarding his own 
attendance, Siblesz said he probably would not/not be able to 
attend in person due to a scheduling conflict.  If this 
proved to be the case, Siblesz proposed that Robert de Groot 
(Director, Security Policy Department, MFA) attend the 
meeting in his place.  Paul Wilke (Head, Nuclear Affairs and 
Non-Proliferation Division, MFA) also plans to be in London 
during that time frame and could attend the experts session. 
Siblesz confirmed that his office would send a response to 
U/S Joseph's letter as soon as the MFA made a final 
determination on participation. 
 
2. Separately, Polmiloff received September 30 the below 
faxed letter response to ref B.  Wilke said the letter also 
had been sent to the Dutch embassy in Washington for delivery 
to the Department. 
 
Begin text: 
 
Mr. R.G. Joseph 
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International 
Security 
State Department 
 
 
Den Haag, September 2005 
 
Dear Mr. Joseph, 
 
Thank you for your letter dated September 19th, in which you 
ask my attention for the detailed proposal introduced by the 
United States to establish a mechanism to provide assured 
access to nuclear fuel for countries that forgo enrichment 
and reprocessing.  The Netherlands appreciates this 
initiative and thinks it is highly relevant in our fight 
against nuclear proliferation to achieve results soon.  We 
will therefore continue to work constructively with your 
country and others in order to accomplish this. 
 
We will be most interested in learning the results of the 
"market research" that will be conducted to survey duel 
supply concerns of potential recipient states, and hope this 
will provide further impetus to the early development of a 
credible and internationally accepted mechanism.  The 
modalities of such a mechanism are best discussed between 
experts, and I can assure you that the Netherlands is 
committed to participate in such discussions, now and in the 
future. 
 
As to the forum in which these discussions should best take 
place, it is our considered opinion that we need to organize 
them in such a way that all interested countries, both 
consumers and producers, can fully participate in the 
development of this mechanism.  The reasons for this are 
twofold. 
 
First of all, the main beneficiaries of the proposed 
mechanism will be the consuming countries.  The outcome of 
the "market research" will hopefully provide important 
indications about the needs of these countries.  However, we 
feel that without the inclusion of consuming countries in 
establishing a mechanism, issues of real or perceived 
importance for those countries might be insufficiently dealt 
with. 
 
Second, and perhaps more important, is that a mechanism to 
provide assured access to nuclear fuel will only further our 
non-proliferation goals if and when it becomes widely 
accepted amongst consumer countries.  It is our appreciation 
that, after the failure of the 2005 Review Conference and the 
impossibility to arrive at consensus on a text on disarmament 
and non-proliferation for the UN Summit that was recently 
concluded, we need to pay extra attention to developing an 
adequate platform.  Otherwise, the mechanism now proposed by 
the United States, however potentially beneficial to all 
parties concerned, might not be widely accepted, and least of 
all by those countries that concern us most. 
 
Therefore, the Netherlands would like to promote having a 
discussion on assured access to nuclear fuel in the framework 
of the IAEA, in a format that would allow both producing and 
consuming countries to participate.   The mechanism that was 
proposed by the United States would be a valuable 
contribution to such discussion.  The Netherlands would 
therefore be most happy with the United States on a statement 
setting forth the intention of the supplier states to conduct 
open ended talks in the framework of the IAEA aimed at 
establishing a mechanism of assured access to nuclear fuel, 
in which reference is made to your proposals. 
 
Mr. H.H. Siblesz 
Director General of Political Affairs 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
 
End text. 
 
BLAKEMAN