IA-88-477, Forwards Background Info Re Unauthorized Employment Activities of Us Citizens in South Africa
| ML20205N183 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/20/1985 |
| From: | Jacob Zimmerman NRC |
| To: | Stoiber C STATE, DEPT. OF, BUREAU OF OCEANS & INTL. ENVIRONMENT |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20205N172 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-88-477 NUDOCS 8811030483 | |
| Download: ML20205N183 (9) | |
Text
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,t~ 'o UNITED STATES -
. ! ) , ( I ,,e NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION T
.{ wAssiNoToN. o. c. 2osss MI(WD MAY 2 01985 Mr. Carlton R. Stoiber. Director '
Office of Nuclear Export and Import Control Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs i U.S. Department of State '
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr. Stolbe. :
Enclosed for your infonr.ation is a copy of background information and an !
April 2 response to Congress' nan Markey's January 25 and March 1 letters to NRC regarding reported unauthorized employment activities of U.S. citizens in South Africa's nuclear power program. ;
Sincerely.
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h ]l bkr a.es. . IlMMrInan Assistant Director Export / Import and International Sa'eguards i
Office of International Programs !
Enclosures:
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- 'j'4 g;ch For: The Comission From_: William J. Dircks Executive Director for Openations
Subject:
RESPONSE TO REPRESENTATIVE MARKEY ON SOUTH AFRICA (U)
Purpose:
To obtain Comission approval of a proposed response to Representative Markey's request for infomation on NRC's involvement in activities related to the employtnent of U.S.
citizens in South Africa's nuclear power .ogram.-
(C) Backgrpund: On February 7 (Appendix A), the staff informed the Comission of the status of DOE's review, under 10 CFR Part 810. of the employment of several U.S. citizens in South Africa's nuclear power program. As indicated, the Executive Branch intends to refuse to grant authorization fo U.S. ,
citizens to work in South Africa as operators at the Koeberg CLAS E c - .. , , .
On February 8. the staff informed DOE rn no- j nuclear p g plant.
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[y?lpf d-., & n/s75f that NRC had "no objection" to DOE's plans to deny 12 dCA[c[ .g[jg pending requests. The staff is also providing separately to the Comission a brief review and discussion of these South African developments. s... _ _ ,
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r bfbfkS lb!I The Coennission 2 On January 25 (Appendix B). Representative Markey requested (C) the Comission to provide complete infonnation, including documents, regarding the NRC's knowledge of and involvement in activities concerning the employment of U.S. citizens in South Africa's nuclear power program. The staff has prepared a proposed response to Representative Markey at Appendix L. Because of the fact that much of the i infonnation requested does not originate with NRC, this proposed response has been shown to State and DOE staff who do not object to its contents.
William J. Dircks Executive Director for Operations Appendices:
A. IPDailydtd2/7/85(C)
B. Ltr fnn Rep. Markey dtd 1/25/85 C. ProposedResponsetoRep.Markey(C) l I
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February 7, 1985 E
Technology Transfers involving U.S. Cittrens at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant in South Africa In accordance with Comissioner Asselstine's request at the February 1 Comission meeting on export matters, the staff is preparing a status report on the Deptrtment of Energy's efforts to determine whether certain U.S. personnel currently working at South Africa's Koeberg nuclear power plant require U.S.
government approval to conduct those actitivies in accordance with 10 CFR Part 810. (The Comission has received a number of classified Department of State cables discussing this situation during the past several weeks.) This paper will be completed next week and provide unclassified Q's and A's which kg .
Comissioners may wish to use should this subject be raised during upcoming Congressional hearings.
In the meantime, however, the staff has been asked by the Department of Energy to coment on ten requests from U.S. citizens whom the Department has just deterstned do require specific authorization prior to continuing their work at Koeberg an(Two requests from individuals who have been offered encloyment at Koeberg but who have not yet departed the U.S. fur South Africa. (Copiesof these 17 requests are being provided to the Secretariat, A. Bates, for
. Comission review.) The staff has examined each of these reo.uests and notes the following:
g NS b 1. The requests involve assistance which is generally comparable in terms of
'?C 3 technology and scope to that authorized by the Department of Energy for t' p % Koeberg over the past two years. MRC did not raise an objection to these previous authorizations. (See SECY-83-398.)
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- 2. The requests, either individually or collectively, are not significant from '1 E_h - the proliferation standpoint.
K The Department of State has indicated that for nonproliferation / foreign h
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policy reasons it believes the U.S. should not approve these authorizations.
The Department of Energy is asking that NRC (along with the other involved 5d' federal agencies) provide its views on this matter at a specially-convened x ' .
Subgroup on Nuclear Export Control (SNEC) meeting. Friday morning ftbruary 8.
The staff understands that the Departnents of State and Energy will recomend that these requests not be approved. The staff plans to indicate a "no objection
- to this recomendation. Unless the Cot.wission advises otherwise, the staff will take this position at the February 8th SNEC meeting, tes n,,
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January 25, 1985 The Honorable Nunzio Palladino Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Dear Chairman Palladinos Information has coAs to my attention that a number of U.S.
citizens formerly employed as nuclear reactor operators by the Tennessee Valley Authority and by other private utilities may now be or may previously have been employed in similiar capacities in souti \frica by the Electricity Supply Commission of South Africa (EscorJ . I understand that these individuals do not have the specific authorization of the Secretary of Energy required to engage legally in ehese activities. If true, this raises serious questions as to whether they are in violation of Section 57(b) of
- the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended. As you know, a violation of Section 57 of that Act is a crime subject to imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 810,000 or both.
I am concerned that of ficials of the United States government may have known of the activities of these U.S. citizens in South Africa for as long as a year but failed to take action to correct this situation.
I request that you provide me with complete information about your knowledge of or that of any other of ficials of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission relating to activities by U.S. citizens in South Af rica which are subject to Section 57(b). Please specify when both you or any other official of the Commission first became aware of the situation, how you were made aware of the situation and 'ehat actions were taken in response and when.
In addition. please provide copies, classified or otherwise, of all the following: 1) all cables, communications, and documents or any other exchanges between the NRC and the U.S.
Embassy in South Af rica or between the United States government and the government of South Af rica regarding U.S. citizens providing technical assistance to ESCOM or to any other part of
- 2) all letters, the nuclear power program in South Africa documents or other communications between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. citizens regarding activities in South Africar Mg4N$D p zoo - 000325
R 2 and 3) all documents, records, notes, letters "orrespondence, memoranda, telephone records and logs, briefin.g and position paper.s, or any other document regarding communications within or between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of State, the Justice Department, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Department of Energy, or the White House on this issue.
Because of the serious nature of this matter your immediate response to this request is desired. ,
Sincerely, f
EdwardJ.Markey[
Member of CongresHs K
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APPENDIX C I
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- pf- ..tr.s o .. . . Y The Honorable Edward Markey United States House of Representatives k; Washington, D. C. 20515 i:' .I:
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Dear Congressman Markey:
(U) This is in response to your letter of January 25 regarding the employment of U.S. citizens in South Africa's nuclear power program.
(C) The NRC first became aware of the possible employment of U.S. citizens in South Africa's nuclear power program sometime in late November 1984 when the Comission wa: provided with copies of classified State Department cables in which the State Department requested the U.S. Embassy in South Africa to look into the matter. These cables were forwarded by the NRC staff to the Comissioners on November 29, at which time I personally first became aware of the situation. Subsequently, the Executive Branch hac continued to keep the Comission informed about developments, b On February 1 DOE requested the Cortnission's coerents on 12 requests, under (U) 10 CFR Part 810, for authorization for U.S. citizens to work in South Africa.
On February 7, tne Comission, in accordance with its statutory review I -esponsibilities, orally indicated it had "no objection" to the Executive Branch's proposal to deny these ten requests.
Ej The Comission has neither originated nor received any comunications with Gg j U.S. citizens, the U.S. Embassy in South Africa, or anyone else regarding this
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{.,4 matter. To date, the only Comission generated documents on this matter are classified Comission infomation reports (dated February 7th and * ). The February 7th report is enclosed. The February
- report is a more detailed status report. It draws heavily upon classified Executive Branch docu-ents 1
-x which are discussed further in the next paragraph. To date, NRC has not '
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2 requested Executive Branch concurrence in its release to third parties.
Should you wish, we will be glad to make this request of the concerned Executive Branch agencies.
(C) As is noted above, the Comission has received several documents from the Executive Branch concerning these South African developments which should be obtained from the originating agencies. To assure that these documents are not overlooked, we have provided listings of all documents received to the originating agencies. We recomend you contact the Department of Energy on behalf of the Executive Branch agencies concerning access to these documents.
(U) In conclusion, the Comission sppreciates y9ur concern regarding the sensitivity of U.S. involvement in South African nuclear activities. To date, the Comission believes that the U.S. Government h eving appropriately with regard to asturing compliance with all ap61ca01e s%
U.S. etpqrt con)rolselw .a1 M e k.1:er regulations affecting U.S. citizens employed 3 t tirg, including consulting with the Comission as required by the Atomic Energy Act. Finally, in an effort to reduce further the possibility of any future inadvittent violations of U.S. export control regulations, the Comission is preparing a statement to all NRC-licensed utilities and reactor operator licensees which will clearly describe the prior approval requirements under 10 CFR Part 810 with respect to U.S. involvement in South Africa's nuclear power program.
Sincerely.
Nunzio J. Palladino Chaiman w1e+&v*4 .
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