The French ballistic missile submarine Le Triomphant. France is considering revising its nuclear weapons doctrine (AFP/Getty). France Considering Revisions to Nuclear Weapons Doctrine The French newspaper Liberation has reported that France is preparing to change its nuclear weapons doctrine to include the possible use of first strikes against rogue states, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, Oct. 20)...Full Story

U.S. Health Officials Will Not Abandon Smallpox Immunizations By David McGlinchey Global Security Newswire GENEVA — U.S health officials do not intend to abandon their efforts to inoculate emergency health workers with the smallpox vaccine, even though the 10-month-old program has fallen far short of anticipated goals, a senior health official said last week (see GSN, Oct. 23)...Full Story

U.S. Senate Committee Approves Chemical Plant Security Bill By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week approved by a voice vote a bill designed to improve security at U.S. chemical plants against possible terrorist attacks (see GSN, Aug. 1)...Full Story

	Tuesday, October 28, 2003

U.S. Senate Committee Approves Chemical Plant Security Bill By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week approved by a voice vote a bill designed to improve security at U.S. chemical plants against possible terrorist attacks (see GSN, Aug. 1). The bill, the Chemical Facilities Security Act of 2003, would require chemical plant operators to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop site security plans, as well as give the U.S. Homeland Security Department the authority to regulate those security plans (see GSN, May 13). Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who introduced the bill, reached a compromise with Senator Lincoln Chaffee (R-R.I.) to add provisions to require plant operators to submit their site security plans to Homeland Security and to consider using alternative safer approaches in their manufacturing processes, according to an Inhofe press statement. “I think the bill we have before us today represents a balanced, common sense compromise that provides a strong, mandatory federal role governing security at chemical facilities,” Inhofe said. “Homeland security is a top priority for the committee, and this bill takes yet another step in our efforts to reduce the risk of terrorist acts against America,” he added. Inhofe’s bill effectively killed a competing bill reoffered earlier this year by Senator Jon Corzine (D-N.J). In an interview with Global Security Newswire yesterday, Corzine spokesman Darius Goore criticized the approved bill for failing to require Homeland Security to evaluate site security plans once chemical plant operators submit them.  Goore also criticized a bill provision that would allow chemical plant operators to petition Homeland Security to endorse site security standards developed by the chemical industry if they are “substantially equivalent” to the requirements in the bill. Such language could become a “potential loophole” for the chemical industry because the term “substantially equivalent” is not adequately defined, he said. A full Senate vote on the bill has not yet been scheduled, Goore said. In a press statement Thursday, Corzine called on the Bush administration to work for the bill’s full passage in both houses of Congress. “I call on the administration to get off the sidelines and push leaders in the House and Senate to support legislation that will really make Americans safer,” Corzine said. Back to top

France Considering Revisions to Nuclear Weapons Doctrine The French newspaper Liberation has reported that France is preparing to change its nuclear weapons doctrine to include the possible use of first strikes against rogue states, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, Oct. 20). French senior military sources said the nuclear weapons policy is currently under review and the expected changes would be announced by the beginning of next year, possibly in a public speech by French President Jacques Chirac. The new policy may include the threat of a nuclear first strike if France felt threatened by weapons of mass destruction, the Independent reported. A shift in French nuclear weapons policy was inevitable, said Gen. Bernard Norlain, former head of the French Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defense. “We have been working under the concept of nonuse and deterrence,” Norlain said. “We said, ‘This weapon is not designed to be used.’ Now, faced with a potential enemy that is quite irrational, we are going to have to reverse that concept,” he added (John Lichtfield, London Independent, Oct. 28). Chirac’s office, however, has denied that there has been any change in French nuclear weapons doctrine since a June 2001 speech, in which Chirac endorsed the concept of nuclear deterrence, according to Agence France-Presse. In that speech, Chirac said the concept of nuclear deterrence allowed France “to face threats which might be brought to bear on our vital interests from regional powers armed with weapons of mass destruction” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Oct. 28). Back to top       North Korea Might Accept U.S. Offer, South Korean Official Says North Korea might be willing to make concessions to ease tensions in the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said today (see GSN, Oct. 27). “I think North Korea is revising its position,” Jeong said. “North Korea has shown some positive steps forward,” he added (Associated Press/USA Today, Oct. 28). “As for its demand for security assurance from the United States, North Korea has in the past insisted on a nonaggression treaty with the United States … but it seems that the North has now softened its stance in this issue. I suspect it may now settle for multilateral security assurances,” Jeong said (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 28). South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan said officials are hoping for another round of nuclear talks in December. “The date for the second round of six-nation talks has not been set yet. But our government hopes it will happen in the beginning or middle of December,” Yoon said. “Since all the related countries have not started discussing the date, it’s still too early to say when,” he added. During a series of visits throughout Asia last week, U.S. President George W. Bush said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il “let his people starve and shrink in size as a result of malnutrition.” North Korea questioned Bush’s commitment to resolving the nuclear standoff. “We cannot help raising questions not only on the qualifications of Bush as a political leader but also on whether he really intended to resolve the (nuclear) issue when he said he would provide written security assurances,” according to a commentary from the state-run Korean Central News Agency (Associated Press/USA Today). Back to top       Iran Faces Final Stages of Protocol Decision Iran will notify the International Atomic Energy Agency in “a matter of days” to announce its decision to sign the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, which would allow the agency to monitor Iran’s nuclear activities in more detail, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Oct. 27). “We are soon going to send a letter indicating our intention and our readiness to accede to the protocol,” said Iran’s delegate to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi. The final decision, however, rests with Hassan Rohani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council of National Security. “A letter has been drafted. It has been given to officials.  They are studying it,” Salehi said. He added that Iran has attached “no conditions” to signing the protocol (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 28). Meanwhile, U.S. and Israeli officials expressed skepticism with the Iran’s promises of greater cooperation with the IAEA. The plan was brokered by British, German and French officials. “It is already possible to conclude with certainty that the Iranians have lied once again,” said a senior Israeli intelligence official. “Domestically, they describe their commitment to the Europeans as a temporary halt. They are not giving up their capabilities, but freezing them for a limited period,” the official added. Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze’evi said this week that the chances of Iran ending its nuclear program are “extremely low” (Amos Harel, Ha’aretz, Oct. 28). Back to top       Air Force Study Recommends Waiting to Obtain New Strategic Bomber A new U.S. Air Force study recommends delaying efforts to acquire a new long-range bomber for about a decade, Defense Daily reported today (see GSN, Oct. 8). In a speech earlier this month at the Heritage Foundation, Col. Gary Crowder, Air Combat Command chief of strategy and doctrine, outlined the findings of the Future Force Structure Flight Plan. According to the study, technology is not yet mature enough to begin work on a significantly more advanced bomber, Defense Daily reported. “By 2012 or 2014, when the technology is available, we can start the development of a follow-on bomber when we have a better understanding of what that aircraft will look like,” Crowder said. The Air Force is still considering whether a new bomber will be piloted or not, according to Crowder. He said that as technology improves, the service would have more options. For example, if the Air Force decided to obtain a new bomber now, it would only be able to purchase a slightly more advanced B-2 bomber, Crowder said. In 10 years, however, the Air Force could purchase an advanced delta-wing or blended-wing bomber, and in 20 years the service could possibly purchase a hypersonic bomber. Under the current Air Force investment plan, a new bomber could be fielded between 2025 and 2030, Crowder said. “If we need to accelerate that program, we can do it,” he said (Sharon Weinberger, Defense Daily, Oct. 28). Back to top

U.S. Health Officials Will Not Abandon Smallpox Immunizations By David McGlinchey Global Security Newswire GENEVA — U.S health officials do not intend to abandon their efforts to inoculate emergency health workers with the smallpox vaccine, even though the 10-month-old program has fallen far short of anticipated goals, a senior health official said last week (see GSN, Oct. 23). U.S. officials have turned their focus away from a broad public vaccination effort and are now trying to convince local hospital officials that smallpox immunizations are in their own best interest, according to D.A. Henderson, who led the international smallpox eradication effort and is now a top adviser to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Henderson acknowledged that the program had stalled, but he said that it had not died. “If I were director of a hospital, I would want a good number of my people immunized. I think there are going to be additional vaccinations,” he said in an interview. In 2002, health officials decided to launch a national smallpox immunization campaign and asked state health departments to estimate how many emergency workers would need the vaccine. The combined state estimates totaled about 420,000 emergency workers. Considering the need to exclude some at-risk workers, U.S. officials expected to vaccinate about 300,000 personnel in the first phase of the program, Henderson said. In December 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the beginning of the campaign and received the vaccine himself. Administration officials — including Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie Gerberding — said that they were hoping to complete the first phase of vaccinations in about a month, and then move forward to vaccinate 10 million fire fighters, security personnel, and other first responders during the summer. Despite vaccinating only 38,000 health care workers since then, homeland security officials insist that the program has not fallen short of expectations. “We feel that we have enough inoculated individuals should an outbreak occur,” said Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse. Henderson acknowledged that many see the immunization effort as a failure, but he said that Washington has greatly strengthened the nation’s bioterrorism defenses. He cited the newly purchased U.S. vaccine stockpile, increased physician awareness and improved communication within the public health community. “We’re light years away from where we were a year ago. We’re dealing with a different situation,” Henderson said. If terrorists attacked the United States with the smallpox virus, officials could quickly detect and control the outbreak, according to Henderson. “I have a feeling we could bring it to a halt, with no cases after 4-6 weeks. It would not disrupt civil society,” he said. Back to top       Professor’s Prosecution Could Chill Research, U.S. Scientists Say U.S. scientists have said that the case of Texas Tech University professor Thomas Butler, scheduled to begin trial Monday for mishandling plague bacteria samples and for lying to the FBI, could have a “chilling” effect on scientific research, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Oct. 20). In January, Butler reported that 30 vials were missing and presumed stolen from his university laboratory. Butler later signed a statement, however, saying that he had actually destroyed the vials and had misled federal agents, the Times reported.  U.S. scientists have said that Butler’s case could have a negative impact on research efforts, according to the Times. “This case has been chilling,” said Paul Keim, a microbial geneticist at Northern Arizona University. “Every time we do something in the laboratory now, we wonder if we are going to have to be … worrying about criminal prosecution,” he said. “Butler is probably the nation’s most eminent expert on the plague (bacterium),” said Peter Agre, the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a former student of Butler’s. “Are students going to want to work on tropical medicine if there’s a chance they might lose some samples, then be hauled off in the middle of the night?” he said. Some of Butler’s colleagues have said, however, that while he was dedicated to his research on dangerous diseases, he also had a tendency to overlook U.S. regulations designed to counter the threat of bioterrorism, the Times reported.  “Dr. Butler, being of the ‘old school,’ clinical researchers, did not appear to be as attentive to (security) issues as we were compelled to be,” U.S. Army bacteriologist Col. W. Russell Byrne wrote in a letter to the prosecutor in Butler’s case (Charles Piller, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 28). Back to top       Workers Fumigate Anthrax-Tainted New Jersey Postal Facility Technicians this weekend completed the fumigation of a Hamilton, N.J, postal facility that became contaminated with anthrax during the 2001 anthrax attacks, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 5). The decontamination effort, which used chlorine dioxide gas to kill anthrax spores, was completed as planned, said U.S. Postal Service Vice President of Engineering Thomas Day. Over the next two months, technicians will collect more than 3,000 test strips to determine whether the fumigation was successful, he said. “Our standard is no growth,” Day said. “To meet our standard, every sample must show no growth of anthrax,” he added. A committee of local, state and federal scientists is expected to make a final determination of the decontamination’s success by February, Day said. The Hamilton facility decontamination effort is expected to cost at least $70 million, he said (Associated Press/WNBC.com, Oct. 27) Back to top

Australia Sends Spent Fuel to France Under tight security and cover of night, Australian officials yesterday sent a shipment of spent nuclear fuel to France for reprocessing, Reuters reported (see GSN, Oct. 15). The Australian Nuclear Science Technology Organization, which manages Australia’s only nuclear facility, brought the shipment through Sydney with helicopter, mounted and motorized police escorts. The spent fuel was the country’s sixth radioactive shipment to France over the last four decades, Reuters reported. “Relevant local councils and stakeholders were informed prior to shipment. However, the exact route and timetable was not provided for obvious security reasons,” ANSTO acting Executive Director Ron Cameron said. In 1997, Australian lawmakers decided not to develop a domestic reprocessing facility and chose instead to send all spent fuel overseas for reprocessing (Reuters/Hindustan Times, Oct. 27). The 344 spent nuclear rods were loaded onto the French container ship Fret Moselle, which was surrounded by police craft and Greenpeace protesters. “These casks are vulnerable to terrorist attack,” said Greenpeace spokesman James Courtney. “I think that the federal government is downplaying the risk of terrorism when it suits them and playing it up when they want to use it to their advantage,” he added (BBC News, Oct. 28). Back to top       Australian Counterterrorism Unit Conducts Radiological Weapon Exercise An Australian counterterrorism unit today conducted a training exercise involving simulated radiological weapons, the Australian Defense Ministry said (see GSN, June 11). The “Clean Slate” exercise was held at a nuclear facility located near Sydney, AFP reported. In the exercise, soldiers from the Incident Response Regiment conducted search, disposal and treatment operations after discovering a secret laboratory containing “radiological improvised explosive devices,” the ministry said. “Exercise Clean Slate will be a valuable chance for our soldiers to hone their skills at detecting and dealing with radiological devices,” said commanding officer Lt. Col. Craig Petrie (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 28).   Back to top

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