The Sedan crater at the Nevada Test Site. U.S. lawmakers yesterday agreed to a measure shortening the time needed to prepare a U.S. nuclear test (DOE). U.S. Legislators Cut Bush Nuclear Weapons Requests By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. congressional negotiators agreed yesterday to reduce funding requested by the Bush administration for certain nuclear weapons research and development...Full Story

Senior Iraqi Officials Attempted to Avert War In the months leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, several senior Iraqi officials tried to invite U.S. officials to conduct their own WMD searches in Iraq in an effort to avoid war — an offer that was ultimately refused, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 5)...Full Story

North Korea Aims to Keep KEDO-Provided Technology North Korea said today that it would not allow the United States to remove equipment or technology from two recently suspended nuclear power plant construction sites unless it receives compensation for the potentially defunct efforts (see GSN, Nov. 5)...Full Story

	Thursday, November 6, 2003

Senior Iraqi Officials Attempted to Avert War In the months leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, several senior Iraqi officials tried to invite U.S. officials to conduct their own WMD searches in Iraq in an effort to avoid war — an offer that was ultimately refused, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 5). The senior Iraqi officials, including the head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, relayed their offer to the United States through Lebanese-American businessman Imad Hage, according to the Times. As part of their offer, the Iraqis said their country did not possess weapons of mass destruction and offered to allow U.S. troops and experts to come to Iraq to verify the claim. Hassan al-Obeidi, chief of foreign operations in the Iraqi Intelligence Service, said the “Americans could send 2,000 FBI agents to look wherever they wanted,” according to Hage. The Iraqi officials also offered to provide the United States with a man accused of involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing who was being held in Iraq, Hage said. He added that Iraq was apparently intimidated by the growing U.S. military threat. “The Iraqis were finally taking it seriously … and they wanted to talk, and they offered things they never would have offered if the buildup hadn’t occurred,” Hage said. The Iraqi officials’ messages were first passed in February to an analyst in the office of U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith in an apparent attempt to open backdoor communications, according to people involved. Iraqi officials indicated that their efforts had the approval of then-President Saddam Hussein. While the offer was rebuffed by the United States, it raised the interest of Pentagon adviser Richard Perle, who agreed in March to meet in London with Hage, the Times reported. During that meeting, Hage detailed the Iraqis’ position to Perle and relayed their request for a direct meeting with either him or another U.S. representative, according to the Times. “I was dubious that this would work … but I agreed to talk to people in Washington,” Perle said. Perle said he attempted to obtain CIA authorization to meet with the Iraqi officials, but agency officials said they did not want to pursue this option and were already engaged in separate contacts with Baghdad. “The message was, ‘Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad,’” Perle said. A senior U.S. intelligence official described the Iraqi offer as one of several contacts with either Iraqi officials or people claiming to be acting on Baghdad’s behalf. “These signals came via a broad range of foreign intelligence services, other governments, third parties, charlatans and independent actors,” the official said. “Every lead that was at all plausible, and some that weren’t, were followed up,” the official added (James Risen, New York Times, Nov. 6). Back to top       Italy Agrees With Russia on Chemical, Nuclear Demilitarization Deals A state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Rome this week was expected to spur the completion of two agreements, one to cooperate on the destruction of Moscow’s chemical weapons stockpile and the second to scrap Russian nuclear submarines, ITAR-Tass reported Tuesday (see GSN, Oct. 21; ITAR-Tass, Nov. 4). Italy will provide Moscow with more than $400 million to accelerate programs for the dismantling of nuclear submarines and the storage of nuclear fuel, according to Russian Deputy Atomic Energy Minister Sergei Antipov. The funding, which will be used under the Global Partnership program, will also be used to safely transport radioactive material from northwest Russia for reprocessing in other areas of the country (Gherman Solomatin, ITAR-Tass, Nov. 5). Back to top

U.S. Legislators Cut Bush Nuclear Weapons Requests By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. congressional negotiators agreed yesterday to reduce funding requested by the Bush administration for certain nuclear weapons research and development. Reconciling differences between their respective versions of the fiscal 2004 energy and water appropriations bill, House and Senate lawmakers addressed a Bush administration request for $21 million to conduct specific nuclear weapons research and related activities. The legislators agreed to cut $7.5 million from the requested $15 million for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator program to develop a sturdier nuclear weapon to attack buried enemy bunkers.  Another $4 million was withheld from the Advanced Concepts Initiative, a low-yield nuclear weapons research and development program for which the administration sought $6 million, until Congress receives an overdue report from the administration detailing its plans to reduce the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. In a further setback to administration plans, the legislators scaled back an effort to decrease the time needed to prepare for conducting a nuclear weapons test. The administration had sought to reduce that time from 36 months to 18 months, but the congressional conferees ordered a 24-month period. They did, however, approve the full $25 million sought by the administration to implement the test readiness measures. The negotiators also cut $12 million from a $23-million request for building a new nuclear warhead pit production facility, called the Modern Pit Facility. The pits, the plutonium cores of nuclear weapons, are intended to replace aging ones in the stockpile, administration officials have said. Arms control experts called the moves by the Republican-dominated committees a partial victory. “The Bush administration’s drive for expanding the use of nuclear weapons has suffered at least a temporary setback,” said John Isaacs, president of Council for a Livable World, an arms control organization. “We have compromised rather substantially,” said Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), who supported full funding, as quoted by Reuters. The Senate version of bill, passed in September, approved the administration’s full request (see GSN, Sept. 17), but in July, the House called for cuts somewhat deeper than those approved yesterday (see GSN, July 17). The nuclear weapons-related funding was sought by the Bush administration as part of a new national security approach that seeks to make available nuclear weapons for tactical purposes as well as for traditional strategic deterrence. Proponents have argued that the threat of country-wrecking nuclear retaliation by the United States might not seem credible to potential adversaries and therefore smaller nuclear options are needed (see GSN, Aug. 14). Many Democrats, national security experts, foreign governments and even some Republican legislators have criticized the approach as destabilizing, saying it could foster international insecurity, undermine nuclear nonproliferation efforts, and jeopardize nuclear arms control treaties (see GSN, Aug. 8) Back to top       North Korea Aims to Keep KEDO-Provided Technology North Korea said today that it would not allow the United States to remove equipment or technology from two recently suspended nuclear power plant construction sites unless it receives compensation for the potentially defunct efforts (see GSN, Nov. 5). The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization yesterday agreed to suspend work on the two plants, and U.S. officials said the suspension would be permanent. The power plant project was part of a 1994 agreement to provide power to North Korea in exchange for a freeze in all other North Korean nuclear activity. A North Korean spokesman said his country would keep all tangible forms of the project. “We will never allow the transferring of equipment, facilities and technical documents out of the Kumho district unless compensations for the stopping of construction of light-water reactors are made,” a North Korean spokesman said (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 6). North Korea questioned the U.S. commitment to pursue multilateral talks in good faith, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. “This compels the D.P.R.K. to doubt whether the U.S. would come out to make a switchover in its policy toward the D.P.R.K. in case the six-way talks are resumed in the future,” the KCNA statement added (Reuters/CNN.com, Nov. 6). South Korea said the suspension of the nuclear power plant construction would not be permanent. “Our government’s position is based on the premise that if the project is halted temporarily, it can resume a year later,” said South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan. Conservative factions in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush have long hoped to end the power plant project, the Los Angeles Times reported. “They’ve finally driven the stake into Dracula’s chest,” said Donald Gregg, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea. “But for all the faults (of this project), it exemplified many positive things — namely, the ability of North Korea, South Korea, Japan and the United States to work together to solve North Korea’s energy crisis,” he added. The nuclear power plants could be replaced by conventional power facilities in a new deal, Gregg said (Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6). Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to meet with a senior U.S. State Department official during a visit to Washington today. Fresh off a visit to Pyongyang, Wang will brief James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, on meetings between high-level Chinese and North Korean officials (David Sands, Washington Times, Nov. 6). As part of its proposal to defuse the Korean nuclear standoff, meanwhile, the United States is proposing a treaty to officially end the 50-year-old Korean War, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. South Korea never signed the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953. The peace treaty would also be signed by North Korea, the United States, China and Japan (Shane Green, Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 6). Back to top       Iran Ready to Sign Additional Protocol, Will Notify IAEA in “Days” Iran will deliver a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency within days announcing its decision to sign the Additional Protocol, which would allow the agency to conduct more intrusive monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear activities (see GSN, Nov. 5). “The letter has been prepared and we are going to hand it over to the IAEA secretariat,” said Iran’s representative to the agency, Ali Akbar Salehi. “I would say it’s in days,” he added. Hassan Rohani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, will meet with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna Saturday in a further attempt to dispel suspicions that Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons. Rohani might deliver the letter Saturday, but Iran could also wait until immediately before the Nov. 20 IAEA Board of Governors meeting to hand over the notice, Reuters reported (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters/Washington Post, Nov. 6). Salehi said that Iran had in the past made “mistakes” in reporting the country’s nuclear development. In the report that Tehran submitted to the IAEA, Iranian officials included detailed drawings of nuclear equipment that was imported into the country. Agency officials detected enriched uranium on the equipment but Tehran said that the contamination occurred before it was imported. Iranian officials said they do not know where the equipment originally came from but they added that the evidence in the report should lead IAEA inspectors to the source. The detailed drawings and the samples taken from the equipment have probably given the agency “enough clues as to where they came from,” Salehi said. Some diplomats have said that the equipment most likely came from Pakistan, the Associated Press reported (George Jahn, Associated Press/London Guardian, Nov. 6). Back to top       Energy Officials Announce Joint Venture in Closed Russian Nuclear City A U.S. company has entered into a joint-venture with a Russian firm founded in a Russian “closed nuclear city,” top Russian and U.S. energy officials announced yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 24). California-based Numotech will team with Russian firm Spektr-Conversion to develop advanced medical products, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev. “This first foreign joint venture in any of the closed nuclear cities of Russia will represent yet another milestone in the Department of Energy’s Russian Transition Initiatives (RTI) program,” Abraham said. “To date this program has engaged nearly 15,000 weapons workers. Its successes have been critical to safeguarding vulnerable Russian nuclear expertise, facilities and know-how,” he added (Energy Department release, Nov. 5). Back to top       U.S. Energy Secretary Outlines Nuclear Nonproliferation Strategy By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham yesterday called for increased international action to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, saying the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty needed to be strengthened. During a speech before the U.N. General Assembly’s disarmament committee, Abraham warned that the current nuclear nonproliferation regime provided countries with a cover to develop nuclear programs under the guise of peaceful intentions, only to later withdraw from the NPT and use their programs to build nuclear weapons. As an egregious example of such behavior, Abraham cited North Korea, which he said has been in violation of its treaty obligations since 1993 with “no concrete progress” to date in resolving that violation (see related GSN story, today). “North Korea’s activities send a worrisome message to other would-be proliferants — but the responsible nations of the international community must send an even stronger message. We must learn from this chain of events, and not allow it to happen again,” he said. In his remarks, Abraham was more charitable toward Iran, which has long claimed that it is only interested in nuclear power for civilian purposes. Abraham praised Iran’s recent decision to suspend its uranium enrichment program and sign an Additional Protocol to its International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement, which would allow more intrusive monitoring of Iranian nuclear facilities (see related GSN story, today). Tehran’s decision to sign the Additional Protocol and freeze its uranium enrichment program came after negotiations with France, Germany and the United Kingdom (see GSN, Oct. 21). “If Iran carries out the obligations it has undertaken — especially if it abandons its enrichment and reprocessing activities — it will show what can be achieved when the international community sends the same firm message on the need to comply with nonproliferation requirements,” Abraham said. To ensure that Iran maintains its promises, Abraham called on Tehran to provide a “full declaration” of all imported materials and components used in its uranium-enrichment program, unrestricted access to IAEA inspectors and to fully answer all questions related to uranium enrichment centrifuge testing and uranium conversion experiments. In a broader sense, according to Abraham, more needed to be done to address the nuclear proliferation risks posed by countries obtaining uranium enrichment and reprocessing capabilities. He said that countries known to have a questionable commitment to the NPT should be “discouraged” from possessing such capabilities. Abraham also called for new measures beyond the Additional Protocol to prevent indigenous enrichment or reprocessing programs that could be used for weapons purposes. “We should look for ways to ensure that the IAEA has the tools it needs to effectively address the problem posed by a state like North Korea, before such a state announces it has established a nuclear weapons capability,” he said. Earlier this week, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei suggested in a speech before the General Assembly that the processing of weapon-grade materials and the production of new nuclear materials should be limited to facilities under multilateral control (see GSN, Nov. 4). Strengthening the NPT Abraham yesterday also called for new measures to strengthen the NPT, such as the widespread adoption of the Additional Protocol. He said he was “hopeful” that the U.S. Senate would hold hearings on the protocol in the next few months (see GSN, May 10, 2002). New measures are also needed to prevent the international trafficking of nuclear materials and technologies, Abraham said. During his U.N. address Tuesday, ElBaradei expressed concern over lingering “deficiencies” in the security of nuclear and radiological materials throughout the world. “Information in the agency database of illicit trafficking, combined with reports of discoveries of plans for radiological dispersal devices [“dirty bombs”], make it clear that a market continues to exist for obtaining and using radioactive sources for malevolent purposes,” ElBaradei said. The IAEA has also called for countries to join the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, according to reports (see GSN, Nov. 5). To date, only 33 countries have ratified the convention, which seeks to improve the security of spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive wastes that could be attractive to terrorists. In addition, Abraham said new efforts are needed to improve security at research reactors and other facilities worldwide where stockpiles of nuclear or radiological materials may be housed. He said the United States would provide $4 million to purchase low-enriched uranium for use at a Romanian research reactor after it is converted to use LEU as fuel. In September, a joint U.S.-Russian operation removed stockpiles of highly enriched uranium from the Romanian research reactor facility and transported the material to Russia for conversion into nuclear power plant fuel (see GSN, Sept. 22). Earlier this week, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced the creation of a new task force designed, in part, to help improve security at research reactors located throughout the world. Abraham said yesterday that the task force had already begun several projects with the IAEA, adding that he was “confident” such projects would help improve the security of radiological materials worldwide.  Back to top       Musharraf Refutes Charges That Pakistan Aided North Korean Nuclear Efforts Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf yesterday again denied charges that his country had helped North Korea’s nuclear weapons program (see GSN, May 14). In an interview with the Korea Times, Musharraf, who is currently visiting South Korea, denied that Pakistan had provided North Korea with materials for use in either Pyongyang’s nuclear or ballistic missile efforts. “The reality is that during the four years that I have been president I can say with full guarantee that no proliferation has ever taken place. There has been no defense collaboration with North Korea,” Musharraf said. “This is a baseless allegation,” he added. Musharraf acknowledged Pakistan’s past military cooperation with North Korea, but said it had been of a limited nature. “We have had relations and defense cooperation with North Korea and we have bought surface-to-air missiles in the past because of a threat to us. But now we produce [these] ourselves,” he said (Shim/Miller, Korea Times, Nov. 5). Pakistan remains committed to a policy of nuclear nonproliferation, Musharraf said. “Nuclear nonproliferation is the central pillar of our nuclear policy and we have the strictest standards in this regard. As a responsible nuclear power, Pakistan is aware of the great perils of nuclear technology falling into the wrong hands,” he said. Musharraf also said that Pakistan was prepared to help resolve the crisis surrounding North Korea’s nuclear program, adding that he “fully supported” the six-nation talks held in August in an effort to seek a solution (see related GSN story, today). “Pakistan remains extremely concerned about the current nuclear standoff between North Korea and Washington. We believe that such a grave crisis needs to be resolved through dialogue and negotiations,” he said (Korea Herald, Nov. 6). Back to top       Russia Begins Dismantling Typhoon-Class Submarine A Russian Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine has been sent to the Sevmash defense yard in the northern city of Severodvinsk for dismantlement, ITAR-Tass reported today (see GSN, Oct. 15). The United States is funding the dismantlement through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, according to ITAR-Tass. Two additional Typhoons have been withdrawn from service and are also scheduled to be dismantled (ITAR-Tass/BBC Monitoring, Nov. 6). Back to top       Latin American Nuclear Nonproliferation Meeting Begins in Cuba About 200 delegates from Latin American and Caribbean countries began meeting yesterday in Havana to discuss relations between the region and the five nuclear weapons states, according to Xinhua News Agency (see GSN, Oct. 28, 2002). The two-day meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Nuclear Arms in Latin American and the Caribbean (OPANAL) began yesterday in Havana, according to Xinhua. During the meeting, delegates are expected to discuss common nuclear nonproliferation policies. OPANAL was created under the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which created a nuclear weapon-free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean (Xinhua News Agency, Nov. 6). Back to top

Congressional Committee Approves $580 Million for Yucca Mountain House and Senate negotiators yesterday approved a compromise fiscal 2004 energy appropriations bill that provides $580 million for a planned nuclear waste repository to be built at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, according to Energy Daily (see GSN, Nov. 3). The funding included in the compromise legislation is less than the $591 million requested by the Bush administration for the project, and far less than the $765 million the U.S. House had approved in its version of the energy spending bill, Energy Daily reported. Supporters of the repository have said, however, that the $580 million is enough to ensure that the project remains on schedule through late 2004, when the U.S. Energy Department is expected to apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to operate the repository. “The experts say we have a number that will keep the project right on schedule,” Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said (Jeff Beattie, Energy Daily, Nov. 6).   Back to top

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