Seattle police officers examine the scene of a simulated terrorist attack as part of a two-city exercise in May to test the response of federal, state and local officials to possible radiological and biological terrorist attacks (AFP/Getty). Federal Funds Have So Far Failed to Improve State Biological Defenses, Report Says By David McGlinchey Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Despite federal efforts to pump funding and life into nationwide bioterrorism preparedness programs, state governments have not effectively prepared for a bioterrorism attack, a nonpartisan public health advocacy group announced today (see GSN, Dec. 9)...Full Story

China Delivers U.S.-Backed Proposal to North Korea China said today that it has delivered to North Korea a U.S.-backed plan for defusing the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula (see GSN, Dec. 10)...Full Story

Authorities Detain Two Pakistani Nuclear Scientists Two Pakistani nuclear scientists have been taken into custody amid suspicion that they might have been involved in transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Pakistani opposition lawmakers said today (see GSN, Jan. 30)...Full Story

	Thursday, December 11, 2003

U.S. Awards Port Security Grants The U.S. Homeland Security Department announced yesterday that grants totaling nearly $180 million have been awarded to improve security at U.S. port facilities (see GSN, Oct. 24). The grants were awarded to 235 entities, consisting of state and local governments and private companies, conducting 442 projects at 326 locations, Homeland Security said in a press release. The funding will go toward implementing new port security upgrades, such as increased patrol boats and new surveillance equipment, the department said. “The department is committed to improving security at our maritime facilities, and we know that our ports are not secured from Washington. The relationship between the government and the private companies that run these facilities is a crucial one that we are committed to strengthening to protect our nation’s ports,” Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson said (U.S. Homeland Security Department release, Dec. 10). Back to top

China Delivers U.S.-Backed Proposal to North Korea China said today that it has delivered to North Korea a U.S.-backed plan for defusing the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula (see GSN, Dec. 10). “We hope all parties can cherish every bit of hard-reached consensus so the next round of six-party talks can reconvene as soon as possible,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, who also confirmed the delivery of the plan. A South Korean official said that the prospect for talks will become clearer after a European Union delegation returns to Seoul after a visit to Pyongyang. “We will need to wait a day or two to make an accurate judgment on the prospects of future talks,” said Wie Sung-rak, the director general of the South Korean Foreign Ministry’s North American Affairs Bureau (Jae-suk Yoo, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 11). New Activity at Yongbyon? Meanwhile, South Korea is currently investigating sightings of new activity at the North Korean Yongbyon nuclear facility. According to South Korean media reports, U.S. satellites detected smoke rising from a coal-fired boiler at the Yongbyon nuclear laboratory. “We are trying to confirm the activities, but at this stage I have no definitive information to disclose,” South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said (Reuters/Financial Times, Dec. 11). The World Food Program, meanwhile, announced that it will soon cut back food rations to North Korea. The U.N. agency has received only 62 percent of the food that was requested from donors (see GSN, Sept. 16). Unless donations rise sharply, program officials said Thursday that they will be forced to cut 3.5 million North Koreans from food distribution network (James Brooke, New York Times, Dec. 11). Elsewhere, a senior Russian regional official said that Western countries must engage North Korea instead of isolating it. “We live here and are interested in a quiet and comfortable situation,” said Victor Gorchakov, the vice governor for foreign economic relations in the far eastern Russian province of Primorye. “If driven into a corner, as they are now,” he said of the North Korean government, “they will bite” (James Brooke, New York Times II, Dec. 11). Back to top       Authorities Detain Two Pakistani Nuclear Scientists Two Pakistani nuclear scientists have been taken into custody amid suspicion that they might have been involved in transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Pakistani opposition lawmakers said today (see GSN, Jan. 30). According to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) political party, Farooq Muhammad, head of Pakistan’s main uranium enrichment facility Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL); and KRL laboratory director Yasin Chohan were arrested this month. The two men are believed to be held by FBI agents, the PML-N said. “According to our information, the FBI is holding Director General Dr. Farooq and Laboratory Director Yasin Chohan with the assistance of Pakistani agencies,” the party said in a statement. A Pakistani government spokesman refused to confirm or deny that the two scientists had been arrested, saying that Pakistani nuclear scientists routinely took part in “personnel dependability and debriefing programs” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 11). A Pakistani Foreign Office senior official has denied that Islamabad has provided nuclear technology to other countries. “The allegations that Pakistan has cooperated with any country in the nuclear field are baseless and malicious. There is no substance whatsoever,” the official said (Xinhua News Agency, Dec. 11). Back to top       U.S. Congressional Researchers to Review IAEA Safeguards, Site Security Efforts By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee yesterday asked congressional researchers to study how well International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards are working and what changes the agency might make to ensure the security of nuclear materials. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the ensuing Iraq and Iran crises have spurred widespread discussions in nonproliferation circles about whether and how to reform the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog. In a letter sent yesterday to the U.S. General Accounting Office, which conducts research at the request of Congress, Representative Jim Turner (D-Texas) voiced concern that the IAEA safeguards “system is not designed to prevent theft of nuclear material by outsiders or the bombing of nuclear reactors and spent-fuel facilities by terrorists.” “No multilateral treaty requires that nuclear material and facilities be protected from such attacks. IAEA recommends but does not require physical protection standards to protect reactors against sabotage, and IAEA inspectors do not check to ensure that these recommendations are followed. … In light of the Sept. 11 attacks, it is time to re-evaluate the status of IAEA’s efforts to strengthen international safeguards agreements and determine what efforts are needed to require measures to physically protect nuclear materials,” Turner wrote. Specifically, Turner asked GAO to study “the progress IAEA has made in strengthening the international safeguards system” and “what changes are needed to the safeguards system to protect nuclear materials from terrorist attacks, including any changes that may be needed to IAEA’s physical protection guidelines.” The IAEA and other U.N. agencies have repeatedly come under fire from the Republican administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, and sources familiar with the issue linked Turner’s letter to broader Democratic promotion of multilateralism. A Western diplomat in Vienna said the overall thrust of the congressman’s request dovetails with the plans of IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei. “This is the D.G.’s vision of … internationalizing the whole enrichment process, and then, in terms of physical protection guidelines, those are being updated all the time,” said the diplomat. As to the possibility of IAEA verification of countries’ compliance with physical protection standards, though, the diplomat said, “I’ve never heard anyone even raise the issue. … How would you enforce something like that? Is IAEA going to ensure that these recommendations are followed in, say, the United States?” “There’s no reason why [verification of physical protection] couldn’t be added on to the [IAEA safeguards] requirements, but it would … require an international agreement. And would it make sense to include the nuclear weapons states. … The problem is, how would you get them to comply?” the diplomat said. Nonproliferation Policy Education Center Executive Director Henry Sokolski, a nonproliferation official under former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, termed Turner’s initiative a positive one but suggested such measures do not go far enough. “It’s always good,” Sokolski said, “when Congress takes an interest in nuclear proliferation issues. It’s too rare.  One can only hope that this is part of a broader effort to examine how we can enforce and promote a tougher view of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.” The IAEA refused to comment on the development. Back to top       Russian Submarine Test-Launches ICBM The Russian ballistic missile submarine Dmitriy Donskoi has successfully test-launched a long-range ballistic missile, a Russian radio station reported today (see GSN, Dec. 2). The missile was fired off the northern coast of Russia to a test range on the Kamchatka Peninsula (Ekho Moskvy/BBC Monitoring, Dec. 11). According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Dmitriy Donskoi is a Typhoon-class submarine that is serving as a test bed for a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, the SS-N-27 Bulava, a version of the land-based SS-27, also known as the Topol-M (see GSN, Aug. 11; NRDC Nuclear Notebook, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July/August 2003). Back to top       U.S. Energy Department Plutonium Management Plan Comes Under Fire The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has criticized the U.S. Energy Department’s approach to managing plutonium at the department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Energy Daily reported today (see GSN, Nov. 17). In a report earlier this month to Congress, the board criticized Energy’s decision to cancel the construction of a modern plutonium storage building at the site, according to Energy Daily. The board said the new building might have been safer and more cost-effective than the department’s plans to modify two old buildings for long-term plutonium storage. In addition, the board also criticized recent modifications to the department’s plutonium disposal plan, Energy Daily reported. According to the board, while the department plans to build a mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel production plant at the Savannah River Site, about five metric tons of plutonium is unsuitable for conversion to MOX fuel. Energy had planned to construct an “immobilization” facility to convert the plutonium that cannot be used for MOX fuel into a waste product for disposal, but the department has canceled that plan because of budgetary concerns, the board said in its report, adding that the department had not yet developed an alternative approach to disposing of the material. In its report, the board said the department should conduct “an integrated study of options for storage of plutonium at the Savannah River Site. The study should consider the widest possible range of factors, including safety, environmental impact, national security, cost and schedule” (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, Dec. 11). Back to top

Federal Funds Have So Far Failed to Improve State Biological Defenses, Report Says By David McGlinchey Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Despite federal efforts to pump funding and life into nationwide bioterrorism preparedness programs, state governments have not effectively prepared for a bioterrorism attack, a nonpartisan public health advocacy group announced today (see GSN, Dec. 9). Only two states — Florida and Illinois — have enough public health workers to distribute strategic vaccine stockpiles in the aftermath of a biological attack, according to the Trust for America’s Health. Over the past two years, Congress has put almost $2 billion toward biological defenses but states have only marginally improved their readiness, according to the report, Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health in the Age of Bioterrorism. State budget crunches, bureaucratic red tape and a public health workforce crisis are hurting the effort, said trust officials who spoke to reporters today. “The money is not doing the job,” said Lowell Weicker, the president of the trust’s board of directors and a former U.S. senator and Connecticut governor. The report uses 10 categories to assess each state’s readiness for a bioterrorist attack. The District of Columbia and 41 states scored a five or lower on the 10-point scale, which measures public health spending, availability of public health personnel and laboratories, bioterrorism planning and information sharing. California, Florida, Maryland and Tennessee were the most prepared states, each registering a seven on the scale. Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Wisconsin were the least prepared, with a score of two. “We are not ready,” Weicker said. The report also found that 32 states and the District of Columbia reduced public health funding from fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2003. Michigan (a 24-percent cut) and Massachusetts (a 23-percent cut) had the largest reductions. “At the very time that federal money is going to the states … the majority of them are reducing their own budgets,” said trust Executive Director Shelley Hearne. She said it was disturbing that the cuts came in the midst of an overall push for stronger homeland security. “We need accountability out there,” according to Hearne. There is, she said, a “lack of transparency and information that is available on what’s happening at the state level.” Despite the generally negative findings, the report found some progress, according to Hearne. Communications between public health departments has markedly improved and every state has developed a plan to respond to bioterrorism. Even those plans, however, raised some questions. “These are overarching game plans but are lacking in detail and specificity,” according to Hearne. She said that there is a “huge variability in the quality and detail of those plans.” “Progress has been made but we have a lot further to go,” Hearne added. Back to top

Sarin Gas Detected Outside Umatilla Storage Area Chemical vapor was detected Monday outside the secure weapons storage area at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 27). Monitors detected low levels of sarin agent outside an igloo where 500-pound bombs are stored. Depot workers were instructed to wear their gas masks but no one was sickened during the incident and no gas was detected farther away from the storage site, according to officials at the facility. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time we’ve detected vapors outside the structure,” said depot spokeswoman Mary Binder (Associated Press/TheWorldLink.com, Dec. 10). Back to top

Lockheed to Enhance PAC-3 Performance, Memory Lockheed Martin is developing a system to enhance the range, maneuverability and usefulness of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile interceptor, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, Oct. 6). The Missile Segment Enhancement system would increase the range of the PAC-3 by up to 50 percent. As it encountered enemy missiles, the MSE would also relay information back to ground units in an attempt to enhance future intercepts. “If you go into any new theater, you may see a new threat, a new target, that you have not seen before,” said Lockheed Martin Vice President Steve Graham. The MSE “gives the Army the capability to immediately get data on that engagement,” he added. Lockheed officials have scheduled the system’s first flight test for September 2006 and its first two intercept tests for 2007 (Marc Selinger, Aerospace Daily, Dec. 11). Back to top       MDA Plans to Launch Missile Defense Targets From Kodiak, Alaska The U.S. Defense Department has announced its decision to use the Kodiak launch site in Alaska to fire missile defense targets, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 10). In the decision — which was made after an environmental review — the Missile Defense Agency said it hopes to use the target missiles for intercept tests over the Pacific Ocean. No dates have been set for the launches, however, and officials at the Kodiak facility said they planned to build a single launch pad. “We today have been given no plans, nor funding, no go-ahead to do any construction for an additional pad,” said Pat Ladner, executive director of Alaska Aerospace Development, which is operating the facility. MDA spokesman Rich Lehner said the Pentagon wants to conduct at least one test target launch from Kodiak next year (Sam Bishop, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Dec. 10). Military officials also announced that they will attempt a sea-based missile interceptor test today. Officials will fire a missile from an Aegis cruiser to intercept a missile fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii, according to MDA spokesman Chris Taylor. This is the third in a series of six sea-based exercises to test the Solid Divert and Altitude Control System, the Associated Press reported (B.J. Reyes, Associated Press/Washington Post, Dec. 11). Back to top

Survey Describes Democratic Presidential Candidates’ Strategic Policy Views A survey set for release today by the Council for a Livable World provides insight into the national security positions of several of the major Democratic presidential candidates, the Los Angeles Times reported today. The Democratic presidential nominee candidates who responded to the survey included former Gen. Wesley Clark, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, and Senators John Edwards (N-C.), John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.). Representative Richard Gephardt (Mo.) did not respond to the survey, the Times reported.  According to the survey results, the major candidates all oppose a Bush administration plan to begin researching new “bunker-busting” and low-yield nuclear weapons, the Times reported (see GSN, Dec. 8). There were several differences, however, among the candidates’ views on the development of a national missile defense system and a proposal to ban weapons in space. For example, Dean, known for his opposition to Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he supported the development of a missile defense system and refused to support the ban on weapons in space, according to the Times. Council for a Livable World Executive Director John Isaacs said the presidential candidates should not ignore security issues such as new nuclear weapons development and missile defense during their campaigns. “The lesson for 2004 that I hope all Democrats have learned is they’re going to have to grapple with these issues, whether they want to or not,” Issacs said (Nick Anderson, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 11). Back to top       New U.S. Food Security Regulations Take Effect Friday A new set of U.S. regulations intended to improve the security of the U.S. food supply against a possible terrorist attack is set to take effect tomorrow, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Oct. 10). Under the new regulations, about 400,000 domestic and foreign food-handling companies will need to register their products with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. As of yesterday, 123,000 food-handling companies had registered, with 64,000 of those located outside of the country, AP reported. In addition, companies shipping food to the United States will have to give advance notice before their shipments arrive.  Some foreign food exporters are concerned that the new regulations will disrupt trade, according to AP. FDA spokesman Michael Herndon said, however, that the new regulations are intended to help protect the U.S. food supply against a possible biological attack. “The FDA goal is not to interrupt the flow of safe food imports,” Herndon said. “But just like with anything new, you’ll have some bumps and bruises,” he added. Jorge Lopez, who operates a Mexican vegetable exporting company, said he hoped the new regualtions would improve the speed of border crossings. He expressed doubts, however, about the effectiveness of the new inspection system. “When you think about it, they are always checking for illegal drugs and they still get through,” Lopez said (Olga Rodriguez, Associated Press/Highmark Funds, Dec. 11).   Back to top

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