British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw (left) and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi (right). Straw warned yesterday that Iran could still be referred to the U.N. Security Council for its nuclear program if it withdrew from an agreement reached with European countries (AFP photo/). European Nations Prepare IAEA Resolution on Iran Iran would be reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency if it fails to uphold its pledge to suspend uranium enrichment activities, according to a draft resolution prepared for this week’s IAEA board meeting by the United Kingdom, France and Germany (see GSN, Nov. 22). The resolution, however, does not presently call for Iran to be automatically sent to the U.N. Security Council if it violates the agreement. The United States has hoped to see such a “trigger clause” included in the document, according to Agence France-Presse...Full Story

U.S. Government, Railroad Officials All But Acknowledge Rerouting Chlorine Trains to Avoid Capital By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. and railroad officials yesterday gave their strongest indications yet that they may be rerouting shipments of chlorine and other toxic chemicals away from the U.S. capital in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on the United States (see GSN, Nov. 1)...Full Story

South Korea Pushes to End Nuclear Contretemps South Korea has mounted an intensive diplomatic campaign to avoid being reported to the U.N. Security Council for conducting unreported nuclear research activities, but diplomats from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors remain split as they prepare to meet formally Thursday, the Korea Times reported today...Full Story

	Tuesday, November 23, 2004

U.S. Government, Railroad Officials All But Acknowledge Rerouting Chlorine Trains to Avoid Capital By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. and railroad officials yesterday gave their strongest indications yet that they may be rerouting shipments of chlorine and other toxic chemicals away from the U.S. capital in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on the United States (see GSN, Nov. 1). Some analyses indicate that if attacked, the trains could create a toxic cloud that could kill thousands of people within minutes. Journalists and activist groups have documented the trains traveling through the center of Washington, passing within blocks of the Capitol and within yards of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (see GSN, Oct. 20). Mindful of liability concerns and of the dangers of making security information available to potential attackers, neither rail operator CSX nor the U.S. Homeland Security Department has publicly acknowledged rerouting the trains at times other than during special events. U.S. House of Representatives members said late last month, though, that they had determined that CSX had been voluntarily rerouting chlorine trains on a regular basis. CSX and Homeland Security officials now appear to have told District of Columbia Council members that CSX has been voluntarily rerouting the shipments. At a public council meeting yesterday, officials from both CSX and Homeland Security stopped just short of acknowledging the rerouting. The strongest such indication came in an exchange between CSX Assistant Vice President for Public Safety Skip Elliott and council Public Works and Environment Committee Chairwoman Carol Schwartz. After Schwartz said closed-door briefings with Elliott and others had convinced her that her “goal” of rerouting the trains had been “accomplished,” Elliott replied, “I too believe that your desire to achieve your goals … has been accomplished.” Elliott added that he had told local officials about the specific steps CSX is taking but could not discuss the measures in public. At another point in the hearing, Homeland Security National Capital Region Coordination Office Director Thomas Lockwood also appeared implicitly to acknowledge the measure. Asked by the chairwoman whether Homeland Security would know if CSX stopped rerouting, he did not dispute the premise that rerouting was under way, saying instead that he did not know how his office would learn if the practice stopped. Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration recently led the development of a security plan for the Washington rail corridor, producing what Lockwood called a “risk-based” plan involving measures such as barriers and cameras to achieve “a measurable hardening of the rail corridor in and around D.C.” “Rerouting is one of the tools that is already in the toolbox. If CSX would like to talk about rerouting, they can. I cannot,” Lockwood said.  Among his concerns about such a disclosure, he cited the possibility that Homeland Security could eventually be held to account legally for disclosing information about a private company’s security operations. Elliott said the shipments were “necessary for the public health, safety and security” — chlorine, for example, is used to treat water for human use — and that rail was the safest means of transporting the materials. He described CSX’s own post-Sept. 11 security plan, which involves strengthened communication with police and rail-specific security training for railroad employees and local emergency personnel. “The CSX security plan includes a variety of base-level measures that are already in place and certain additional measures that can be implemented to varying degrees based on receipt of credible intelligence received from a number of civilian and military sources within the federal government,” Elliott said. “When … intelligence indicates a credible threat to security, countermeasures are implemented as appropriate to respond to the threat.” Elliott said in his prepared statement that “federal officials have not directed CSX to route hazardous materials away from the District of Columbia or other urban areas on a long-term basis” but did not say whether CSX had done so voluntarily. Council members and activists at yesterday’s hearing called for government regulation instead of voluntary measures and stressed what they see as the potential deterrent value of announcing that rerouting is taking place. They cited the possibility that attackers, believing that empty rail cars labeled as chlorine shipments were actually full, could fail in their bid to wage toxic warfare but still kill people nearby. Greenpeace Toxics Campaign Legislative Director Rick Hind said rerouting trains without publicizing the measure amounted to a “lessening of security and safety.” Added Schwartz, “Why can’t we just talk turkey about what’s actually being done? Because we feel like sitting ducks here.” The chairwoman said she would continue to seek a government order that CSX reroute the trains, despite her belief that voluntary diversion was under way. She expressed continued support for administrative, rather than legislative, action, in part because of the city’s special vulnerability to federal pre-emption of its laws. “I’m going to keep working on it,” Schwartz said in an interview after the hearing. Elliott said that although “we don’t necessarily believe that regulation is necessary for CSX to do the right thing,” the company “responds to orders from appropriate federal agencies, including the United States Department of Homeland Security and the United States Department of Transportation.” According to Lockwood, “It is not the department’s stand to mandate specific rail routing of the millions of hazardous shipments that occur annually.” Chlorine and ammonia, another material that has been shipped by rail through the city, have been used in chemical warfare, and activists yesterday repeatedly described the trains as potential weapons of mass destruction. “We’re talking about a disaster of the magnitude of Hiroshima or worse,” Sierra Club legal expert Jim Dougherty said. Rail-security expert Fred Millar, a Friends of the Earth consultant, added, “We are prepositioning weapons of mass destruction in our target cities and making it quite easy and quite attractive for al-Qaeda to attack.” Back to top

U.S., EU to Cooperate on Sensor Technology By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States and European Union yesterday agreed on a plan to exchange information about advanced WMD sensors and other new technology (see GSN, Aug. 5). The parties hope the agreement, which was struck at a biannual meeting here of U.S. and EU antiterrorism officials and diplomats, will help them to “invest and … communicate better together in terms of the new security technologies that will be necessary as we face a common threat,” U.S. Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson said at a press conference after the meeting. Hutchinson, who leads the Homeland Security Department’s Border and Transportation Security Directorate, said the technology involved would include measures to protect airplanes against missile attacks and new multithreat sensors for use at airports and border crossings. The multithreat technology, which Hutchinson called “an urgent need,” could speed and strengthen security checks by detecting radiation and chemical and biological agents in addition to the explosives and weapons already targeted by airport X-rays and swab tests. “There’s work being done on both sides of the Atlantic on this.  We need to be able to share that type of information and particularly as we make common investments,” Hutchinson said. Yesterday’s agreement formalizes a process that was already taking place informally, EU Justice and Liberty Director General Jonathan Faull said at the press conference. “We took advantage of our meeting here today to bring some of the people involved in this together, and they will now pursue between themselves contacts to make sure that cooperation takes place properly,” Faull said. “There is a great deal of scientific research being done here and in the European Union on security-related issues, and we are providing increasing amounts of funding through European Union programs, and there are many national programs, of course, in our member states on this,” Faull said. “You are doing very much the same thing over here, and it makes sense for the people on both sides of the Atlantic to talk to each other and to compare notes and to exchange views and to consider the results.” Back to top       U.S. Prepares 11 More WMD Response Teams The U.S. Defense Department is finishing its plan to have National Guard teams ready in each U.S. state and territory to respond to an attack involving weapons of mass destruction, the department announced yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 19). The department notified Congress yesterday that it plans to deploy 11 Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Wyoming, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Funding for the new teams is included in the Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2005, the Defense Department said in a press release. Thirty-two teams are already operating within the United States and another 12 are working to become certified. The 11 teams announced yesterday would bring the total to 55. There are 22 full-time Army National Guard and Air National Guard members in each team, which are prepared to deploy quickly to support local first responders following a WMD incident. A team’s work would include helping identify what agent was used in an attack and providing medical and technical advice, the Defense Department said (U.S. Defense Department press release, Nov. 22). North Dakota Guard commander Maj. Gen. Mike Haugen said his state’s team would need 800 hours of training, meaning it will be a year before it is certified. The closest team now to North Dakota is in St. Paul, Minn. “We can’t wait for a team to be flown up,” Haugen said. “We need it there, and we need it now” (Associated Press/Bismarck Tribune, Nov. 22). Back to top

European Nations Prepare IAEA Resolution on Iran Iran would be reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency if it fails to uphold its pledge to suspend uranium enrichment activities, according to a draft resolution prepared for this week’s IAEA board meeting by the United Kingdom, France and Germany (see GSN, Nov. 22). The resolution, however, does not presently call for Iran to be automatically sent to the U.N. Security Council if it violates the agreement. The United States has hoped to see such a “trigger clause” included in the document, according to Agence France-Presse. “Negotiations on the draft resolution have begun and much work remains,” a Western diplomat said. “Luckily we have a significant amount of time to reach an acceptable solution and I am confident we will.” The IAEA Board of Governors meeting begins Thursday. The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, calls on IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to “monitor the implementation of” the suspension and “report immediately to the Board should the agency encounter evidence that the suspension is not fully implemented, or be prevented from monitoring all elements of the suspension for as long as the suspension is in force” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Nov. 22). Iran’s case could still be sent to the Security Council for possible sanctions if Tehran backs out of its agreement with the three European nations, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday, according to the New York Times. “If there is a failure by Iran to meet its obligations, then Britain, and also Germany and France reserve our collective right to refer the matter to the Security Council,” he said (Elaine Sciolino/New York Times, Nov. 23). Straw noted today after meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi that Iran had already objected to wording in the resolution. “Iran’s problem is the way the suspension is described and the way its monitoring by ElBaradei is described,” a senior British official said (Madeline Chambers, Reuters/Yahoo!News, Nov. 23). U.S. officials, meanwhile, continued to express doubts about Iran’s reported suspension of uranium enrichment work. “Let’s say I hope it’s true,” U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday while in Colombia. They have said some things in the past, and it’s very important for them to verify and earn the trust of those of us who are worried about them developing a nuclear weapon,” he added. “It looks like there is some progress, but to determine whether the progress is real, there must be verification” (Judy Keen, USA Today, Nov. 23). The United States wants to hear from ElBaradei regarding Iran’s observance of the agreement, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said, noting that Iran has already pulled out of one similar deal with the European nations. “Obviously our interest is seeing, not what they say, but what they actually do,” Ereli said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 22). Secretary of State Colin Powell talked with Kharazi yesterday in Egypt during dinner at a conference on Iraq, Reuters reported. A State Department official said the two “engaged in polite dinner conversation,” but indicated that their talk did not touch on the nuclear situation (Saul Hudson, Reuters, Nov. 22). Russia lauded Iran’s enrichment suspension announcement, but a Foreign Ministry spokesman said leaders were also waiting to hear confirmation by Thursday’s IAEA meeting that Tehran is fulfilling its pledge, according to AFP. “We believe it is a step in the right direction and that Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA is reinforcing,” spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 22). Iranian nuclear negotiator Hossein Mousavian arrived in Moscow yesterday to discuss Tehran’s nuclear cooperation with Russia, which includes the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear reactor (IRNA/BBC Monitoring, Nov. 22). An Iranian diplomat yesterday rejected implications that Iran was producing uranium hexafluoride gas for military purposes before the enrichment suspension began Monday. Two tons of the gas was produced only as a research effort to test the effectiveness of equipment at the Isfahan nuclear facility, the diplomat told Iran’s state-run news agency. “Iran embarked on a series of experiments in coordination with the IAEA for a duration of almost one month,” he said (IRNA/BBC Monitoring, Nov. 23). Elsewhere, a 53-year-old man was arrested on the German border on suspicion of trying to illegally export cranes for use in Iranian nuclear facilities, AFP reported yesterday. Eight people and three companies are suspected of working to export disassembled cranes through Poland and Russia and into Iran between 2000 and 2002. The suspect, who was returning to Germany from Poland, is set to appear in a German court today (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Nov. 22). Back to top       South Korea Pushes to End Nuclear Contretemps South Korea has mounted an intensive diplomatic campaign to avoid being reported to the U.N. Security Council for conducting unreported nuclear research activities, but diplomats from the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors remain split as they prepare to meet formally Thursday, the Korea Times reported today. The agency circulated a report earlier this month describing past South Korean nuclear activities that should have been revealed as part of Seoul’s nuclear safeguards agreement with the agency. The activities included enriching small amounts of uranium to nearly weapon-grade levels (see GSN, Nov. 12). This week, South Korea dispatched a high-level delegation to the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, where the United States is leading an effort to report Seoul’s transgressions to the U.N. Security Council, according to the Times. U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton has argued that such a move would help Seoul to demonstrate its innocence (see GSN, Oct. 29). Other nations, however, support South Korea’s wishes to avoid referral, the Times reported. Japan reportedly agreed to vouch for South Korea, and China, Russia, Brazil and Malaysia have indicated they would not support a resolution moving the matter to the council. South Korean officials have agreed that the nuclear activities should have been reported, but argue that the work only involved small-scale experiments conducted without official authorization, and that Seoul has no nuclear weapon ambitions (Reuben Staines, Korea Times, Nov. 23). Back to top       U.S. Should Revise Fee System for Recovering U.S.-Supplied Research Reactor Fuel, GAO Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department should revise the fees charged to international research reactors in an effort to repatriate U.S.-origin spent fuel to increase participation in the program, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released Friday (see GSN, Oct. 1). Research reactors in 34 countries are eligible to repatriate U.S.-origin spent highly enriched uranium (HEU) and low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuels through the department’s spent fuel acceptance program. The purpose of the program is to recover U.S.-supplied highly enriched uranium, which poses proliferation risks, for secure final disposal, as well as to encourage foreign research reactors to convert to the use of low-enriched uranium fuel. The spent fuel acceptance program is part of the U.S. Global Threat Reduction Initiative, which was launched in May. The initiative seeks to recover all U.S.-origin research reactor spent fuel within a decade, as well as to repatriate fresh and spent Russian-origin research reactor fuel by 2010. Of the 23 countries eligible to take part in the Energy Department program that still possess U.S.-origin HEU fuel, 11 have not reached repatriation agreements with the department. Those countries are Austria, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, as well as Iran and Pakistan, which pose increased proliferation concerns.  The World Bank designates four of the 11 nonparticipating countries as high-income nations — Austria, Israel, Japan and South Korea. The other seven countries would not be charged for repatriation by the United States, which would also pay most of the cost for transportation of U.S.-origin spent fuel. The GAO report notes several reasons for the lack of agreements, including plans by research reactor operators to continue to use HEU fuel due to the costs of converting to use low-enriched uranium, as well as claims by some countries as to the high transportation costs of returning the material.  To encourage greater participation in the program, the Government Accountability Office urged the Energy Department to revise the fees charged to “high-income” countries to return U.S.-origin spent HEU and LEU fuel. Such fees — about $4,500 per kilogram of highly enriched uranium and from $3,750 to $4,500 per kilogram of low-enriched uranium — have covered about 85 percent of the program’s cost since they were established in 1996. The report recommends that the fees charged to high-income countries to return highly enriched uranium be reduced. In exchange, fees charged to recover low-enriched uranium, which poses less of a proliferation risk, from research reactors in those countries should be increased to help cover the cost of the final disposal of such material in the United States. The LEU acceptance fees should not be increased, though, to point of creating disincentives for foreign research reactors to convert from HEU to LEU use, the report says. Back to top       Pakistan Rejects Calls for IAEA Access to Khan Pakistan rejected yesterday a call by a U.S. think tank to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency access to former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has confessed to transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (see GSN, Nov. 17). “That won’t be possible,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said. “Our own investigation process is appropriate. Therefore, there is no question of access by international experts from IAEA, either directly or indirectly” (United Press International, Nov. 23). Back to top

Man Receives 87-Month Prison Sentence for Sending Fake Anthrax to President, Other Threats A Maryland man was sentenced yesterday to more than seven years in prison for sending threatening letters containing a powder to President George W. Bush and a Virginia prosecutor and saying he would blow up a county courthouse (see GSN, Nov. 5). Jack Thomas Guyer, 25, made all the threats while in prison in September 2002 for making earlier threats by mail, the Charlottesville, Va., Daily Progress reported. He sent a letter containing baby powder to Bush, while a letter with Kool-Aid went to then-Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney Timothy Sanner. Guyer also threatened to use explosives on the Louisa County, Va., court administration, the Daily Progress reported. Guyer pleaded guilty in August in federal court to threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction, threatening to kill the president, mailing threatening communications and mailing a threat to blow up a building. He had faced a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment, but received 87 months (Liesel Nowak, The Daily Progress, Nov. 23). Back to top

Russian, Swiss Officials to Discuss Increased Aid for Chemical Weapons Disposal Additional aid from Switzerland for Russia’s chemical weapons disposal efforts is expected to be discussed during a visit later this week by a Swiss official to Moscow, according to RIA Novosti (see GSN, Nov. 19). Micheline Calmy-Rey, head of the Swiss foreign affairs department, is set to visit Moscow from Nov. 25-26, according to RIA Novosti. During Calmy-Rey’s visit, Russian officials plan to discuss Swiss aid for projects such as sanitary control systems at chemical weapons disposal sites, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko (RIA Novosti, Nov. 23). Back to top

Japan to Produce Pac-3 Missile Interceptors The United States is set to allow Japan to produce its own Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile interceptors, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Nov. 22). Japanese defense contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is expected to begin producing the interceptors next year, Reuters reported. The interceptors would be deployed in Japan in 2008, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Nov. 23). Japan also at that time plans to deploy the sea-based Standard Missile 3 interceptor as part of the country’s antimissile shield, Agence France-Presse reported. The United States and Japan are reportedly negotiating plans to begin joint development of a new missile interceptor to replace the SM-3, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/Channel News Asia, Nov. 23).   Back to top

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