The United States has accelerated programs to secure nuclear weapon materials in Russia, an official said yesterday. Part of those programs includes the supply of fissile material storage containers (above; DOD photo). U.S. Threat-Reduction Efforts Quicken, Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Invoking comments by then-presidential candidate Senator John Kerry, a senior Energy Department official said yesterday that the Bush administration would defy critics and finish securing 600 tons of Russian nuclear weapons materials by 2008 (see GSN, Dec. 13)...Full Story

“Chemical Ali” to Begin Iraqi Trial Trials of members of the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will begin next week with the prosecution of Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” charged with ordering the 1988 gassing of Iraqi Kurds in the village of Halabja, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 21)...Full Story

Missile Defense Test Fails A flight test of the U.S. missile defense program failed today when the interceptor missile failed to launch from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the U.S. Defense Department announced (see GSN, Dec. 8)...Full Story

	Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Defunct U.S.-Backed Conversion Program for Soviet Military Factories Produced Successes, Advocates Say The U.S.-financed conversion program for former Soviet Union defense factories saw some successes in its two-year history, despite Congress’ decision in 1996 to kill the project, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, July 8). Lawmakers branded the initiative a failure by Congress because most projects failed to get started, according to AP. The program’s advocates, however, have said U.S. officials were in too much of a hurry. The facilities chosen for conversion to commercial production were expected to become “efficient and successful in a very short period of time demanded by U.S. political impatience,” said Laura Holgate, vice president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. The remaking of plants like the Byelkamit missile factory in Kazakhstan have proven that the program could work, given time, advocates have said. Byelkamit plant manager Pavel Beklemishev forged a deal with a U.S. partner under the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program. Byelkamit is now the only enterprise in Central Asia with a certificate from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to make pressure vessels for oil and gas storage, AP reported. Byelkamit was one of four U.S.-sponsored conversion projects simultaneously initiated in Kazakhstan. The other sites, including a biological weapons plant and a nuclear weapons testing and research facility, were less successful, according to AP (Bagila Bukharbayeva, Associated Press/Planet Save, Dec. 14). [EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.] Back to top

U.S. Threat-Reduction Efforts Quicken, Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Invoking comments by then-presidential candidate Senator John Kerry, a senior Energy Department official said yesterday that the Bush administration would defy critics and finish securing 600 tons of Russian nuclear weapons materials by 2008 (see GSN, Dec. 13). Speaking at a conference in northern Virginia, National Nuclear Security Administration Deputy Administrator Paul Longsworth said the White House had accelerated efforts by the Energy Department to help Russia secure the materials and that critics who said it could take 13 years at the current rate were using the wrong criteria to judge progress. “I can report to you today that we’re on track for finishing that work by 2008,” he said. “Any of you who have watched the presidential debates — Senator Kerry [said] that we would not be done with our cooperative work in Russia until 2013 or beyond.  And that simply is not true,” he said. Longsworth said the administration’s “detractors” were incorrectly extrapolating a completion date by factoring the amount of material that has been secured so far. He said progress should be measured instead by the number of sites secured, as a majority of the material is located at several sites. “By the end of this year, we will have secured 46 percent of the material.  But more importantly, we will have secured more than 70 percent of the sites,” he said. “We believe that sites are a better measure than just the volume of material secured.  The remaining material is at a very few locations in Russia, so if we get those last few … sites done, we’ll have an increasing percentage of the material secured,” he said.  A NNSA release issued Friday, announcing the completion of security upgrades at two Russian nuclear facilities, said work had accelerated, and estimated improvements at “close to 80 percent” of the sites would be completed by the end of fiscal 2005. The agency had focused first on the most vulnerable sites, which tended to be the smaller locations, it said. “The larger sites that remain to be secured in Russia are fewer in number but contain significant amounts of nuclear material. These remaining sites can be secured with roughly the same amount of time and effort as previously completed sites containing much less material. As a result, NNSA will secure much more material per year as the remaining sites are addressed and complete its work by 2008,” it said. Critics Charge Energy’s Facts Misleading Kerry (D-Mass.) at the Sept. 30 debate said, “There are some 600-plus tons of unsecured material still in the former Soviet Union and Russia.  At the rate that the president is currently securing that, it will take 13 years to get it (see GSN, Oct. 1).” Kerry’s estimate appeared to derive from a report, Securing the Bomb: An Agenda For Action, published in May by Matthew Bunn and Anthony Wier of Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Bunn in an October interview said that the administration was using misleading data to argue a faster pace, data that included partially completed security upgrades (see GSN, Oct. 7). Even so, he said, the 46-percent completion figure cited by officials represents “very slow” progress, as Securing the Bomb found that 43 percent of the material had experienced partial or comprehensive upgrades by the end of fiscal 2003. Only about 22 percent of the 600 tons was comprehensively secured at that point, according to the report. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham had cited the 43-percent figure as evidence of progress in a July commentary in the Washington Post. Administration Priorities Questioned Kerry charged that the administration had failed to sufficiently prioritize the threat reduction efforts, and had actually cut funding for the work. A comparison of the administration’s fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2005 budgets shows it did in fact lower requested funding this year for the Defense, Energy and State programs, respectively by $42 million, $20 million, and $10 million. Furthermore, Bunn calculated that requested funding for the programs by the administration during its first four years was fairly flat, and in some cases dropped only to be increased later by Congress. National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman Bryan Wilkes said in October that Abraham in a 2003 speech had announced that the administration was accelerating threat reduction efforts. Wilkes said that critics might have been unaware of that development. NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks in the NNSA press release Friday argued the Energy Department has given nuclear threat reduction a high priority. “Ongoing efforts by NNSA to secure nuclear material, nuclear weapons, and nuclear facilities in Russia form a central element of the Bush administration's priority on nonproliferation efforts worldwide. Few government programs are more directly connected to denying terrorists the materials they need for assembling nuclear weapons,” he said. Back to top       Nations Support ElBaradei as IAEA Chief International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said nearly all members of the organization’s Board of Directors have asked him to stay on for a third term as chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Dec. 14). The strong level of support from many nations for ElBaradei would make it difficult for the United States to push its view that he should retire after his second term ends next year, the newspaper reported. At least one-third of the 35 nations represented on the board would be needed for a successful vote to replace ElBaradei. Disagreements over nuclear issues in Iraq and Iran have fueled U.S. officials’ dissatisfaction with ElBaradei, according to the Financial Times. The officials say they are looking to adhere to an international agreement of leading powers that heads of international organizations should not serve more than two terms. The IAEA chief said he is not “losing any sleep” over the situation. His present term in office ends in June. “There are fights I’d like to see through,” he said. “But other things pull me in the other direction — this is a personal sacrifice to myself and my family” (Roula Khalaf, Financial Times, Dec. 15). Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer acknowledged today that he had been approached by the Bush administration about replacing ElBaradei, but indicated he was not interested in the job. “I appreciate the interest that’s been shown but I enjoy what I’m doing,” he said. Downer would not say whether the Australian government supports a third term for ElBaradei. “We’re not getting into, for Australia’s part, any particular role in this issue at all,” he said (Associated Press, Dec. 14). ElBaradei, an Egyptian citizen, has also received support from Cairo, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said yesterday. “We support renewal for Dr. ElBaradei as the head of the agency,” Gheit said. “He is an Egyptian personality with value who worked with honor and allegiance to serve the international community” (Associated Press, Dec. 14). The U.S. campaign to unseat ElBaradei is “very ill considered and is likely to backfire on the United States,” said Joseph Cirincione, director of the Nonproliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It’s unfortunately become all too typical of a kind of aggressive, even bullying, style the Bush administration has in trying to get international organizations to agree with their points of view,” he said in an interview with The World Today radio show in Australia. “You’re targeting an individual who most of the members of the IAEA believe has done a very good job and wants him to remain in the post, particularly when we’re talking about problematic problems in Muslim states, it’s really perfect to have a diplomat of ElBaradei’s experience and ethnic origin managing these issue,” Cirincione said (Eleanor Hall, The World Today, Dec. 13). Back to top       Japan Blames North Korean “Passive Attitude” for Suspension of Six-Party Nuclear Negotiations Japan today said North Korea’s “passive attitude” is responsible for delaying a return to six-party talks to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear program, Asia Pulse reported (see GSN, Dec. 13). “Because of North Korea’s passive attitude, there is currently no prospect for the next round of the six-party talks to take place on specific dates,” Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Toshiyuki Takano said in a written statement to the Yonhap News Agency. “We will continue to cooperate with other related countries and urge North Korea that it serve its own interests to respond to the calls for the early resumption of the talks and for the complete dismantlement of its nuclear program under international verification,” Takano added. Japanese-North Korean tensions increased last week after Japanese scientists determined that human ashes received from Pyongyang — as part of program to return the remains of kidnapped Japanese citizens during the 1970s — were not from the individuals they were supposed to be (Asia Pulse, Dec. 15). The discovery caused growing public pressure to impose economic sanctions on North Korea, according to Reuters. However, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the imposition of sanctions could drive Pyongyang to seek to exclude Japan from the nuclear negotiations that also involve South Korea, Russia, China and the United States. “We will seriously reconsider the issue of taking part in the six-party talks together with Japan as long as such [a] premeditated and provocative campaign of ultra-right wing forces against the D.P.R.K. goes on,” the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (Teruaki Ueno, Reuters, Dec. 15). South Korea today warned Japan that imposing sanctions on North Korea could interfere with efforts to settle the nuclear standoff, Agence France-Presse reported. “The stance of our government is that peaceful dialogue rather than sanctions or a blockade will do more to draw North Korea to the dialogue table,” said Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. “We hope the issue will not affect international efforts to resume six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue” (Agence France-Press/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 15). Back to top

North Dakota Deploys Mobile Lab Scientists and veterinarians in North Dakota will use a new mobile laboratory to investigate disease and potential cases of bioterrorism against the state’s livestock, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 20). “There is a lot of concern about the potential vulnerability of our food supply, and this is one tool to try and deal with that,” said state Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson. A 32-foot, truck-pulled trailer is undergoing more than $60,000 in upgrades to become the rolling laboratory. It has room for equipment on a stainless steel countertop, a refrigeration and freezer unit, sleeping space for six people and a rear holding area for examining animal carcasses. A satellite dish will be installed to allow researchers to send photographs and data to the North Dakota State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Fargo, AP reported. Two teams of staffers will be able to perform diagnostic tests on cattle, sheep and other livestock in remote areas without electricity or running water, AP reported. Doing investigations on site will reduce the chances of spreading disease by transporting sick animals to a fixed laboratory, said Pat Jensen, dean of the NDSU College of Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources. The lab was equipped through a $1.25 million federally funded agrosecurity program in North Dakota, according to AP. Back to top

“Chemical Ali” to Begin Iraqi Trial Trials of members of the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will begin next week with the prosecution of Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” charged with ordering the 1988 gassing of Iraqi Kurds in the village of Halabja, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 21). “The trials will take place from next week until mid-January, and the first to be tried will be Chemical Ali,” an Iraqi government spokesman quoted the country’s defense minister, Hazem Shaalan, as saying. Majid, 60, is charged with ordering the chemical weapons attack that killed 5,000 people, mostly women and children, in the Kurdish village (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 15). Back to top       Trial Delayed in Jordan Chemical Attack Plot The trial of 13 people suspected of plotting a chemical attack in Jordan began today, only to be halted for a week due to complaints by suspects of poor conditions in jail, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Oct. 18). “We don’t want to speak to you,” Jordanian national Azmi al-Jayousi, one of the nine suspects in custody, told the judge. “We want you first to improve our detention conditions.” The trial will resume on Dec. 22 in Amman. The suspects face seven charges, including “conspiracy to commit terror attacks in Jordan,” making explosives and weapons possession, AFP reported. They are suspected of planning to use 20 tons of chemicals in an attack on the Jordanian intelligence service office, part of a series of foiled strikes reported to include the U.S. Embassy in Amman and the Jordanian prime minister’s office. Four of the suspects, including suspected Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, remain at large and will be tried in absentia (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 15). Back to top       Umatilla Expected to Resume Disposal This Week The U.S. Army’s Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon is expected to resume weapons disposal this week following an incident in which two employees allowed a small amount of chemical agent vapor to escape into another room, a spokesman for the facility’s contract operator said (see GSN, Dec. 3). The incident occurred Dec. 1 when the workers unclamped an operating filter unit rather than the filter they were supposed to fix, the East Oregonian reported. They employees were not hurt and no chemical agent was released into the atmosphere. Depot officials are reviewing a report on the incident, said Rick Kelley, spokesman for contractor Washington Demilitarization Co. No details of the report were available. The incident was the third to halt work at the facility since chemical weapons disposal began in September, the East Oregonian reported (Amy Jo Brown, East Oregonian, Dec. 13). Back to top

Missile Defense Test Fails A flight test of the U.S. missile defense program failed today when the interceptor missile failed to launch from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the U.S. Defense Department announced (see GSN, Dec. 8). A target missile carrying a mock warhead was successfully fired from Kodiak Island, Alaska, Reuters reported, but an unknown “anomaly” then caused the interceptor to shut down in its silo, according to the Missile Defense Agency. The aborted $85 million test, the first test of a complete missile defense interceptor in two years, could further postpone plans for activation of the system, according to Reuters. “This is a serious setback for a program that had not attempted a flight intercept test for two years,” said Philip Coyle, formerly the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester (Jim Wolf, Reuters, Dec. 15). Back to top       U.S., Japan Sign Missile Defense Exchange Pact The United States and Japan yesterday signed an agreement that is expected to facilitate the exchange of missile defense technologies, the Japan Times reported (see GSN, Dec. 10). A memorandum of understanding containing details of the deal is set to be signed by Japanese Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by the end of the week, according to Japanese defense officials. The agreement was made possible by Friday’s decision by Japan to ease its ban on arms exports, according to the Times. Japan plans by 2011 to deploy a U.S.-designed missile defense system composed of the land-based Patriot Advanced Capability 3 and sea-launched Standard Missile 3 interceptors, the Times reported. The countries have also been developing a next-generation version of the SM-3 (Nao Shimoyachi, Japan Times, Dec. 15).   Back to top

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