U.S. officials have warned that Iran’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr, currently under construction, could allow Tehran to develop nuclear weapon material (AFP photo/Atta Kenare). “Breakout” Nuclear States Concern Experts “Virtual” nuclear weapon states — those countries that have mastered the basics of nuclear power and could move rapidly to develop nuclear arms — have become a subject of much concern and discussion by nuclear and security experts, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, May 24)...Full Story

Ridge Calls Threat Assessment a Top Mission By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said today that a long-awaited national assessment of the terrorist threat is still a top priority for his department (see GSN, April 29)...Full Story

China Fines Firms for Missile-Related Exports China fined two companies the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars for violating missile-related export control regulations, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced today (see GSN, April 5)...Full Story

	Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Ridge Calls Threat Assessment a Top Mission By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said today that a long-awaited national assessment of the terrorist threat is still a top priority for his department (see GSN, April 29). “One of the most important, unique, critical missions of the department … is to do this threat assessment,” Ridge said of the project, which some critics charge has been left by the wayside in violation of the statute that created the Homeland Security Department. Ridge made the remarks to a group of reporters just after he delivered an address launching a Council for Excellence in Government study, Homeland Security from the Citizens’ Perspective. The independent council recommended an update of the 2002 National Strategy for Homeland Security “based on comprehensive national threat and vulnerability assessments, as well as state and regional risk assessments.” Ridge said Homeland Security has been working on the national assessment of threats and vulnerabilities since it began operating last year. He stressed that the job is a big one, given the size of the country and its economy. Homeland Security, he said, has developed “good relations” with the state and local governments and businesses that must contribute to the assessment. The assessment is mandatory under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, but experts and legislators have frequently called progress too slow. Among its many uses, the assessment would help the department to better target its grants for local emergency responders, distribution of which has proved highly contentious amid charges the funds are being spent haphazardly. “Federal, state and local funding of homeland security,” the council said in its report, “should be allocated strategically to achieve specific goals in the context of the national strategy, on the basis of assessments of threat and vulnerabilities.” Director Suzanne Mencer of the department’s Office for Domestic Preparedness, which administers the responder grants, said in congressional testimony April 28 that state assessments submitted in January to the office would be crucial in preparing the national assessment. “We will have a national list” of critical infrastructure, Ridge said, addressing one aspect of the effort. “We’ve already begun to set priorities in all the sectors of the economy,” he added. Council Calls for Update of Strategies, Consolidation of Oversight The council’s recommendations followed “town hall” meetings held in major U.S. cities ― often attended by Ridge ― and polls of the public and of emergency responders. The report took into account expert input and the council’s own review of homeland security efforts throughout the government and private sector. The council said citizens are often eager to participate in homeland security efforts but do not know how to do so. It recommended that federal, state and local authorities update homeland security strategies, giving more weight to citizens’ concerns. “The current National Strategy for Homeland Security, which was published in 2002 before the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, did an outstanding job of identifying the challenges facing us and articulating the broad principles necessary to meet them,” the council said in the report. “Since then,” it continued, “a lot has happened in the homeland security enterprise, and the national strategy should be updated to reflect our collective experience and progress, as well as lessons learned on many fronts.” The council also recommended creating a Homeland Security “reserve fund” for use during terrorist attacks, consolidating congressional oversight of Homeland Security into a single committee, setting up a “seamless national network” for sharing terrorism-related information among agencies and initiating a Homeland Security-led effort to integrate “all critical databases as soon as possible.” “Citizens are willing to be engaged,” Ridge said, summing up what he called the major theme of the report. He called the town halls “an enabling process.” “We look at the recommendations,” he added of the report itself, “and we take them seriously. We’re happy to report that much of that work is well under way.” Back to top       Few Ports Meet U.N. Safety Measures, IMO Says Nearly 95 percent of the world’s seaports do not comply with a U.N. directive aimed to protect ports and commercial vessels from terrorist attack, the head of the International Maritime Organization said today. The IMO said it would begin enforcing the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) on July 1. “Ships will be detained,” said IMO Secretary General Efthimios Mitropoulos. “There will be disruption,” he added. Only 301 of 5,500 ports worldwide, less than 6 percent, comply with the code. The IMO has approved 1,933 security plans submitted by 12,283 commercial vessels. The July 1 deadline would not be extended, Mitropoulos said. The ISPS mandate, adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, requires port staff and ships’ crews to execute regular terror attack drills, restrict the number of weapons and visitors aboard ship and have attack contingency plans. “Shipping handles 90 percent of the world’s trade,” Mitropoulos said. “If anything should happen, half the world would starve,” he added (Associated Press/Straits Times, May 25). Back to top

Homeland Security Needs Strategy for Energy Department Laboratories, GAO Says By Marina Malenic Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department should develop a strategy for research on detection and response technologies for weapons of mass destruction, the General Accounting Office urged in a report released yesterday (see GSN, May 13). The report finds that the department has not yet set its research and development priorities and objectives. A lack of effective organization and planning could cause inefficient use of more than $250 million in Homeland Security funds, as well as duplication of research efforts at different locations, the report states. In addition, greater coordination between research efforts at five national laboratories is needed. The five — Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, Los Alamos, Pacific Northwest and Oak Ridge — received 96 percent of the $57 million spent on research in fiscal 2003 by Homeland Security at Energy Department facilities, the GAO report states. They are set to receive about 90 percent of the $201 million to be spent in this fiscal year. The report emphasizes that effective coordination between the Energy and Homeland Security departments is essential because they must share capabilities of the DOE laboratory system equally. In addition, their mechanism for solving conflicts over research priorities at the laboratories has yet to be put to the test, according to the report. The report also recommends that Homeland Security develop guidelines on how DOE laboratories would compete for funding with private sector and academic entities. Department officials acknowledged that time constraints since the department’s organization in March 2003 have prevented it from completing its strategic plan, the report states. Back to top       Pentagon Investigates Shipments of Iraqi Conventional Weapons Into Syria The U.S. Defense Department is investigating whether weapons from Iraqi caches are being transported into Syria for use by Iraqi insurgents training there, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, May 24). Weapons shipments include guns and explosives carried by vehicles that were detected over the past several months, according to the Times. The shipments were detected as part of coalition forces’ efforts to determine the fate of both Iraq’s conventional weapons and alleged WMD programs, a defense official said. Some officials had speculated that Iraq’s alleged WMD-related items might have been shipped to Syria prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, May 25). Back to top

“Breakout” Nuclear States Concern Experts “Virtual” nuclear weapon states — those countries that have mastered the basics of nuclear power and could move rapidly to develop nuclear arms — have become a subject of much concern and discussion by nuclear and security experts, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, May 24). With what seems like relative ease, scientists today could divert a peaceful nuclear program to make highly enriched uranium or plutonium. Countries with that level of nuclear know-how include Japan, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Taiwan and about a dozen others, according to the Times. Experts refer to this crossing of the line between nuclear power and nuclear weapons development as “breakout.”  The question now is whether nuclear power and nuclear arms programs can be separated, the Times said. New initiatives are being created to erect such a barrier (see GSN I and II, Feb. 12). “We can’t give absolute guarantees,” said Graham Andrew, a senior scientist at the International Atomic Energy Agency.  “But there will be technological developments to make the fuel cycle more proliferation-resistant,” he added. “The future looks better than the past in terms of this whole problem,” said Rose Gottemoeller, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “At the moment, it’s a very, very fast-moving arena that a lot of people are into and thinking about,” she added. Countries can receive support in developing nuclear power plants if they pledge to renounce nuclear arms. That principle was codified in the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and the International Atomic Energy Agency was created to monitor peaceful nuclear programs. However, surveillance and support have not always stopped nuclear weapon development. “If you look at every nation that’s recently gone nuclear, they’ve done it through the civilian nuclear fuel cycle: Iraq, North Korea, India, Pakistan, South Africa,” said Paul Leventhal, president of the Nuclear Control Institute. “And now we’re worried about Iran,” he added. Experts say Iran provides a good example of the breakout danger. IAEA inspectors have found that Iran had been keeping some of its most sensitive nuclear work under wraps for as long as 18 years. With Russian help, Iran is building a reactor at Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, which officials say would be fueled by low-enriched uranium. Experts say this is the type of peaceful nuclear program that could easily be transformed into a military project. Uranium fuel generally remains in a reactor for up to four years and, as a byproduct of fission, accumulates plutonium 239, one of two materials ideally suited for making nuclear bombs. However, the spent fuel also accumulates plutonium 240, which is so radioactive that it can be difficult to turn into weapons. Changing the reactor’s fuel every few months cuts the plutonium 240 levels for weapon building. Undersecretary of State John Bolton recently told Congress that Bushehr could make enough plutonium for more than 80 nuclear weapons after several years of operation. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is calling for multinational regimes prohibiting any individual country from enriching uranium or reprocessing plutonium on its own. Groups of countries would have to undertake such projects, ensuring instantaneous verification that the work is peaceful. Iran this month gave some indications that it might be interested in participating in such a group project with Russia and Europe, the Times said. Members of such a consortium should be guaranteed lifetime fuel supplies and spent-fuel removal, under the condition that they forgo building their own enrichment and reprocessing plants, said Matthew Bunn, a nuclear expert at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. “What you need is an incentive,” he said. U.S. President George W. Bush proposed in February to limit the number of countries allowed to produce nuclear fuel to only those countries that already have that capacity. While many experts agree that a freeze is the best policy, some worry that there is not enough incentive being given to those frozen out of the nuclear game. “It’s all sticks and no carrots,” Bunn said. “I think you can couch this to be more carrotlike,” he added (William Broad, New York Times, May 25). Back to top       U.S. to Conduct Subcritical Nuclear Test Today Scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory are expected today to conduct an underground subcritical nuclear experiment at the Nevada Test Site, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Nov. 20, 2002). The “Armando” test would involve detonating high explosives around plutonium encased in a steel sphere and measuring the plutonium’s reaction, AP reported. The test is the 21st subcritical experiment to be conducted at the Nevada Test Site (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 24) Back to top       U.S. Studying North Korean Uranium Report; S. Korea, Russia Discuss Nuclear Standoff The United States is studying a report that nearly 2 tons of uranium surrendered by Libya earlier this year originated in North Korea, not in Pakistan as U.S. officials originally believed, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, May 24). “We have seen the stories,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. “We’ll be looking into this matter further,” he added. Diplomats close to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which discovered that the cask of uranium hexafluoride apparently came to Libya from North Korea in 2001, said the agency is continuing its investigation of the matter. A senior Western diplomat said the agency “had not found explicitly the source” of the uranium. Another senior Western diplomat said the New York Times article was “accurate” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 25). Meanwhile, the South Korean and Russian foreign ministers met in Moscow yesterday to discuss the North Korea nuclear standoff. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il last week and Kim’s pledge to adhere to a moratorium on long-range missile launches. “The warming of relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang will no doubt make for a more favorable atmosphere at the six-nation talks on the Korean nuclear problem,” Lavrov said (Associated Press, May 24). Back to top       Serbia and Montenegro Ratifies Test Ban Treaty Serbia and Montenegro deposited its instrument of ratification for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty on Wednesday, according to the CTBT Organization (see GSN, April 15).  To date, 113 countries have ratified the pact, including 19 of the 22 states in Eastern Europe (CTBT Organization release, May 25). Back to top       Russian Navy Considering Decommissioning Akula-Class Submarines, Suspended Commander Says The head of the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet has alleged that the navy plans to decommission Russia’s entire fleet of Akula-class strategic nuclear submarines, the Moscow Times reported today (see GSN, March 19). Russian Navy chief Vladimir Kuroyedov ordered the decommissioning after two failed ballistic missile launches from Northern Fleet submarines during a strategic exercise earlier this year, said Adm. Gennady Suchkov, who was recently suspended as head of the Northern Fleet (see GSN, Feb. 18). The submarines involved in the failed missiles launches, however, are of a different class than the Akula, according to Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Moscow office of the U.S.-based Center for Defense Information. Akula-class submarines are armed with 20 long-range ballistic missiles. The Russian Navy denied Suchkov’s allegation, according to the Times. The Akula class “will continue to exist as it has existed, fulfilling the entire range of goals it has been tasked with,” Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said (Saradzhyan/Yablokova, Moscow Times, May 25). Back to top

CDC Restructures to Better Battle Bioterror By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that it is refocusing priorities and reorganizing operations this year to better protect the United States against biological attacks and to promote health amongst all Americans (see GSN, Dec. 4, 2003). The federal agency will now focus its attention and funding on two “overarching health protection goals”: preparedness against infectious, environmental and terrorist threats, and the prevention of disease, injury and disability, according to a CDC press release. Most CDC offices will also operate within four coordinating units to allow personnel working in similar health fields to more easily collaborate, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said Friday. Planned changes were developed under the yearlong Futures Initiative, and should be in place when the agency begins its next fiscal year in October, Skinner said. “The Futures Initiative is all about allowing the CDC to leverage its resources to be even more effective than we are now to responding to public health threats, whether they’re caused by infectious, environmental or terroristic threats or chronic health conditions,” Skinner said. The agency has 8,000 full-time employees around the country in divisions working to research and prevent health problems. It began increasing its ability to respond to bioterrorism in 1998, and led the response to the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office. A 2003 GAO report found that while the agency provided strong support to local health departments during the attacks, CDC officials acknowledged they were not prepared to coordinate the work of federal health personnel and had trouble managing information coming in from other public health agencies [see GSN, Oct. 16, 2003]. The agency subsequently created an Office of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response, developed an emergency operations center and took other steps to better respond to bioterror, the report states. Some public health experts have also charged the agency with playing down the importance of the smallpox immunization program and with failing to work well with local and state organizations. Former U.S. Health and Human Services official Jerome Hauer questioned whether the CDC change would improve the agency’s bioterrorism efforts. Large organizations sometimes change for the sake of change, but to minimal effect, he said. “I think we have to see what happens on this,” said Hauer, now director of the Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute at George Washington University. “Only time will tell,” he added. Details on how the Centers for Disease Control will allocate programming, funding and personnel to meet its priorities will be determined in the months leading to the new fiscal year, Skinner said. The agency has requested $1.1 billion for terrorism response in fiscal 2005. Most of the money — $829 million — would be used for grants to help state and local agencies increase their ability to respond to biological incidents. Remaining money would fund CDC response capability increases, security, anthrax vaccine research and a surveillance initiative aimed at shrinking the time it takes for public health agencies to detect a biological problem. The new organizational model will support the agency’s efforts to meet its goals, Skinner said. “It’s a matter of bringing people together to more effectively work on a common cause,” he said. Each of the four coordinating centers will include several agencies: *         The Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases will house the National Center for Infectious Diseases, the National Immunization Program and the National Center for STD, TB and HIV Prevention. *         The Coordinating Center for Health Promotion will house the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. *         The Coordinating Center for Environmental Health, Injury Prevention and Occupational Health will be home to the National Center for Environmental Health, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. *         The Coordinating Center for Health Information and Services will include the National Center for Health Statistics, a new National Center for Health Marketing and a new Center for Public Health Informatics. The Office of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response and the Office of Global Health will operate independently of the coordinating centers.  Each coordinating center will have a director who will report directly to Director Julie Gerberding, rather than having the head of each office do so. That will allow Gerberding to spend more time planning national and international health strategies, said Charles Schable, new head of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response. “Will it make the CDC react more promptly [to health emergencies]? I don’t think so because we react pretty darn promptly,” Schable said. “We don’t need a management structure to respond,” he added. Schable’s 150-person office will continue its work coordinating work by CDC departments and other federal, state and local agencies against bioterror, officials said. “My office will coordinate a response, coordinate funds that will go to these various centers,” Schable said. Back to top       HHS to Provide $498 Million for Medical Preparedness U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson announced yesterday that his department would award $498 million for states, territories and four major metropolitan areas to bolster hospitals’ abilities to respond to bioterrorist attacks and other disasters (see GSN, May 21). “States and communities can use these funds to improve emergency care in any health crisis, whether the sources is a bioterror attack or other infectious disease outbreaks like SARS or West Nile virus, or any natural disaster like a flood or hurricane,” Thompson said. Over three years, the department’s Health Resources and Services Administration has provided $1.5 billion for hospital disaster response. The metropolitan areas set to receive the HHS grants are New York, Chicago, Los Angeles County and Washington (Health and Human Services release, May 24). Back to top       Russian Scientist Dies After Ebola Virus Infection A Russian scientist who worked at a former Soviet biological weapons facility died earlier this month after accidentally infecting herself with the Ebola virus, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, March 4). Officials at the laboratory, the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, said that the scientist had been working on an Ebola vaccine when she stuck herself with a needle carrying the virus on May 5.  The laboratory, known as Vector, did not report the incident to the World Health Organization until last week, according to the Times.  Scientists said that even though Vector isolated the scientist to prevent the spread of the disease and that there was no requirement to report accidents involving the virus, the delay meant that WHO scientists were unable to provide information on treatments that could have saved the scientist’s life (Judith Miller, New York Times, May 25). Back to top

Chinese Workers Receive Medical Care After Exposure to World War II-Era Mustard Agent At least nine people in the Chinese city of Qiqihar have received medical treatment after being exposed yesterday to World War II-era mustard gas (see GSN, April 23). Construction workers working in the northeastern city broke open a Japanese canister of mustard gas left behind after World War II, a local government spokesman said today. A similar incident in Qiqihar last year killed one person and injured 43 others, the Xinhua News Agency reported (Xinhua/China Daily, May 25). While Chinese experts said that more than 2 million Japanese World War II-era chemical weapons remain in China, Tokyo has estimated the total to be about 700,000 munitions, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, May 25).  Back to top       Marshall Islands Join Chemical Weapons Convention The Marshall Islands last week formally joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (see GSN, April 2). The Marshall Islands deposited its instrument of ratification to the United Nations on May 19 and the treaty’s provisions will enter into force for the country on June 18. To date, 163 countries have joined the treaty (OPCW release, May 22). Back to top

China Fines Firms for Missile-Related Exports China fined two companies the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars for violating missile-related export control regulations, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced today (see GSN, April 5). While refusing to identify the companies, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site that the penalized entities were a trading firm and a chemical company based in two eastern provinces, according to Agence France-Presse. The ministry also refused to detail the violations, including the items involved or to what countries they might have been shipped, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, May 25). A U.S. State Department official told Global Security Newswire today that the ministry announcement represents the first time China has publicized penalizing companies for violating missile-related export control regulations. “It’s very positive, but from our perspective, more penalizing needs to be done,” the official said (Mike Nartker, Global Security Newswire, May 25). Back to top

North Korean Leader Says Missiles Are Not Targeted at Japan, Sources Say North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Saturday that North Korean missiles are not targeted at Japan, Japanese government sources said yesterday (see GSN, May 7). Japanese Defense Agency head Shigeru Ishiba said today, though, that he has been unable to verify Kim’s reported statement, according to the Kyodo News. “[It] may or may not be true.  There is no way to comment on it,” Ishiba said, adding that he planned to continue to push for Japan’s development of a missile defense system (Kyodo News Service/BBC Monitoring, May 25). Back to top

U.S., IAEA to Provide Nuclear Security for Olympics U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is set to transfer radiation detection devices to Greece today in an effort to increase security against potential terrorist attacks on the summer Olympic Games, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 7). The devices are to be installed at ports and airports, according to U.S. and Greek officials. Similar U.S. equipment is already in use at Athens International Airport. Several other countries are slated to receive such technology from the United States in preparation for the games in August, U.S. officials said. In addition, the U.S. military base at Souda Bay on Crete is equipped with emergency medical supplies for biochemical or radiation attack response (Brian Murphy, Associated Press/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 25). The International Atomic Energy Agency today also announced plans to provide expert advice and technical assistance for nuclear security in Greece during the games. Physical protection has been heightened for the Demokritos nuclear research reactor, in the Athens suburbs, and security is being increased for radioactive materials at medical and industrial facilities in six Greek cities, the agency said.  Along with monitors at entry points into the country, hand-held radiation detectors are being distributed to security personnel at the Olympics. “There has been good cooperation with the Greek Atomic Energy Commission and with the other international partners in developing and implementing this work,” IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in a prepared statement. “We are collectively striving for a high measure of security and the work being undertaken should enhance the capabilities of the Greek authorities,” he added (IAEA release, May 25).   Back to top

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