G-8 leaders (shown at their 2003 summit in Evian, France) are set to meet for three days this week in the United States to discuss WMD nonproliferation and other issues (AFP Photo/Patrick Kovarik). G-8 Leaders Prepare for WMD, Counterterrorism Talks By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The leaders of the world’s top economic powers are scheduled to meet this week in the United States to discuss a number of political, economic and security issues, including efforts to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the threat of terrorism (see GSN, June 3)...Full Story

Fate of Russian Plutonium-Production Reactors Remains Uncertain, GAO Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department might fail in its efforts to shut down three Russian plutonium-production nuclear reactors, U.S. congressional auditors warned in a report released Friday (see GSN, June 2)...Full Story

Pakistani Government to Introduce Bill Today to Strengthen Nuclear Export Control System The Pakistani government is set to introduce today legislation that would strengthen the country’s nuclear-related export control system, according to HiPakistan.com (see GSN, May 17)...Full Story

	Monday, June 7, 2004

Malaysia Opposes U.S. Help in Straits of Malacca Malaysia yesterday reiterated its opposition to receiving U.S. assistance in policing the pirate-infested Straits of Malacca, but said it would discuss maritime security with U.S. officials, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 3). Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak said his country would not allow U.S. “troops or assets” into the narrow 550-mile-long waterway connecting Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore that handles a third of the world’s sea-based commerce and more than half its oil. “What we should avoid is the presence of foreign forces in Southeast Asia, not because we distrust those from outside the region, but because a foreign military presence will set us back in our ideological battle against extremism and militancy,” Najib said, according to the Associated Press. “It will be counterproductive to have foreign ships, or assets in the region. The actual interdiction (of suspect vessels) will be done by the littoral states,” he went on. He added that his country would hold talks on the U.S. proposal to increase security in the straits. The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. Thomas Fargo, is expected to lead discussions on the Regional Maritime Security Initiative in Malaysia this month, according to Najib. Both the United States and Singapore fear the straits are a prime target for terrorists who could use suicide attackers to ram speedboats into ships or hijack tankers and sail them into ports, according to the Associated Press. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday warned that, despite successes in disrupting terrorist networks, the United States and its allies are “still closer to the beginning of this global struggle … than we are to its end.” Rumsfeld compared the struggle against modern Islamic terrorists to the war against the Barbary Pirates in the 18th and 19th centuries. “While the enemy we fight is new and different in many ways, they are in a sense merely the latest in a long line of despots and zealots who seek to destroy free, democratic systems to replace the law of the people with the rule of terrorists and the dictator,” he said (U.S. Defense Department release, June 4). Najib criticized Rumsfeld’s comments the next day, saying Southeast Asian nations had faced a terrorist problem long before Sept. 11, 2001, and that U.S. President George W. Bush’s unconditional support for Israel was contributing to global terrorism, according to the Associated Press. “Is there a link between Islam and terrorism, given that so many terrorist groups seem to use Islam as their rallying cry?” Najib said.  “Perhaps there is one, but only because we have allowed such terrorist groups to combine their purely domestic grievances with the larger injustices committed against Muslims in the Middle East. Let there be no doubt, there is more to come if we continue to ignore the need for a balanced approach to this campaign against terror,” he added (Yeoh En-Lai, Associated Press/Indiana Gazette, June 6). Back to top

G-8 Leaders Prepare for WMD, Counterterrorism Talks By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The leaders of the world’s top economic powers are scheduled to meet this week in the United States to discuss a number of political, economic and security issues, including efforts to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the threat of terrorism (see GSN, June 3). Leaders from the Group of Eight nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — are scheduled to hold an annual summit from tomorrow through Thursday at Sea Island, Ga. While there, G-8 leaders are expected to discuss several nonproliferation issues, including an initiative to help fund nonproliferation projects in Russia, as well as Iran and North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons programs. The leaders are also expected to discuss counterterrorism issues. During a 2002 summit in Canada, the G-8 launched the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, under which member states agreed to pledge $20 billion over 10 years to help fund nonproliferation projects, primarily in Russia. Since the 2002 summit, several non-G-8 countries have joined the Global Partnership as donor countries, including the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the European Union. In addition to discussing the progress made by the Global Partnership, this year’s G-8 summit is expected to announce new donor countries to the effort as well as new recipient countries beyond Russia. The new donor countries could include Australia, South Korea and New Zealand, U.S. officials said during a nonproliferation conference held in late April in Moscow. Meanwhile, the new recipient countries are set to include the former Soviet states of Georgia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, according to U.S. officials. The United States and the United Kingdom may use this week’s meeting to also announce that the Global Partnership will be expanded to help fund efforts to redirect Iraqi and Libyan WMD scientists toward civilian research projects, according to reports. Some independent experts have expressed concerns about the expansion. They have noted that while the G-8 nations agreed to pledge $20 billion, only a small fraction of that amount has been realized in actual projects being conducted in Russia. In addition, officials and experts from several countries have said that a number of difficulties, including bureaucratic obstacles and funding shortages, have hindered nonproliferation projects being conducted in Russia. Last week, the Associated Press reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin is set this week to call on his G-8 counterparts to strengthen their commitment to the Global Partnership. Late last month, former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), who helped to engineer the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program, proposed several additional nonproliferation measures involving Russia that he hoped would be announced at this year’s summit, including: *         increased efforts to secure nuclear materials removed from decommissioned Russian submarines; *         U.S.-Russian efforts to increase the transparency and security of tactical nuclear weapons; *         increased measures to secure biological weapons stocks at both Russian civilian and military sites, including increased transparency by both Washington and Moscow of their biological research facilities; and *         increased funding for Russian chemical weapons disposal efforts (see GSN, May 27). Along with the Global Partnership, the G-8 leaders are expected to discuss the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative launched last year to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo, according to the reports. The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday that the G-8 leaders are set to discuss a U.S.-proposed action plan that would expand the initiative to also target facilities that produced WMD-related materials and individuals and financiers involved in proliferation activities (see GSN, June 2). Iran, North Korea In addition, the G-8 leaders are expected to discuss Iran and North Korea’s nuclear efforts, which have raised suspicion that the two countries are seeking nuclear weapons. During last year’s summit in France, the G-8 leaders called on North Korea to verifiably end its nuclear weapons efforts, and requested that Iran abide by its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obligations and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear program (see related GSN story, today). Since last year’s summit, though, little progress has been made in efforts to resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, and concerns have increased that North Korea might also be pursuing a uranium-based nuclear weapons program as well as its known plutonium-based efforts. The controversy surrounding North Korea’s nuclear efforts is likely to be a topic of discussion at this week’s G-8 summit because several of the countries involved in multilateral efforts to resolve the crisis are also G-8 members, Sherman Katz of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said last week in Washington. Those efforts, known as the six-party talks, involve China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Katz also said that Japan has proposed a “dialogue and pressure” approach toward resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. Since last year’s summit, Iran has opened its nuclear program to increased scrutiny by IAEA inspectors and has signed, but not formally ratified, the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement. Iran also agreed late last year to suspend its uranium-enrichment program, following an agreement made with France, Germany and the United Kingdom.  Last week, the agency prepared a report praising Iran’s cooperation with IAEA efforts to monitor the nation’s nuclear program. The agency also warned, however, that Iran continues to produce components for uranium-enrichment centrifuges and that the country still plans to move forward on construction of a heavy water reactor, which could be used in a plutonium-based nuclear weapons program. CSIS senior adviser Robert Einhorn told Global Security Newswire Friday that the G-8 leaders should use this year’s summit to take a united stance on Iran’s nuclear program and should seek to dissuade Tehran from resuming enrichment activities. The leaders should also call on Tehran to increase its cooperation with the agency, he said. Jon Wolfsthal of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told GSN today, though, that the while the G-8 leaders may “make some nice noises” on the Iran and North Korean situations, little substantive progress in resolving the issues was expected. Terrorism The G-8 leaders this week are also set to discuss several terrorism-related issues, according to experts, including trans-Atlantic cooperation between the United States and Europe and the progress made by the G-8 Counterterrorism Action Group, which was launched at last year’s summit. The United States has also proposed for consideration an action plan to help reduce the threat of biological terrorism, which would include increased cooperation among G-8 members in infection disease surveillance, improved food supply security and the development of a stockpile of emergency response assets (see GSN, April 26). [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Nunn is chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.  NTI is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by National Journal Group.] Back to top       No WMD Stockpiles Will Be Found in Iraq, Kay Says Former chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq David Kay on Saturday dismissed recent comments by British Prime Minister Tony Blair that weapons of mass destruction might still be found in Iraq (see GSN, May 18). On Friday, Blair apparently suggested that the Iraq Survey Group might disclose in its next report, scheduled to be submitted in a few months, that it has found evidence of prewar Iraq’s alleged WMD stockpiles. Kay, however, said that no such stockpiles would be found. “Anyone out there holding — as I gather Prime Minister Blair has recently said — the prospect that ISG is going to unmask actual weapons of mass destruction are really delusional,” Kay said. He also criticized coalition leaders for refusing to publicly admit that prewar assessments that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction were incorrect. “The problem is the unwillingness to take the responsibility of saying a few simple words — we were wrong,” Kay said (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 5). Back to top

Fate of Russian Plutonium-Production Reactors Remains Uncertain, GAO Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department might fail in its efforts to shut down three Russian plutonium-production nuclear reactors, U.S. congressional auditors warned in a report released Friday (see GSN, June 2). Russia operates three nuclear reactors, two located in the closed nuclear city of Seversk and one in the closed nuclear city of Zheleznogorsk, that together produce up to 1.2 metric tons of plutonium per year, enough to build about 300 nuclear weapons, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office report. In 1994, the United States and Russia agreed to shut down the reactors by 2000, but the agreement never entered into force because of a dispute over which country would fund the construction of alternative power sources to provide heat and energy to the residents of the two cities. The United States and Russia in 2001 reached a new agreement, under which the United States would fund the construction of two fossil fuel plants to replace the three reactors, which Russia agreed to shut down by 2006, according to the report. The report warns, though, of a number of challenges the Energy Department faces in implementing its program. For example, the report cites Energy Department officials as expressing concern about the number of organizations in both the United States and Russia involved in the effort. In one case, the purchase of land for one of the planned fossil fuel plants at Zheleznogorsk was delayed for nine months because of disputes over the land’s value among the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry, the organization responsible for operating the reactor and a local power utility, the report says. Concerns also exist over the lack of expertise by the program’s Russian contractor in handling large-scale construction projects, the report adds. In addition, there are questions about Russia’s commitment to the “fundamental nonproliferation goal” of the reactor shutdown project, according to the report. It notes that while U.S. and Russian officials proposed measures to reduce the reactors’ plutonium output, such as extending their summer shutdown period for maintenance, last year the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry rejected such measures. The ministry also rejected an Energy Department proposal to fund safety improvements at the reactors, considered by both U.S. and Russian experts to be among the most unsafe in the world, according to the report. While the ministry — which has since been scaled down to an agency — said it would conduct its own safety improvements at the reactors, some DOE officials expressed doubt that such measures would ever be implemented, the report adds. In appendices to the GAO report, both the Energy and State departments denied that Russia’s actions reflected a lack of commitment to the nonproliferation aims of the project. The State Department instead said that it viewed Russia’s actions as reflective of security concerns, since Moscow views the reactors as “highly sensitive national security facilities.”  The GAO report also says that the existing U.S.-Russian reactor shutdown agreement does not specify the steps and time needed to close the reactors, nor does it list the requirements that must be met to commission the replacement fossil fuel plants. In addition, there are concerns over finding replacement work for the thousands of nuclear workers expected to be laid off as a result of the project, the report says. There are also concerns that the reactor shutdown project could vastly exceed prior cost estimates, according to the report. While the price tag for the project had been previously estimated at $466 million, some Energy Department officials have said that the final cost could be more than $1 billion, the report says. To help cover the cost of the project, the General Accounting Office recommended that Russia be responsible for some of the funding to construct the fossil fuel plants. The Untied States had not previously called on Russia to help pay for the work, according to the report, due to concerns that Moscow could not meet its financial obligations and would thus delay the shutdown of the reactors.  In their comments to the report, both the Energy and State departments said that a reliance on Russia to help fund the project could pose additional risks to its completion. The Energy Department agreed to seek Russian funds, however, as long as that would not delay the shutdown effort, the report says. The State Department said that it, along with the Energy Department, has begun seeking financial contributions from other nations than Russia for the reactor shutdown project. Among the countries being considered are those that participate in the Group of Eight Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, the department said. The G-8 effort, launched in 2002, seeks to obtain pledges of $20 billion over 10 years to fund nonproliferation projects, primarily in Russia (see related GSN story, today). Back to top       Pakistani Government to Introduce Bill Today to Strengthen Nuclear Export Control System The Pakistani government is set to introduce today legislation that would strengthen the country’s nuclear-related export control system, according to HiPakistan.com (see GSN, May 17). The bill, prepared by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, would impose penalties of up to 14 years in prison, a fine of more than $85,000 and seizure of all assets and property of any nuclear scientist found guilty of conducting illegal exports. In addition, the bill would impose similar penalties on anyone found guilty of having attempted to conduct or aided in conducting illegal nuclear-related exports, HiPakistan.com reported. If approved, the legislation could affect top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has confessed to transferring nuclear technology to several countries. While Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan for his activities, government officials have called the pardon “conditional,” according to HiPakistan.com (HiPakistan.com, June 7). Back to top       European Nations Draft Iran Nuclear Resolution France, Germany and the United Kingdom are preparing a draft international resolution that is expected to both praise Iran’s moves to open its nuclear program to international scrutiny and to seek still more cooperation from Tehran, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, June 3). “The three Europeans’... draft resolution is going to say that there are areas where Iran has been cooperating with the [International Atomic Energy Agency] and areas where they haven’t been cooperating,” a Western diplomat on the agency’s Board of Governors said. “It will also tell them (the Iranians) to cooperate more,” the diplomat added. The board is scheduled to begin a quarterly meeting next week and other diplomats said passage of the European-drafted resolution would likely keep Iran on the IAEA agenda for some time. The agency issued a report last week praising Iran for granting inspectors access to sites. However, the report added that the country has not disclosed all the facts surrounding its imports of nuclear technology that could be used in weapons development. IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said yesterday that the agency hoped to it could wind up its probe of Iran in the coming months. “I would hope it’s a matter of months that we should be able to bring these issues to closure,” he said, adding that he hoped a second report provided by Tehran to the agency after its first was found to be incomplete would provide a comprehensive set of details on Iran’s nuclear work (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, June 6). Iran insisted yesterday that it had fully explained the discovery of highly enriched uranium at some of its nuclear facilities. “We have nothing more to add. This contamination came on imported equipment, so it is the third party or third country that should cooperate with the IAEA,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. Iran claims such traces came into the country on equipment bought on an international black market involving Pakistan, according to Agence France-Presse. The agency is pressing Pakistan to allow inspectors access to its nuclear sites in order to verify Iran’s claim. Iran’s neighbor, which is not a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, has given no indications that it would agree to such inspections (see GSN, April 30; Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 6). Back to top       U.S. to Fund Return of Latvian HEU Fuel to Russia A research reactor in Latvia is set to be decommissioned and its spent highly enriched uranium fuel returned to Russia as part of the U.S. Global Threat Reduction Initiative, officials said last week (see GSN, June 1). The Salaspils research reactor, located southeast of the Latvian capital of Riga, will be decommissioned by 2010, according to Andris Salmins, director of the Latvian Radiation Safety Center. The United States will fund the return of the reactor’s spent HEU fuel to Russia, which originally established the reactor during the Soviet era, Salmins said. The total cost for the project could be as much as $20 million (Timothy Jacobs, Associated Press). Back to top       India Considers Ballistic Missile Submarine Fleet The Indian Navy adopted last month a new doctrine that calls for the construction of a nuclear ballistic missile submarine force, Defense News reported today (see GSN, Jan. 23, 2003). “There is a strong case for India to acquire a nonprovocative, strategic capability and the most viable platform by all accounts is the submarine,” says the Indian Maritime Doctrine. The doctrine establishes a framework for India’s pursuit of a ballistic missile submarine fleet, said an Indian Navy planning official. India would use foreign technology, possibly based on the French Scorpene- and Russian Amur-class submarines, to domestically produce about 24 submarines by 2030, the official said.  In the meantime, India is considering leasing a Russian attack submarine, probably an Akula-class ship, which would arrive in two years, Defense News reported. India is also working to build its own nuclear submarine, known as the Advanced Technology Vessel. The submarine, based on the Russian Charlie-class cruise missile submarine, is expected to be deployed by the end of next year, two years ahead of schedule, Defense News reported (Vivek Raghuvanshi, Defense News, June 7). Back to top       U.S. Warns of Growing Korean Proliferation Threat The extended talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs are giving Pyongyang time to further its weapons development, and increasing the risk of those arms falling into terrorist hands, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday (see GSN, May 28). “It seems to me they have demonstrated a willingness to export anything,” Rumsfeld said during the Asia Security Conference in Singapore.  “And to the extent they have the capability they have indicated they have, reasonable people in the world would have to assume they would be willing to sell or use most of those capabilities,” he added. “Needless to say time works to the advantage of North Korea,” he said. “Assuming their behavior is to continue their programs, the longer it takes, the more dangerous presumably their capabilities would become,” Rumsfeld added. He said the United States was “imperfectly” organized to prevent the smuggling of a radiological bomb or nuclear weapon into the country and said nations must work more closely together on such matters. “I would submit the likelihood of terrorist networks or terrorist states getting their hands on these increasingly powerful weapons and using them is growing every year. Which is why the counterproliferation initiative is so important, countries simply must cooperate together because there is simply no way a single country can effectively deal with the problem of proliferation,” Rumsfeld said (Agence France-Presse/Channel NewsAsia, June 5). Meanwhile, South Korea yesterday urged China to bring more “substantive” proposals to the next round of nuclear talks, saying Beijing’s influence over North Korea could play a pivotal role in resolving the crisis, Agence France-Presse reported. “China seems to enjoy their role as a facilitator for the six-party talks but in reality we haven’t heard the very real substantive proposals from China for the resolution of this nuclear issue,” South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck said. “We really appreciate the Chinese role as a facilitator but we hope that China will bring more substantive ideas or proposals in the next round of the six-party talks,” he added. Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported that the talks would be held June 23-25, but this has not been officially confirmed, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse/Channel NewsAsia, June 6). Back to top

Australian Company Developing Anti-Anthrax Spray An Australian company is developing an inhaled anti-anthrax spray that would neutralize the agent for up to 48 hours until an antibiotic could be administered, The Australian reported (see GSN, May 26). Melbourne-based Anadis is expected to develop the world’s first anti-anthrax spray, according to Australian and U.S. bioterrorism experts. The company has patented a technology to isolate fragments of the antibodies. The anthrax vaccine now used by the U.S. and Australian militaries has caused serious side effects in some troops. The Australian government is giving $780,000 to help develop the spray. Meanwhile, Australian officials are expected to announce today that scientists at La Trobe University in Melbourne have developed a tool that could lead to the early detection of anthrax infection. That could allow anthrax victims to seek medical help before symptoms develop, at which point drugs are useless. “The test could give a color signal if anthrax spores are detected and no color if they are absent,” said Mick Foley, the molecular biologist leading the La Trobe research. “Ultimately the test should be simple and cheap — a bit like a pregnancy test,” he added (Cameron Stewart, The Australian, June 7). Back to top

Japan Says Missile Defense Won’t Spark Arms Race Japan’s planned ballistic missile defense system is needed to protect the nation from “new types of threat,” but will not lead to an arms race with other Asian countries, Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Saturday (see GSN, May 25). Tokyo’s efforts to acquire a ballistic missile defense system contribute to security in the region, Ishiba said in a speech delivered at the Asia Security Conference in Singapore by Japanese Director General for International Affairs Masahiko Horie, Agence France-Presse reported. “Some countries expressed their concern that the BMD system might trigger an arms race,” Horie said. “I do not agree to this,” he added. “Ballistic missiles are extremely fast. Their targets are very small.  And they can have a devastating effect if nuclear, biological or chemical warheads are mounted on them,” he explained. “To effectively respond to the threat of these missiles, there exist no better mechanism than BMD,” he added. North Korean missile launches into the Sea of Japan and fears of terrorist attacks have forced Tokyo to increase its security precautions, according to Agence France-Presse. “Japan regards it important to effectively respond to new types of threat such as terrorism and ballistic missiles as well as to various situations which affect peace and stability, and also to contribute actively for the peace and stability of international community,” Horie said. “Japan, to bear appropriate responsibility in the world as well as in this region, wishes to actively speak out and take action ...without simply becoming a financial contributor,” he added (Agence France-Presse/Channel NewsAsia, June 5). Meanwhile, Japan and the United States are set to begin joint ballistic missile defense exercises next year, Agence France-Presse reported. A mock missile launch against Japan will be used to evaluate the two countries’ information-sharing capabilities and response mechanism, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. The U.S. Navy is preparing to deploy an Aegis warship with antimissile capabilities in the Sea of Japan in September. The deployment and the training exercises are seen as precautions against missile attacks by North Korea, according to the Nihon Keizai (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, June 7). Back to top

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