Satellite images of an Iranian military complex at Parchin have raised suspicions that Iran has conducted undeclared nuclear weapons research (AFP photo). Satellite Photos Suggest Undisclosed Iranian Nuclear Site Satellite images of an Iranian military complex southeast of Tehran indicate the installation may be used for research, testing and production of nuclear weapons, a nuclear expert said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 15)...Full Story

Washington Seeks Help to Secure HEU Materials Supplied by Countries Other Than United States, Russia By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States is seeking increased international cooperation to recover and secure weapon-grade nuclear materials around the globe, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said yesterday in a meeting with reporters (see GSN, Sept. 14)...Full Story

U.S. Senators Unveil Intelligence Reform Package By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The heads of the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday unveiled intelligence reform legislation that would create a national intelligence director with “strong” budgetary and personnel authority (see GSN, Sept. 15)...Full Story

	Thursday, September 16, 2004

U.S. Senators Unveil Intelligence Reform Package By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The heads of the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday unveiled intelligence reform legislation that would create a national intelligence director with “strong” budgetary and personnel authority (see GSN, Sept. 15). “Our bipartisan proposal will reorganize many of our intelligence agencies to create a unified command and control structure so that one person, the new national intelligence director, is in charge and accountable for the nation’s intelligence operations. Under our plan, when somebody asks who’s in charge, the question will not be met with blank stares and nonanswers,” said the top Democrat on the committee, Senator Joseph Lieberman (Conn.). As envisioned in the bill, the new national intelligence director’s responsibilities would include managing the National Intelligence Program, a budget category that would consist of the CIA, National Security Agency, National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, the FBI’s Office of Intelligence and the Homeland Security Department’s Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate, along with any other intelligence unit that serves multiple federal agencies. The new director would not have control, though, over “tactical” military intelligence assets, such as the intelligence services of the four branches of the U.S. armed services. Those would continue to remain under the control of the U.S. Defense Department. Lieberman said that control over most of the U.S. intelligence budget would shift from the Pentagon to the national intelligence director — a shift he described as “revolutionary.” In Congressional hearings held over the past several weeks on the issue of intelligence reform — prompted by the release this summer of the findings of the Sept. 11 commission — Pentagon officials have expressed concerns that changes to the structure of the intelligence community could hinder the ability of battlefield commanders to receive necessary information.  In remarks yesterday, Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) sought to address such concerns. “All of us want to make sure that the real-time intelligence that goes to our troops on the front line is not in an way interfered with. We believe that the restructuring that we’ve proposed will improve the quality of intelligence for all the consumers, including the Department of Defense, which is certainly a major consumer,” she said. The bill would also grant the new director with the authority to create national intelligence centers to conduct joint collection and analysis on specific issues, such as WMD proliferation, according to Lieberman. In its report, the Sept. 11 commission recommended the creation of such centers along with the new national intelligence director. Earlier this week, though, Secretary of State Colin Powell cautioned against such a proposal, saying that the new centers may draw away intelligence analysts needed in other organizations (see GSN, Sept. 14). In a shift from the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, the bill would not create three deputy national intelligence directors who would also serve as head of the CIA, defense undersecretary for intelligence and either FBI assistant director for intelligence or homeland security undersecretary for information analysis. Instead, the bill supports a White House proposal to create a Cabinet-level Joint Intelligence Community Council to assist the new director. Lieberman said yesterday that the Sept. 11 commission’s approach would have resulted in reduced authority for the national intelligence director. “Where would the loyalty of those deputies be? Would it be to the department that they spend most of their time in, or to the national intelligence director? And of course we feel very strongly that you can’t blur those lines. That’s exactly what's happened too much up until now,” he said. In addition to the national intelligence director, the bill would also implement another key intelligence reform proposal made by the Sept. 11 commission — the creation of a National Counterterrorism Center that would combine intelligence analysis and joint operational planning. The new center would not have the authority, though to direct executive-branch agencies to conduct specific operations. The Governmental Affairs Committee has been ordered by the Senate leadership to prepare legislation implementing the recommendations made by the Sept. 11 commission. The committee is now set to hold a markup hearing on the legislation Tuesday, with the bill expected to be brought to the Senate floor the following week, according to Lieberman. Lieberman also said that he expected additional recommendations made by the Sept. 11 commission to be included as amendments to the bill when it is brought to the full Senate, adding, “I hope they will pass.” In a joint statement yesterday, the former chairman and vice-chairman of the Sept. 11 commission praised the bill, saying it represented a “significant breakthrough.” “We consider this legislation an important first step in moving our nation in a direction that will greatly increase the safety of the American people,” said Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton. In the House of Representatives, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said yesterday that the House Republican leadership would introduce a “comprehensive” bill of its own to implement the Sept. 11 commission’s recommendations early next week, with the goal of conducting a full House vote by late September. “I have asked the committee chairmen to move quickly, because we need to make our country safer as soon as possible. Our process will create a comprehensive, thoughtful, responsible, and effective law that will accomplish that goal,” Hastert said in a statement. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yesterday, however, criticized the House Republican leadership for moving too slow and for failing to fully involve Democrats. “The Senate acted in a different way. The Democrats and Republicans worked together. They have a bipartisan bill that now can be acted upon,” she said. “It’s a place to begin.  And it isn’t a place to begin to hand us a bill at the end of the month that we don’t even know the provenance of.” Congressional Oversight Meanwhile, more than 20 senators met yesterday to discuss implementing the recommendations made by the Sept. 11 commission to improve Congressional oversight of intelligence and homeland security (see GSN, Aug. 26). In its report, the Sept. 11 commission recommended the creation of either a joint House-Senate intelligence community or the creation of separate committees in each house of Congress with combined appropriations and authorization authority. The panel also recommended the creation of permanent House and Senate homeland security committees. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who along with Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) heads a 22-member working group considering the Sept. 11 commission’s recommendations on Congressional oversight, said yesterday that he expected to have a working paper prepared within “the next few days.” McConnell also said that most of the anticipated proposals could be implemented by changes to Senate rules, rather than through new legislation. Both McConnell and Reid said they would work quickly, emphasizing the need to conduct reform of Congressional oversight in tandem with efforts to reform the intelligence community. “I felt, and do feel extremely positive about the senators who we met with today. There was really a feeling of what we're doing is important, and that that has to be carried forward to accomplish something rather than just recognizing there's a problem,” Reid said. Back to top

Satellite Photos Suggest Undisclosed Iranian Nuclear Site Satellite images of an Iranian military complex southeast of Tehran indicate the installation may be used for research, testing and production of nuclear weapons, a nuclear expert said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 15). David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security released an analysis of the photos of the Parchin complex, which is run by Iran’s military and consists of hundreds of buildings and test sites, Reuters reported. The photos were shown yesterday on ABC’s Nightly News. “Based on a review of overhead imagery of this site ... (it) is a logical candidate for a nuclear weapons-related site, particularly one involved in researching and developing high explosive components for an implosion-type nuclear weapon,” Albright’s analysis says.  “Within this larger complex, there is an isolated, separately secured site which may be involved in developing nuclear weapons,” it says. “The evidence that this (Parchin military) site is conducting nuclear weapons work is ambiguous,” Albright acknowledges in the document, and “some facilities (in the complex) seem more suited to armaments research or rocket motor testing.” He told ABC, however, that, “It’s the first case where we’re looking at a set of facilities that could be used in making the nuclear weapon itself.” The International Atomic Energy Agency had asked Iranian officials if its inspectors could visit the site but their request was ignored, Albright told Reuters (Carol Giacomo, Reuters, Sept. 15). The agency’s Board of Governors is discussing Iran this week in Vienna, and a senior member of the U.S. delegation said Washington was suspicious that the Parchin installation is being used by Tehran to test high explosives, possibly with applications to nuclear weapons. The source accused the agency of failing to make known its suspicions about the site. “This is a serious omission” on the part of Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, said the source, indicating the lack of specific mention of Parchin in Elbaradei’s written report to the board. The United States intended to “go to the other board members” and make certain that Parchin was considered in any Iran resolution negotiated this week, the official said. A diplomat involved in IAEA matters, however, said there was an oblique mention of the site in one paragraph of the ElBaradei report. The diplomat cited the following paragraph of the report: “The agency has discussed with the Iranian authorities ... information relating to dual-use equipment and materials which have applications in the conventional military area and in the civilian sphere as well as in the nuclear military area” (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 16). Iranian officials today dismissed theories of a hidden nuclear site at Parchin as a “new lie” and denied that IAEA officials ever requested permission to visit the military complex, Reuters reported. “This is a new lie, like the last 13 lies based on news reports that have been proved to be lies,” Hossein Mousavian, Iran’s chief delegate to the IAEA board meeting, told Reuters. “They have not asked to see the site,” Mousavian said. Spokesman Mark Gwozdecky did not say if the agency had formally requested to inspect Parchin and he dismissed as “baseless" the U.S. official’s suggestion that the agency had concealed information on Parchin (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Sept. 16). Meanwhile at IAEA headquarters in Vienna, some diplomats said U.S. officials were frustrated by the divided stance of its main negotiating partners, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The three have not presented a unified position, Agence France-Presse reported. “The Euro-3 is a shaky alliance. The Germans are an enormous problem and don’t want to do anything” about Iran, one diplomat said. Another diplomat disagreed, saying that the European delegations might “need some time to compare notes and views” but had been united since talks began on Monday, adding that U.S. demands were “drastic” and “do not find the support of anybody.” Johannes Reissner, a Berlin-based Iran expert told AFP that “no one in Europe wants sanctions on Iran,” adding that France and the United Kingdom have oil interests in the Islamic republic and that Germany has other commercial interests there (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 15). In Washington, Bush administration warnings that the United States would not “tolerate” a nuclear-armed Iran have sparked a policy debate on potential military strikes against the country’s nuclear installations, the Financial Times reported. Analysts close to the administration have said military options are under consideration, but that there are no indications Washington is making any definitive preparations for such a move. Senior administration officials said President George W. Bush has removed no options from the table, but that he remains optimistic about a diplomatic solution. With “enough intelligence and spadework,” the United States could “do a good job” of slowing Iran’s nuclear progress for a while, said Gary Schmitt, executive director of the Project for the New American Century. Asked whether Israel would take military action if the in the wake of U.S. indecision and a clear threat, he replied, “Absolutely. No government in Israel will let this pass ultimately.” Henry Sokolski, head of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, said the United States and its allies are in a state of denial, that Iran already has the capacity to build a nuclear weapon and that it is too late to stop it from doing so. Both the U.S. and European options “to bomb or bribe Iran” were unlikely to succeed and could in fact worsen the situation, Sokolski said, adding that the idea of allowing Israel to deal with the situation on its own is “highly irresponsible.” The potential U.S. military option in Iran is analyzed at the Web site of defense think tank GlobalSecurity.org. “The window of opportunity for disarming strikes against Iran will close in 2005,” it warns, if key nuclear reactors expected to come online next year do so, adding that Iran has two dozen suspected nuclear sites. The absence of significant numbers of U.S. stealth aircraft, early warning aircraft and other assets in the region, however, suggest that Washington is not actively considering air strike options at the moment, according to the think tank’s analysis (Guy Dinmore, Financial Times, Sept. 15). Elsewhere, Iran’s powerful former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned today that the Islamic republic was losing willingness to compromise on its nuclear program due to what he described as the hardening European stance, AFP reported. “If they keep on behaving like this, it is obvious that our capacity to compromise will decrease and we will act more independently,” Rafsanjani was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA (AFP/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 16). Back to top       Washington Seeks Help to Secure HEU Materials Supplied by Countries Other Than United States, Russia By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States is seeking increased international cooperation to recover and secure weapon-grade nuclear materials around the globe, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said yesterday in a meeting with reporters (see GSN, Sept. 14). The United States is currently working with Russia to recover weapon-usable nuclear material the two countries have supplied to research reactors worldwide over the past 50 years. Now, Abraham said, Washington would also like to address the issue of HEU materials supplied by countries other than the United States and Russia. The issue is expected to be one of the main topics discussed this weekend at a conference to be held by the United States and Russia at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on the U.S. Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI).  Launched in May, the $450 million initiative seeks to repatriate all Russian-origin fresh HEU research reactor fuel by the end of 2005 and all Russian-origin spent fuel by 2010; complete the repatriation of all U.S.-origin research reactor spent fuel under within a decade; and convert research reactors around the world to the use of low enriched uranium as fuel. In the latest mission conducted under the initiative, the United States funded and assisted the repatriation of Russian-origin fresh nuclear fuel, including 3 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, from a research reactor site in Uzbekistan. Abraham said yesterday that he hoped to secure commitments from a large number of countries attending this weekend’s conference on addressing the issue of HEU materials supplied by countries other than the United States or Russia. About 450 representatives from more than 70 countries are expected to attend the conference, he said. Abraham did not identify what countries have either supplied or received such materials, saying the issue was an “open-ended” one that needed “clear definition and consensus.” He added that the parameters of the issue would probably be “flushed out” at this weekend’s conference. Abraham also said, though, that HEU materials of U.S. and Russian origin make up a “huge amount” of such material located around the world. The Energy Department later said that about a dozen countries possess HEU materials that are not being addressed by current programs.  Among the countries other than the United States and Russia that have provided research reactors and fuel abroad is China, according to Matthew Bunn of Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom. He said today that while Beijing has provided research reactors to “somewhat dicey” countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Syria, the reactors only use about a kilogram of HEU, reducing the possible proliferation risks. There are also research reactors in Western Europe that use domestically produced HEU fuel, Bunn said. He also said that the Safari research reactor in South Africa poses concerns, less for security at the site than the large amount of HEU fuel there, consisting mostly of domestically produced material. While about 90 percent of research reactor fuel worldwide is of U.S.- and Russian-origin, Bunn said, “there is the important 10 percent that is not.” In addition, Abraham said yesterday that he would raise the issue of the “human area” of nuclear security during a speech before the IAEA General Conference, set to be held next week following the GTRI meeting. There is a need to prevent those with nuclear weapons-related knowledge from providing aid to terrorists and rogue states, according to Abraham, who said that he would propose next week that the IAEA hold a conference on the issue.  Back to top       Thieves Have Never Kept Stolen Weapon-Grade Nuclear Material From Russia, Rumyantsev Says Trying to dispel concerns that Russian nuclear material is inadequately protected, a senior Russian official said yesterday whatever weapon-grade military had been stolen in the past 25 years has since been recovered (see GSN, Sept. 14). The stolen “military-quality” material never accounted to more than “tens of grams,” said Federal Atomic Energy Agency Director Alexander Rumyantsev, adding that the material was recovered through “painstaking inquiries.” Rumyantsev also said, though, that Russia has only recovered about 10 percent of about 100 kilograms of natural uranium that has been missing. He added that such material “could never be used to make nuclear weapons, something that thieves surely ignored” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 15).  Back to top       Security Lapses Cost Five Their Los Alamos Jobs Four employees involved in recent security and safety breaches at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico were fired yesterday and a fifth is expected to resign or be dismissed, according to a memo to laboratory workers from the facility’s director (see GSN, Aug. 12). The workers were among 23 suspended this summer in connection with two July incidents, the Los Angeles Times reported. The first involved the reported disappearance of two classified computer disks, and the other involved an injury-causing laser accident. The laboratory has completed its internal inquiries into the two incidents, according to the memo sent by Peter Nanos. While outside agencies are continuing separate investigations, Nanos said laboratory officials felt they had sufficient information to take action against the employees. The terminations “were very difficult decisions for director Nanos to make,” Los Alamos spokesman James Fallin said. The violations in each case, however, “involved more than simply not following the rules,” adding that he could not be more specific (Rebecca Trouson, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 16). Back to top       New IAEA Inspections in South Korea to Focus on Uranium Metal International nuclear specialists are expected to inspect South Korea’s main nuclear facility beginning Monday, South Korean officials said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 15). The International Atomic Energy Agency inspections would focus on 295 pounds of uranium metal, officials said. Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said Monday that the metal had been produced at a previously undisclosed facility (Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, Sept. 16). Meanwhile, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that the next round of IAEA inspections would help to dispel any lingering suspicions surrounding South Korea’s nuclear program, according to Agence France-Presse. “I’m confident that IAEA investigations will prove the fact that our government is firmly committed to its nonproliferation policy,” Ban said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 16). Back to top       Diplomats Travel to North Korean Blast Site Diplomats from eight countries, including British ambassador David Slinn, left Pyongyang this morning for the remote rural site of last week’s massive explosion in North Korea near the northern border with China, Agence France-Presse reported. The blasttook place last Thursday in rugged Kimhyungjik county in Ryanggang province, in an area known to store missiles and explosives, according to AFP. Travel to the area has long been prohibited to foreigners, a British diplomat said, adding that the British embassy had never before had access to the region. Slinn “left about 8 o’clock this morning,” a British diplomat in the North Korean capital told AFP, adding that the group was scheduled for a one-hour flight in a small propeller plane, followed by a three-hour expedition by road. With torrential rain pounding many parts of North Korea and damaging roads in recent days, however, some officials in the country question whether the delegation will make it to the remote Kimhyungjik couty in Ryanggang province. “There is such a fear,” said Polish Ambassador to North Korea Wojciech Kaluza, who sent his deputy. “The weather at the location is not good today.” The group should return to Pyongyang by 6 p.m. local time if all goes according to plan, Kaluza said, but “there’s a possibility they might not return today at all.” Western officials have played down initial speculation that the blast may have been a nuclear test, with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday saying that Pyongyang’s explanation of land-clearing for a hydroelectric project was plausible (see GSN, Sept. 15). Despite continuing speculation and a lack of information about the nature of the explosion, diplomats from the German embassy in Pyongyang said the German ambassador would bring no special equipment to measure radiation, despite its availability. “As to my knowledge, the North Koreans did not exclude items to be taken with them,” the diplomat said. “I think what our ambassador and the others want to do is to have an eyesight of what is on the ground” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 16) Back to top       U.S. Air Force Conducts Successful ICBM Test The U.S. Air Force yesterday conducted a successful test of an unarmed Minuteman 3 ICBM from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, June 25).  The missile took about 30 minutes to reach targets about 4200 miles away in the Marshall Islands (Associated Press/KESQ.com, Sept. 16).  Back to top

Uruguay Strengthens Chemical Treaty Enforcement Uruguayan President Jorge Batlle Ibanez signed a presidential decree last week expanding the mandate of the Uruguayan National Authority to meet its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, according to a press release from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (see GSN, July 1). The National Authority is responsible for monitoring trade in chemicals that could be used as chemical weapons is restricted to OPCW Member States, according to the statement (OPCW release, Sept. 15).   Back to top

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