A new CIA report criticizes the agency for failing to seriously consider the possibility that Iraq had ended its WMD programs after the 1991 Gulf War. Ultimately the agency’s chief investigator Charles Duelfer, shown testifying before Congress last year, reached just that conclusion after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq (Mark Wilson/Getty Images). CIA Report Offers Fresh Critiques of Iraq Intelligence By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A CIA-commissioned report made public this week offers some new conclusions of prewar U.S. intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, appearing to contradict findings by an earlier presidential panel (see GSN, March 31). The 12-page declassified report, completed in July 2004 and published on the Internet yesterday in full by the National Security Archive of George Washington University, was prepared by a group of experts led by former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Richard Kerr...Full Story

North American First Responders Lack Radiation Training, Say Canadian Official, U.S. Firefighters By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Teaching more U.S. and Canadian emergency responders about radiation and its effects would address a major vulnerability of the North American nuclear-power infrastructure, a Canadian government radiation specialist said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 30)...Full Story

New Mexico Governor to Visit North Korea New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) will spend three days in North Korea next week for nuclear disarmament talks with officials there, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Oct. 12)...Full Story

	Friday, October 14, 2005

CIA Report Offers Fresh Critiques of Iraq Intelligence By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A CIA-commissioned report made public this week offers some new conclusions of prewar U.S. intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, appearing to contradict findings by an earlier presidential panel (see GSN, March 31). The 12-page declassified report, completed in July 2004 and published on the Internet yesterday in full by the National Security Archive of George Washington University, was prepared by a group of experts led by former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence Richard Kerr. USA Today and the New York Times this week reported that the assessment criticizes the Bush administration for not heeding prewar warnings about the possibility of violence among rival factions after the fall of the Iraqi regime. Beyond that, however, the report appears to contradict two major conclusions in a report from an earlier, prominent panel, the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. First, the report concludes that Bush administration views on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and pressure for certain information might have affected the quality of analyses the intelligence community provided.  The previous commission’s report, released in March, found “no evidence of political pressure to influence the intelligence community’s prewar assessments of Iraq’s weapons programs.” The new report also faults the intelligence community for failing to question whether Iraq may have abandoned weapons of mass destruction programs destroyed following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The previous commission document also noted a failure “even to consider the possibility that Saddam Hussein would decide to destroy his chemical and biological weapons and to halt work on his nuclear program after the first Gulf War.” However, it said that even if that possibility was considered, analysts could have justifiably concluded that such action by then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was unlikely. The Kerr report instead argues that the intelligence community might reasonably have concluded Iraqi WMD programs could have been abandoned given a paucity of information indicating they existed. “Collection strategies should recognize the extreme difficulty of requiring such a regime to prove the negative in the face of assumptions that it is dissembling,” it said. A post-invasion report from a U.S.-led investigation of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, known commonly as the “Duelfer Report,” last year concluded that Iraq had abandoned its weapons and programs, was deliberately ambiguous about their fate in the interest of maintaining deterrence, and had no intention of attacking the United States with such weapons (see GSN, Jan. 25). Pressure from the User, Close Relations The Kerr report suggests that pressure to satisfy numerous administration requests for intelligence regarding suspected Iraqi weapons capabilities and links to al-Qaeda might have driven the intelligence community to cut corners and focus on providing the sought-after information rather than providing a more balanced picture. “Eagerly responsive to quickly developed policy requirements, the quick and assured response gave the appearance of both knowledge and confidence that, in retrospect, was too high,” it says. The Kerr report does not blame Bush administration officials, though, noting that “serious pressure from policy-makers almost always accompanies serious issues.” Instead, it says the intelligence agencies failed to exercise quality control checks on analysis. The community was satisfied to produce volumes of information that satisfied the intelligence consumers, it said. “The extensive layers of critical management review that traditionally served to insure both the validity and standing of finished intelligence products seem to have been ineffective in identifying key issues affecting collection and analysis,” it said. The Kerr report further suggests that daily, close intelligence community contacts with policy-makers may have led to the conveyance of intelligence less tempered with caveats than would appear in written reports. “In the case of Iraq, daily briefings and other contacts at the highest levels undoubtedly influenced policy in ways that went beyond the coordinated analysis contained in the written product. Close and continuing personal contact, unfettered by the formal caveats that usually accompany written production, probably imparted a greater sense of certainty to analytic conclusions than the facts would bear,” it said. The report says there “remains an open question” about whether “the climate of policy-level pressure” had “contributed to the problem of inconsistent analytic performance.” It notes that while a “constant stream of questions” from administration policy-makers on possible Iraq-al Qaeda connections caused analysts to conduct exhaustive, repetitive searches for such links, the community remained firm that “no operational or collaborative relationship existed.” With regard to suspected weapons, however, because policy views and intelligence community judgments were in accord, “the impact of pressure, if any, was more nuanced and may have been considered reinforcing,” it says. Without so much policy pressure, analysts may have been more inclined to examine underlying assumptions, it said. “Precisely because we’ve had such inadequate investigation of this intelligence failure, we still haven’t learned the real lessons of what went wrong and it seems like this report has started to correct the balance,” said Joseph Cirincione, nonproliferation director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “There was conscious political effort to push the intelligence in a way that would support an already determined policy. And this report comes closer than any other in recognizing that fundamental reality,” he said. Types of Intelligence Emphasized The report says underlying assumptions about Iraqi weapons were not questioned also because of how the intelligence community emphasizes technical intelligence over more qualitative, human-derived intelligence on cultural and political factors. Intelligence collection efforts were “not focused or conceptually driven to answer questions about the validity of the premise that WMD programs were continuing apace,” it said. The study faulted a disproportionate reliance on satellite collection systems, which it said provided very little accurate information, sought information intended to satisfy preconceptions, and offered “little acknowledgement” of the political and cultural conditions that might influence such programs. “Analysis of Iraq’s WMD programs, therefore, provides an excellent case study for an assessment of the limitations of relying too heavily on technical systems with little acknowledgement of the political/cultural context in which such programs exist,” it said. Little collection was done on the social, cultural and economic impacts “on Iraq of nearly 20 years of war and 10 years of sanctions and isolation,” the Kerr report said. The report said gathering intelligence on “societal issues, personalities and elites” can be more difficult to accomplish than technical intelligence collection. However, “information on the stresses and strains of society may be equally, if not more, important.” Collection of such information, though, “does not fit with the reward system in the collection world and can be difficult to fully assess and integrate with other information.” Intelligence gathering on Iraq also “was the victim of inadequate funding and too intense competition between top priority targets,” it said. Back to top       Bush “Wanted to Go Beyond Iraq” in Curbing WMD Proliferation Before War, Book Says U.S. President George W. Bush told British Prime Minister Tony Blair two months before the invasion of Iraq that he “wanted to go beyond Iraq” in dealing with WMD proliferation, according to a recently published book (see GSN, July 15). In a Jan. 30, 2003, private telephone conversation, Bush mentioned Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as countries that posed proliferation problems, the New York Times reported today. The comment is reported in the U.S. edition of Lawless World, by Philippe Sands, a professor at University College, London, who cites notes on the conversation taken by Matthew Rycroft, then the private secretary to Blair (Douglas Jehl, New York Times, Oct. 14). Back to top       Azerbaijan Establishes WMD Detection Command Post Azerbaijan has established a WMD detection command post to catch any terrorists trying to transport weapons of mass destruction across the Caspian Sea, the Turan information agency reported today (see GSN, Oct. 13). “Our task is to detect such ships and prevent such attempts. The border guard service has created mobile groups for coping with this task,” said Farkhad Tagizade, border guard service deputy commander. He added that several suspicious ships had already been detained (Turan/Defense and Security, Oct. 14). Back to top

New Mexico Governor to Visit North Korea New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) will spend three days in North Korea next week for nuclear disarmament talks with officials there, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Oct. 12). Richardson said yesterday he would not act as an official negotiator on behalf of the United States.   He has traveled several times to North Korea before and was invited again earlier this year, but the trip was not approved by the Bush administration until recently, according to the Times. “I am not an official envoy, but I am supportive of the administration’s new policy to engage the North Koreans through dialogue and diplomacy,” said the former U.N. ambassador. Richardson is scheduled to leave Saturday and arrive in Pyongyang on Monday. The Bush administration backed the mission and is allowing Richardson to use an Air Force plane, the Times reported. “We’ve been in touch with Governor Richardson and we look forward to being in touch with him again on his return,” said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the administration’s main envoy to North Korea nuclear talks. Richardson is scheduled to brief officials in Japan and South Korea following the talks, the Times reported. Richardson plans to advise North Korean officials on the country’s food, health and energy problems, his office announced (Steven Weisman, New York Times, Oct. 13). North Korean officials had invited Richardson to visit, and he put in a request to the State Department, a former U.S. official told Reuters. “He wanted to go. Chris Hill finally obliged him,” the official said. A State Department official said Richardson would not transmit any special message to Pyongyang from the Bush administration. Although Hill had considered visiting Pyongyang, North Korea put conditions on the trip, including having Washington endorse a North Korean nuclear energy program, one U.S. source told Reuters. A North Korea visit by top Senate Armed Services Committee members John Warner (R-Va.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) had been in the works but has been delayed, U.S. officials said (Reuters/New York Times, Oct. 13). Back to top       Security Upgrades for U.S. Nuclear Weapons Sites Behind Schedule, Energy Department Report Says Security upgrades have fallen behind schedule for the Nevada Test Site and other U.S. nuclear weapons facilities, the Energy Department’s inspector general said in a report released Wednesday (see GSN, Oct. 11). About 87 percent of security plans ordered in 2003 and scheduled to be implemented by October 2006 have not been completed, the report says. The planned upgrades include hiring of additional guards, new building designs and training, according to the Associated Press. In addition, technology such as thermal imaging, laser detection, ground surveillance, Doppler radar, remote cameras and sensing equipment have yet to be purchased, the report says. Audited sites include the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, the Pantex Plant in Texas and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, AP reported. The National Nuclear Security Administration announced yesterday it was already working to address issues in the audit, AP reported (Associated Press/Austin American-Statesman, Oct. 13). Back to top       Iran Nuclear Plans May Be Unstoppable, Study Says If Iran is intent on acquiring a nuclear-weapon capability, the best U.S. response may be simply to deter Tehran from using its weapons instead of attempting to reverse its nuclear progress, says a study released yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 28). “Can the United States live with a nuclear-armed Iran? Despite its rhetoric, it may have no choice,” says the report by Defense Department advisers Judith Yaphe and Air Force Col. Charles Lutes, senior fellows at the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies. The opportunity to eliminate a successful Iranian nuclear weapons complex “is lower than preventing it in the first place and the costs of rollback may be higher than the costs of deterring and containing a nuclear Iran,” the report says. Most experts believe Iran would choose to become a “virtual nuclear power” — able to quickly manufacture a weapon but holding back from testing a bomb, the report adds. While “a nuclear-armed Iran is a clear and present danger” in the eyes of Israel, the report warns that a pre-emptive military strike against Iranian nuclear sites could create support for a religious fundamentalist government in Tehran and could incite attacks by terrorist groups like Hezbollah. The report also warns that an attempt at regime change by Washington would come with an “extremely high risk that the Iranian regime would use its nuclear weapon in a last-ditch effort to save itself.” Iran is not likely to use a nuclear weapon unless faced with a great threat. In addition, “Iran would not, as a matter of state policy, give up control of such weapons to terrorist organizations,” the report says. Questions remain, though, on whether Tehran could maintain oversight on all entities that would have access to the nuclear technology (Reuters/New York Times, Oct. 13). Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki reaffirmed Tehran’s readiness to resume nuclear negotiations with France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Oct. 14). Mottaki also said China has come out in support of Iran’s nuclear efforts, the Associated Press reported today. “We talked with China about the peaceful utilization of nuclear power,” he said in Beijing. “China agrees with our stance” (Associated Press/Pravda, Oct. 14). Elsewhere, the European Parliament yesterday warned Iran that it must comply with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and improve its human rights record before the European Union could grant it any trade agreements, AP reported. Parliament passed a resolution urging Iran to fully halt its uranium enrichment activities, according to AP (Jan Sliva, Associated Press/Pravda, Oct. 13). Iran has recognized that it must resume EU negotiations to avoid being referred to the U.N. Security Council referral and face possible sanctions, officials told Reuters yesterday. “Top officials are well aware of the consequences of referral, they don’t want this to happen,” said a senior official. A senior EU diplomat, however, expressed doubts on the matter. “If Iran’s real intention is to resume talks, instead of issuing statements they should have contacted the Europeans,” he said. The European Union is concerned about being outmaneuvered by Tehran, analysts said. “They completed [the] Isfahan facility while in talks with the Europeans,” said one analyst. However, other analysts noted that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared worried about the effects of Tehran’s harsh rhetoric. Iranian media have speculated that Khamenei has turned nuclear strategy over to former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Khamenei last week heightened the authority of the Expediency Council, which Rafsanjani heads. “The hard-liners’ stance was forcing the country toward crisis. So the leader had to interfere,” said analyst Saeed Leylaz (Parisa Hafezi, Reuters, Oct. 13). Back to top

CDC Lab with Bioagents Loses Power A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory in Colorado went without power for 13 hours beginning Monday afternoon, disabling the security system and freezers that hold plague and other biological agents, the Rocky Mountain News reported (see GSN, Oct. 4). The laboratory in Fort Collins is owned by Colorado State University and leased to the federal health agency. Power went out at 3:07 p.m. Monday, and a short-circuit prevented electricity from the backup generator from being routed around the building, according to Colorado State spokesman Brad Bohlander.  The laboratory holds 1,000 freeze-dried plague strain samples, along with smaller samplings of tularemia and Venezuelan equine encephalitis. Bohlander said that portable generators provided power to the main germ freezers and that dry ice was used for smaller freezers.  CDC spokeswoman Jennifer Morcone said that the germ collections were not damaged, the public was in no danger and there were no security breaches. The agency plans to build an $80 million laboratory to replace the aging laboratory. It is expected to be completed in 2006. Members of Colorado Senator Wayne Allard’s (R) staff visited the site Wednesday and are preparing an incident report.  “The senator will take a look at that report, and if there are concerns, he'll address them,” said Allard spokeswoman Carolyn Williams. “But what we've heard so far is that things were handled very well” (Jim Erickson, Rocky Mountain News, Oct. 13). Back to top       Study Finds Washington, D.C. Doctors Lack Knowledge on Initial Diagnosis, Treatment of Smallpox Scientists have found that emergency physicians in Washington, D.C., are lacking in knowledge about the initial signs of smallpox, Biotech Law Weekly reported today (see GSN, Sept. 27). Researchers from Georgetown University and Vassar College published their findings in the Academic Emergency Medicine. Scientists administered a 20-question written true-or-false test on the initial diagnosis and treatment of smallpox to full-time emergency doctors in seven area hospitals.  “The overall response rate was 81 percent (52 of the 64 eligible full-time emergency physicians),” the article states. “The average score was 59 percent correct. The facts most likely to be known were that the symptoms of smallpox begin with a two-to four-day prodrome of fever and myalgia (before the appearance of any rash), that no antiviral treatment is of more proven value than vaccination of contacts, and that a person with smallpox may be contagious before any rash appears.” “The facts least likely to be known were: that when dealing with a known case of smallpox, fit-tested N95 masks are not needed by treating personnel if they have been vaccinated; that the rash of smallpox begins with 24-48 hours of flat, erythematous macules (not papules or vesicles); and that very typically the rash of smallpox begins in the mouth (average, 22 percent correct),” researchers wrote. “Some facts from the current CDC Web site on smallpox are known by a large majority of full-time emergency physicians in Washington, D.C., whereas questions based on other facts were answered incorrectly by a majority of the physicians tested” (Biotech Law Weekly, Oct. 14). Back to top

U.K. Pledges More Money for Russian CW Destruction A British official said yesterday that money given to Russia to build a chemical weapons destruction facility “is being used absolutely as intended” and that the United Kingdom plans to give more, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, Sept. 26). Minister of State for the Armed Forced Adam Ingram visited the Kurgan Region, where the facility is being built, according to ITAR-Tass. “Our representatives are visiting the site in Shchuchye, into which we have already invested 15 million pounds sterling and intend to contribute at least another 20 million,” Ingram said. “I have already seen the buildings that have been erected and other facilities, and I have been convinced that we have attained great progress here. The problem of destroying reserves of chemical weapons is not only a Russian one and that is why other countries are also taking part in the implementation of the project.” Nearly 5,000 tons worth of combat charges, shells and missiles filled with chemical agents are stored near Shchuchye (ITAR-Tass, Oct. 13). Back to top       Leaks Contained at Deseret Chemical Depot The Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah successfully contained mustard gas leaking from two artillery projectiles in a storage igloo, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 6). Workers placed the shells into airtight storage containers yesterday, and no mustard gas escaped from the igloo, according to a depot statement (Associated Press, Oct. 13). Back to top       China Blasts Japan for Lack of CW Information A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman yesterday criticized Japan for not providing enough information on the location of chemical weapons abandoned during World War II, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, Oct. 12). Takeshi Erikawa, vice minister for Japan’s Cabinet Office, yesterday concluded a trip to Dunhua in the Jilin Province to see what China claims to be the largest concentration of weapons. “Why go to this place?” Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said. “The Chinese side has always been asking the Japanese side to provide places where chemical weapons were abandoned during its invasion of China, but Japan has never been able to do this.” China maintains that the majority of 700,000 chemical weapons abandoned by Japan are in Dunhua. Kong said the weapons are a continuing threat to Chinese citizens (Ralph Jennings, Kyodo News, Oct. 13). China is also complaining that the Japanese are taking too long to clear the weapons, Reuters reported. The weapons have injured roughly 2,000 citizens over the decades, according to China.  “The Chinese side strongly demands the Japanese side bear its due responsibility and obligation,” the Xinhua news agency quoted Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei as saying (Reuters, Oct. 14). Back to top

North American First Responders Lack Radiation Training, Say Canadian Official, U.S. Firefighters By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Teaching more U.S. and Canadian emergency responders about radiation and its effects would address a major vulnerability of the North American nuclear-power infrastructure, a Canadian government radiation specialist said yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 30). The nuclear industry has done a good job of fortifying facilities against attack, but police, firefighters, emergency-management technicians and medical staff are insufficiently trained for radiation incidents, said Chris L’Heureux, senior emergency preparedness adviser at Health Canada’s Radiation Protection Bureau. The health department is the lead Canadian agency for radiation incident response. “We’re so uneducated as responders,” L’Heureux said at an Arlington, Va., security conference sponsored by the Performance Institute. “When we get to the nuclear industry, this is a totally alien world.” Understanding what health effects can be expected from various levels of radiation, L’Heureux said, would help responders make crucial decisions during an incident about how best to protect victims’, and the responders’ own, health and lives. Failure to provide sufficient training on such matters could exacerbate the effects of a terrorist attack, he said. “Our responders need to recognize and to be trained in radiation exposures, and that’s a vulnerability,” L’Heureux said. A firefighter representative today concurred with L’Heureux’s basic analysis. “If you walked up to many firefighters and asked them, ‘What do you know about action levels? If you were going to get a 25-rem exposure, and you were going to make a rescue, is that appropriate or not?’ Most of them would not know,” said Eric Lamar, assistant to the president of the 270,000-member International Association of Firefighters. “We need to have much more comprehensive and much better training on that stuff.” Lamar said virtually all professional firefighters receive “very basic” training on topics such as when and how to don gear to protect against radiation. Only a few thousand — principally, members of specialized hazardous-materials teams — receive more extensive instruction, he said, adding that many more firefighters should be trained about how to use detection equipment and what actions to take when faced with different radiation levels. “What all of us need more of is good training on response protocols and on … detection equipment used in an emergency. One of the weak areas consistently is making sure that responders have access to direct-read [radiation-detection] instrumentation and that they’re trained on how to use it,” he said. “There’s not a lot of money or resources out there to give that kind of training.” No overall data was immediately available on how many of the United States’ 2 million local, state and federal emergency responders receive radiation training, or on what kind of instruction is given to those who do receive some. The National Fire Academy, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Md., says it has trained 1.4 million students over 30 years and currently offers seven courses that are primarily focused on radiation. The Emergency Management Institute, also part of the Emmitsburg training center, currently offers two such courses. The institute says it trains more than 5,000 responders yearly at the Maryland campus and hundreds of thousands more through institute-backed training and exercises around the country. The firefighters’ association and other nongovernmental entities also offer courses on responding to emergencies involving radioactive and other hazardous materials. Lamar said such training must reach a wider group of responders. “In the past, people saw this area as being almost esoteric,” Lamar said, “but now we know the world’s changed.” Back to top       University Officials Dismiss Reactor Security Report Officials from several U.S. universities criticized an ABC News report on nuclear research reactor security that aired yesterday and pledged that their facilities are safely operated and secure (see GSN, Oct. 13). Undercover graduate students reported finding various security gaps at 25 university reactors, including unlocked doors and empty guard booths. Some were not required to undergo background checks before touring the sites and were allowed to carry large tote bags, ABC reported. A University of Wisconsin official on Wednesday called the report overblown and “embellished,” the Wisconsin State Journal reported “(ABC officials) claim that the students were in the reactor,” said Michael Corradini, director of the school’s nuclear engineering and engineering physics program. “We've been trying to explain to them that they were standing at the door (outside the reactor).” Two students knocked on the doors to the reactors until a student worker came to talk to them. They were not allowed to come into the room for a tour, but were allowed to take pictures. Corradini said they left the facility without entering the reactor space. Corradini cited a positive review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in August as evidence of the reactor’s security.  “It’s a little garbage-can sized reactor that is just big enough to provide enough heat so that we can do experiments,” Corradini said. “There's no moving parts, and it's totally cooled by natural convection (involving water circulation).” The Wisconsin reactor is one of eight research reactors in the country that use highly enriched uranium that could be used in a nuclear weapon, according to the State Journal. Nuclear watchdogs warned that the security gaps discovered in the ABC News report pose a threat. “A terrorist with a little bit of explosives in a backpack like (the students had) would be able to release a vast amount of radioactivity in a very populated area,” said Dan Hirsch of Committee to Bridge the Gap, in the ABC report. “Bin Laden would love to do something like that.” Fuel levels in University of Wisconsin reactors are limited, Corradini said. He said a 40-foot irradiated water pool that covers the reactor core would discourage a thief trying to steal uranium from the reactor.  “If you wanted to dive into the water and swim to the core, you would die from radiation,” said Corradini. “We operate the reactor at set times for set frequencies so that the radiation in the water is of a high enough intensity that you can't approach it. Just the water itself acts as a shield” (Karen Rivedal, Wisconsin State Journal, Oct. 13). University of Utah police and reactor administrator Melinda Krahenbuhl said they were not surprised that the students in the ABC News report entered the building where the reactor is housed without being challenged, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Krahenbuhl said the building is kept open for graduate students and researchers. However, unauthorized people cannot enter the reactor facility. “The reactor safety and security were never compromised,” she said. She added that the amount of low-enriched uranium used in the reactor is not enough to make a bomb. “You'd need a lot more fuel,” Krahenbuhl said. “This reactor is 1,000 times smaller than any [nuclear] power plant in the country.” Krahenbuhl also said backpacks are not allowed in the facility, and that amount explosives carried in a backpack could not cause a major nuclear emergency. “With the amount of explosives they could carry in a backpack, they could probably kill themselves,” she said. “But the amount of water in the reactor would make the explosion ineffectual. It could not disperse the fuel.” “Even if there were a malicious act at one of these small research reactors, the possibility of radiological consequences is very, very small,” said Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Scott Burnell. He added that action would be taken if the ABC News report brought to light violations of commission regulations (Christopher Smart, Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 14). Officials at Ohio State and Kansas State universities both give tours of their reactors to educate the public on how nuclear energy is used, the Associated Press reported today. The undercover students getting close to the reactors is “like coming to my driveway and saying, ‘Guess what? I just got into McDonald's!’” said Earle Holland, Ohio State senior director for research communications. Holland said the students’ tour was cut short after one tried to take a placard with bomb scare security precautions. Officials at Kansas State said they were anticipating the students as word spread of the visits. The students were given a tour anyway, which was cited by ABC News as a security risk (David Bauder, Associated Press/Centre Daily Times, Oct. 14).   Back to top

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