U.S. programs have supported the demolition of former Soviet strategic weapons launchers, such as this SS-18 missile silo in Kazakhstan. A new report urges U.S. agencies to integrate programs like these more efficiently (DOD photo). Nonproliferation Programs Need Better Integration in U.S., GAO Report Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States needs to develop an overall strategy to better integrate nonproliferation projects conducted by various U.S. agencies, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (see GSN, Jan. 28)...Full Story

U.S. Flying Targeting Missions in Iran, Sources Say U.S. combat aircraft have been flying into Iranian airspace for weeks in an attempt to develop targets for a potential strike, including suspected nuclear weapons sites, UPI reported last week (see GSN, Jan. 28)...Full Story

Washington Chlorine-Train Ban Could be Near By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — City lawmakers here plan to introduce an emergency bill tomorrow that would immediately ban chlorine shipments by rail through the capital (see GSN, Jan. 20)...Full Story

	Monday, January 31, 2005

White House Has Yet to Name Intelligence Director U.S. officials have said they do not believe President George W. Bush is close to appointing the first national intelligence director, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Jan. 7). The delaying in naming the director, created through a massive intelligence reform bill signed into law six weeks ago, comes in part from uncertainty about the powers of the new position and its place in the intelligence community, officials said. “It is confounding and disturbing not to have someone on the job,” said Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee.  Among those being considered are U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Laurence Silberman, who is co-chairman of the presidential commission on WMD-related intelligence, and commission member William Studeman, who formerly served as deputy CIA director, according to former intelligence officials. Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, head of the National Security Agency, and retired Lt. Gen. James Clapper, head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, are also being considered for the post. However, sources said that the two men are more likely to be considered for deputy CIA director or deputy national intelligence director (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Jan. 31).  Back to top

Nonproliferation Programs Need Better Integration in U.S., GAO Report Says By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States needs to develop an overall strategy to better integrate nonproliferation projects conducted by various U.S. agencies, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (see GSN, Jan. 28). Most current U.S. nonproliferation projects are conducted in Russia and other former Soviet states by the Defense Department — working through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program — and the Energy Department. Last year, the two agencies implemented almost 40 nonproliferation projects at a cost of about $2 billion, according to the report. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) last week announced the progress made through the CTR program in 2004 in eliminating and securing former Soviet weapons of mass destruction. Among the program’s accomplishments was the deactivation of more than 300 Russian nuclear warheads, the destruction of 41 SS-18 ICBMs and 22 related silos and the elimination of 81 submarine-launched ballistic missiles of various types. The United States has also begun to expand its nonproliferation efforts beyond the former Soviet Union, such as by aiding the elimination of Libya’s WMD infrastructure and setting up a program to redirect former Iraqi WMD scientists to civilian employment. In addition, Congress in 2003 approved a measure allowing up to $50 million of CTR funding to be spent outside the former Soviet Union, and is considering eliminating the spending cap completely. As the United States expands its nonproliferation efforts beyond the former Soviet Union, the development of an overall strategy to integrate such programs becomes “increasingly important,” the report says. Previous integrated plans — required or recommended by Congress, the Government Accountability Office and independent commissions — either have not been completed or have focused on programs operated by one agency or in one geographical location, the report says. While noting that most of the programs conducted by the Defense and Energy departments have different missions, the report also says that it is important for officials of both departments to “understand how their efforts contribute to broader U.S. goals and … have formal mechanisms for sharing information and lessons learned that cut across programmatic boundaries.” The agency also found that the Defense and Energy departments, along with the State Department, could benefit from improved coordination in their various efforts to improve border security in other countries to protect against the smuggling of WMD materials. Such efforts lack government-wide guidance to delineate the responsibilities of the various involved agencies, establish regular information sharing and create procedures for resolving interagency disputes, the report says.  The GAO report recommends that the Defense and Energy secretaries prepare an integrated plan for all U.S. nonproliferation efforts “to ensure that the programs are effectively coordinated and address all threats.”  The Energy Department agreed with the GAO report and its recommendations, while the Defense Department supported the need for better integration of nonproliferation programs but did not comment on the need for an integrated plan, the report says.  Back to top       Qadhafi Says U.S., U.K. Have Not Yet Rewarded Libya for Renouncing Weapons of Mass Destruction Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi said that Libya has not yet been rewarded for dismantling its WMD programs and explained why the country acquired those capabilities in the first place, Time magazine reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 26). “The [WMD] program started at the very beginning of the revolution,” Qadhafi told Time. “The world was different then.” Qadhafi added that, over time, it became apparent that nuclear arms were not strategically useful weapons. “We started to ask ourselves, ‘By manufacturing nuclear weapons, against whom are we going to use them?’” he said. “World alliances have changed.  We had no target.” “And then we started thinking about the cost,” he added. “If someone attacks you and you use a nuclear bomb, you are in effect using it against yourself.” Qadhafi said that, while U.S. and British officials had praised Libya’s move to eliminate its WMD efforts, both countries have yet to fulfill pledges of rewards. “[British Prime Minister Tony] Blair and [U.S. President George W.] Bush expressed their satisfaction,” he said. “But there must be at least a declaration of a program like the Marshall Plan, to show the world that those who wish to abandon the nuclear-weapon program will be helped.” “They promised, but we haven’t seen anything yet,” he said (MacLeod/Radwan, Time magazine, Jan. 30). Meanwhile, Libya on Saturday awarded 15 oil exploration licenses to foreign companies — the first in 18 years — after the United States and the European Union eased their trade embargoes, the Xinhua News Agency reported (Xinhua, Jan. 30). Back to top

U.S. Flying Targeting Missions in Iran, Sources Say U.S. combat aircraft have been flying into Iranian airspace for weeks in an attempt to develop targets for a potential strike, including suspected nuclear weapons sites, UPI reported last week (see GSN, Jan. 28). “We have to know which targets to attack and how to attack them,” a Bush administration official told UPI. U.S. officials hope the flights would cause Iran to activate air-defense radars, which would help develop targeting information. “These Iranian air-defense positions are not just being observed, they’re being ‘templated,’” as part of a U.S. effort to develop “an electronic order of battle for Iran” in case of conflict, an official added. A Defense Department spokesman, however, said he was unaware of any such maneuvers. “We are not aware of any incursions into Iranian airspace,” said Cmdr. Nick Balice, chief of media at U.S. Central Command. Such flights would not be unusual, said Ellen Laipson, president and CEO of the Henry L. Stimson Center and former CIA Middle East expert. “It’s not unusual for countries to test each other’s air defenses from time to time, to do a little probing — but it can be dangerous if the target country believes that such flights could mean an imminent attack,” she said. Meanwhile, the United States is working with Israeli-trained Kurds in northern Iraq and U.S.-trained Iranian exiles in the south to collect intelligence about Iran’s nuclear program on the ground, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials. “This looks to be turning into a pretty large-scale covert operation,” a former longtime CIA operator in the region told UPI. “The administration has determined that there is no diplomatic solution,” said John Pike, president of the Globalsecurity.org online think tank. “Like the Israelis, the Bush administration has decided that forces of sweetness and light won’t be running Iran any time soon, and that having atomic ayatollahs is simply not acceptable,” Pike added. “It’s very, very dangerous,” former CIA counterterrorism chief Vince Cannistraro said of the U.S. policy (Richard Sale, United Press International/SpaceWar.com, Jan. 26). The United States has rejected offers to join the European Union’s diplomatic effort to persuade Iran to renounce any nuclear work that could have military applications, U.S. officials and foreign diplomats told Reuters. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer visited Washington separately last week to discuss European efforts. “Straw came over hoping [Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] would change our policy and she didn’t,” a senior Bush administration official said. The idea of the United States joining the negotiations “is in the air,” a senior State Department official said. “But we have not been (formally) asked yet and when we are, we will say, ‘What good would it do?’” (Saul Hudson, Reuters, Jan. 30). U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Friday cautioned against U.S. military involvement in Iran, the Financial Times reported. “I do not think it would be successful. There is no guarantee we would get all these facilities,” he said. “If you have a strike and leave them with nuclear capability, you have got a hell of a challenge on your hands” (Gowers/Guha/Sevastopulo, Financial Times, Jan. 29). U.S. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi clashed Friday over Iran’s nuclear program during a dinner at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Associated Press reported. “You have to grow up and my administration has to grow up, with all due respect, and find out if there is any common ground,” Biden said. “We are on the course of unintended consequences.” “I hope we’re all smarter about this, smarter than we’ve been,” he said. Biden spoke after Kharazi said Iran continues to insist on its right to enrich uranium. “Iran cannot be ignored,” Kharazi said. “Iran’s rights cannot be denied.” Biden said he would back a U.S. pledge “that we are not interested in regime change” in exchange for Iran putting to rest suspicions about its nuclear efforts. Biden added that liberal and conservative U.S. lawmakers agree “that it is not in our interest ... for [Iran] to acquire nuclear capability for nuclear weapons and intermediate or long range missile technology” (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 28). Meanwhile, Pakistan has been pressuring Iran to come to a settlement with Europe and the United States, Pakistani diplomatic sources told Agence France-Presse.  “We feel the role the [European powers] are playing is positive, because we feel that a peaceful resolution to this dispute is highly desirable,” said Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, who met with Kharazi over the weekend. “Being their neighbors, and already with the Iraq situation being what it is, we wouldn’t want another turmoil on our border,” he said.  “We paid a big price” in Afghanistan, he added. “We don’t want a similar destabilization on our border again, so we have a vested interest in a peaceful resolution of this dispute.” Pakistani officials said they have warned Iran “bluntly, bordering on rudeness,” about their concerns over Tehran’s nuclear program. “We have not minced our words,” a diplomatic source said (Kevin McElderry, Agence France-Presse/Dawn, Jan. 30). Elsewhere, the manager of a Namibian uranium mine said Iran owns a 15-percent stake in the facility, Reuters reported Saturday. “The government of Iran has held a 15-percent shareholding in Rossing Uranium Limited since 1975,” Graham Davidson, general manager for operations, said in a letter to Reuters.  Rossing sells uranium to nuclear power plants in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Sweden (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Jan. 29). Back to top       Nuclear Regulators Support U.S. MOX Plant By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this month expressed support for plans by a U.S. consortium to construct a facility to convert weapon-grade plutonium into fuel for civilian nuclear power plants (see GSN, Jan. 11). Public interest groups Friday, however, criticized the commission for failing to take terrorism concerns into account. In a final environmental impact statement posted Jan. 11 on the commission’s Web site, the agency expressed its support for Duke Cogema Stone & Webster (DCS) to receive a license for the construction of a mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility at the U.S. Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. “The NRC staff continues to recommend that, unless safety issues mandate otherwise, the action called for is the issuance of the proposed license to DCS, with conditions to protect environmental values,” the document says. A notice on the release of the environmental impact statement was published Friday in the Federal Register. The commission is expected to complete its safety evaluation report on the proposed MOX plant in six to eight weeks, spokesman David McIntyre said today. Once that report is complete, the commission will decide whether to approve the license to build the MOX plant, he said. The proposed facility is intended to move forward a U.S.-Russian effort to jointly eliminate 68 tons of surplus weapon-grade plutonium. Each country has agreed to separately eliminate 34 tons of plutonium through converting the material to MOX fuel. Delays by Russia in constructing its own MOX production plant, however, have slowed the program.  The “primary benefit” of the MOX production site would be in reducing “the supply of weapons-grade plutonium available for unauthorized use,” according to the commission. “Converting surplus plutonium into MOX fuel is … viewed as a better way of ensuring that weapons-usable material will not be obtained by rogue states and terrorist groups,” it said. In the environmental impact statement, the commission determined that routine operation of the MOX plant and two support facilities would result in negligible risk of negative health effects from radiation exposure to the surrounding public. The commission did determine, though, that a short-term exposure to a tritium release at one of the plant’s two support facilities during processing could lead to three cancer deaths, while a yearlong exposure could cause up to 100 deaths. Communities most likely to be affected in the event of an accident at the proposed facility, the commission warned, “would be minority or low-income, given the demographics and prevailing wind direction.” “However, it is regarded as highly unlikely that such an accident would occur, and the risk to any population, including low-income and minority communities is considered to be low,” the commission said. Several public interest groups opposed to the planned facility Friday criticized the commission document, in part, for failing to address concerns of a possible terrorist attack on the site. “It’s preposterous given the global threats which we face that the NRC is ignoring the potential environmental and health impacts of a terrorist act against the plutonium fuel factory.  The EIS needs to be redone to include the impact of sabotage and terrorist attacks,” Tom Clements, a senior adviser with Greenpeace International, said in a statement. Edwin Lyman, senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists think tank, said the commission also did not take into account potential terrorist theft of nuclear materials at the site.  The agency decided in 2003 that environmental impact statements “are the not the proper venture for the analysis of terrorist risk,” McIntyre said. Consideration of possible terrorist attacks is an issue too speculative for inclusion in an environmental impact statement, he said. “It is apparent in the post-9/11 era that such reasoning is nothing but wishful thinking on the part of the NRC.  I regard any decision that is based on such willful tunnel vision on the part of regulators as utterly defective and not a basis for sound public policy,” Lyman said Friday in a statement. McIntyre said security issues would be addressed when the commission reviews the operating license application for the facility. “The NRC’s refusal to consider terrorism in an environmental impact statement does not mean that we are ignoring the security issue,” he said. Back to top       Seoul Hopes for Breakthrough in North Korea Nuclear Talks Ahead of November APEC Summit South Korea expressed hope yesterday for a breakthrough in negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program before an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled to be held in South Korea in November, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 28). “I hope before the APEC meeting takes place, there will be a substantial resolution on the North Korean nuclear problem through the six-party talks,” said Unification Minister Chung Dong-young. “Some may hope that the North Korean leader (would) participate in this meeting,” he added. “Economic prosperity on the Korean Peninsula cannot be achieved without first realizing peace,” said Chung, adding that “in order to reach peace, we must solve the nuclear issue first” (William Ickes, Agence France-Presse/Washington Times, Jan. 31). Meanwhile, South Korea’s Defense Ministry announced Friday it would stop referring to North Korea as its “main enemy” in official documents, the Associated Press reported. Instead, Seoul would refer to Pyongyang as posing a “direct military threat,” officials said. The government Cabinet must approve the switch. North Korea’s has been Seoul’s “main enemy” since Pyongyang, in a dispute over its nuclear program, threatened to turn its neighbor into a “sea of fire,” AP reported. The symbolic move would not alter South Korea’s defense posture regarding the North, officials added. “The fact remains that North Korea is our main enemy,” a defense spokesman said (Bo-Mi Lim, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 28). Back to top       Russia to Acquire New Submarines, ICBMs Russia plans to add two new submarines and seven Topol-M ICBMs to its strategic arsenal, First Deputy Defense Minister Col.-Gen. Alexander Belousov said Friday (see GSN, Jan. 6). The two planned submarines are set to be armed with the new Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile, he said (Vladimir Radyuhin, The Hindu, Jan. 30). Meanwhile, Russia last year dismantled two Oscar-class nuclear submarines from its Northern Fleet with British financial assistance, the head of the facility where the work was conducted announced Friday (see GSN, Jan. 20; Interfax/BBC Monitoring, Jan. 29). Back to top       Los Alamos National Laboratory Never Lost Secret Data Last Year, U.S. Energy Department Says The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico did not lose two classified computer disks as had once been feared, according to results of a U.S. Energy Department investigation released Friday (see GSN, Jan. 24). While the report mentions severe security weaknesses at the facility and harshly criticizes the University of California, which has managed Los Alamos for 60 years, officials said two classified computer disks believed to be missing since last summer never existed, the Los Angeles Times reported. Instead, although security bar codes were produced, the disks were never issued. The department also announced that it had slashed the university’s Los Alamos management fee by $5.1 million — nearly two-thirds of its 2004 fee of $8.7 million, according to the Times. “The cultural weaknesses revealed by this investigation are severe and must be corrected,” the report says. “The root cause of the problems was a widespread … disregard for safety and security.” Security and safety problems that led to the shutdown of most of the laboratory’s work have been corrected, and most operations have resumed, according to Los Alamos and university officials. “We got walloped,” said UC spokesman Chris Harrington. “Unfortunately, we deserve this, but what we have done is correct the problems and put systems in place so we don’t take this type of hit again” (Trounson/Vertabedian, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 29). Meanwhile, members of Congress, watchdog groups and others have recommended that the National Nuclear Security Administration adopt safeguards to guarantee existing benefits for Los Alamos workers, independent evaluations of the facility’s research and more stringent oversight of health and safety as the agency evaluates bids on the laboratory’s management contract, the Associated Press reported. More than 200 pages of questions and comments has been provided to an NNSA board regarding a draft request for proposals released last month, an agency spokesman said. “They’re analyzing each of the comments. Then they’ll decide whether they want to amend the (request for proposals) based on that analysis,” said Al Stotts, a spokesman for the Albuquerque NNSA office (Leslie Hoffman, Associated Press, Jan. 31). Back to top

Washington Chlorine-Train Ban Could be Near By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — City lawmakers here plan to introduce an emergency bill tomorrow that would immediately ban chlorine shipments by rail through the capital (see GSN, Jan. 20). District of Columbia Council members Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson are claiming support from at least nine of the panel’s 13 members for a permanent bill barring chlorine shipments. That number would be sufficient to pass the temporary emergency legislation, but some members who support the main bill could balk at backing the emergency version, Mendelson spokesman Alec Evans said today. If at least nine members support the emergency measure tomorrow, a 4.4 mile-wide “Capitol exclusion zone” with the U.S. Capitol at its center would immediately go into effect. The zone would contain all the city’s major rail lines, and the bill would remain in effect for three months. Rail and truck shipments of certain hazardous materials through the zone would be allowed only upon receipt of a difficult-to-obtain permit certifying that other alternatives would be “cost-prohibitive.” Fines for shipping banned materials without a permit would be $10,000 for a first offense and $25,000 thereafter. Mayor Anthony Williams has repeatedly expressed his support for the legislation. “We introduce this bill to eliminate a grave and immediate danger faced by residents of the District of Columbia: the threat that terrorists might attack a large-volume shipment of ultrahazardous materials transported through the district, causing a massive explosion and/or release of toxic chemicals,” Patterson said at a Friday press conference. “There is no reason to continue providing terrorists with the opportunity to create a release of toxic chemicals over a singularly attractive terrorist target,” Patterson said. “Indeed, the only reason such dangerous chemical shipments do pass within blocks of the Capitol appears to be historical happenstance.” The release of chlorine gas, which has a history of use as a chemical weapon, from a tanker on the rails that pass through the center of Washington could quickly cause tens of thousands of deaths, according to a 2003 study by a U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientist. The current status of rail operator CSX’s shipments of the materials through Washington is unclear. Council members have said a company representative revealed at a closed-door Nov. 4, 2004, briefing that CSX had implemented a temporary policy of rerouting the trains to avoid the city but gave few details (see GSN, Jan. 12). Patterson said Friday that there is no way to know whether CSX is still diverting the trains, a fact she said demonstrates the need for a legislated ban. Patterson and Mendelson have tried repeatedly to pass a ban but have met with opposition, notably from council Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Carol Schwartz. Schwartz Chief of Staff John Abbot said today that the councilwoman would maintain her opposition. Schwartz could work to persuade supporters of the permanent bill not to back the emergency version and could use her committee chair to stymie progress on the permanent plan, Mendelson spokesman Evans said. Permanent legislation requires only seven supporters to pass but involves a longer and more complicated legislative process. Schwartz opposes shipments of the materials through Washington but has shunned new legislation in favor of CSX’s voluntary measures. She has expressed fears that, since the capital city’s laws are uniquely subject to federal pre-emption, legislation on the matter could backfire. Ban supporters have seen their hand strengthened by the arrival of like-minded new council members following elections in November and by two recent deadly incidents: a chlorine-train derailment in South Carolina (see GSN, Jan. 10) that killed nine people, and a passenger-train crash last week in Los Angeles that was caused by a suicidal man who parked his truck on the tracks. The bill is also supported by a new brief from law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr that refutes many claims of legal impediments to passing such legislation. “There won’t be a successful legal challenge,” Patterson said. Greenpeace Toxics Campaign Legislative Director Rick Hind said Friday that, in the absence of U.S. Homeland Security Department action to stop the shipments through Washington, the city is forced to act. “Tuesday’s council meeting will be the final test of whether the district will step up and face its responsibilities to protect the people of the district and, in fact, national security,” Hind said. Back to top       United States to Increase Support for Russian Chemical Weapons Disposal Site at Shchuchye The United States this year plans to increase its financial aid to a chemical weapons destruction facility set to be built in the Russian town of Shchuchye, Interfax reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 19). Russian Federal Industry Agency deputy chief Viktor Kholstov said that work on earlier signed contracts totaling about $95 million would continue this year with U.S. aid. Additional contracts worth a total of $150 million are also expected to be reached in 2005, he said. The new money is set to support “additional contracts on construction and installation work, including direct equipment and materials supplies,” Kholstov said. The Shchuchye facility is scheduled to begin operation by 2008 (Interfax, Jan. 28/BBC Worldwide Monitoring, Jan. 29). Back to top

Russia to Purchase New Air-Defense Systems This Year Russia plans to purchase six S-400 air-defense systems this year, according to Deputy Defense Minister Oleg Belousov (see GSN, Jan. 21).  The S-400 antimissile system has a range of up to 240 miles, Agence France-Presse reported. Belousov did not say where the systems would be deployed or discuss their anticipated cost (Agence France-Presse, Jan. 28).   Back to top

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