U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin met today in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava (AFP photo/Maxim Marmur). United States, Russia Agree to Nuclear Security Enhancements By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia agreed today to enhance efforts to improve security at Russian nuclear sites and to secure nuclear materials in other countries (see GSN, Feb. 22)...Full Story

Canada Formally Rejects Missile Defense Cooperation Canada officially announced today it would not join the United States in operating a continental missile defense program, the Globe and Mail reported (see GSN, Feb. 23)...Full Story

D.C. Train Ban to Take Effect March 14 Unless Blocked; Norfolk Southern Rejects Rerouting Idea By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A city ban on certain shipments of toxic materials such as chlorine through the U.S. capital is expected go into effect March 14 unless rail operator CSX succeeds in having the measure blocked before then, Washington officials said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 23)...Full Story

	Thursday, February 24, 2005

Many U.S. States Remain Unprepared for Biological, Chemical Attack, U.S. Official Warns Less than one-quarter of U.S. states are able to respond 24 hours a day to reports from hospitals of possible victims of biological or chemical attacks, a senior U.S. health official said yesterday, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 18). In addition, many states still have not reviewed quarantine regulations and many are not able to immunize large groups of people using drugs from the Strategic National Stockpile of medical supplies, said William Raub the Health and Human Services Department’s principal deputy assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness. More than 90 percent of states, however, have met the federal target of having one or more epidemiologist in every metropolitan area of more than 500,000 people, Raub said (Daniel Yee, Associated Press/Macon Telegraph, Feb. 23). Back to top

United States, Russia Agree to Nuclear Security Enhancements By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia agreed today to enhance efforts to improve security at Russian nuclear sites and to secure nuclear materials in other countries (see GSN, Feb. 22). U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to the plan while meeting in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. The United States and Russia “bear a special responsibility for the security of nuclear weapons and fissile material, in order to ensure that there is no possibility such weapons or materials would fall into terrorist hands,” Bush and Putin said in a joint statement. Under today’s agreement, U.S. and Russian experts will share best practices for improving nuclear site security, and will jointly initiate security consultations with other countries. The United States and Russia will hold a bilateral nuclear security workshop later this year on personnel and technical security issues to help “enhance the ‘security culture’” in both countries, says a White House fact sheet released after the meeting. “While the security of U.S. and Russian nuclear facilities meet current requirements, the presidents stressed that these requirements must be constantly enhanced to counter evolving terrorist threats. To this end, the presidents agreed to develop a plan of work through and beyond 2008 for cooperation on security upgrades of nuclear facilities,” the fact sheet says. The CIA has recently highlighted the potential threat posed by poor security at Russian nuclear sites. Las week, agency Director Porter Goss testified before the Senate intelligence committee that enough Russian nuclear material was unaccounted for to produce a nuclear weapon if it were obtained by terrorists. Bush said following the meeting that he and Putin had agreed on the need to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iran and North Korea. “We agreed that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. And I appreciate Vladimir’s understanding on that issue,” Bush said in a joint press conference with Putin. “We agreed that North Korea should not have a nuclear weapon.” The two leaders also agreed today to continue cooperation on developing new types of low-enriched uranium fuel for use in research reactors around the world. Such fuel would be used to replace highly enriched uranium fuel that could be used in nuclear weapons. They also agreed to continue efforts to repatriate U.S.- and Russian-origin fresh and spent HEU fuel from research reactors in other countries.  Both measures are part of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative which the two nations launched last year (see GSN, Sept. 22). In addition, the United States and Russia agreed to improve cooperation on preventing and responding to possible acts of nuclear or radiological terrorism, including the development of new means of detecting radioactive materials.  Bush and Putin also pledged to seek full implementation among U.N. members of Security Council resolution 1540, which calls on countries to implement national measures to prevent proliferation; and to seek “early adoption” of U.N. conventions on nuclear terrorism and nuclear material protection (see GSN, Feb. 16). The U.S.-Russian agreement creates a bilateral Senior Interagency Group, chaired by the two countries’ top atomic energy officials, which will oversee cooperative efforts to improve nuclear security. The group’s first progress report on nuclear security efforts is due in July. During a press conference following his meeting with Putin, Bush praised the “positive results” that had been achieved at the talks. “We have had over the past four years very constructive relations, and that’s the way I'm going to keep it for the next four years as well. We’ve had an open and candid exchange of views and positions,” Bush said. In a seeming reference to growing concerns about authoritarian trends in Russia, Putin said that shared U.S.-Russian interests, including international security issues, are “not affected by the circumstances of the moment or the constellation of political interests.” “Therefore, we can see no alternative to the consistent strengthening of the Russia-U.S. relationship,” Putin said. Back to top       Bush, EU Leaders Discuss Iran Nuclear Incentives Strategies for ending the Iranian nuclear situation were a major topic of discussion between U.S. President George W. Bush and several leaders during his European visit this week, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Feb. 23). Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder discussed whether or not there should “be a mix of carrots and sticks, and who should the carrots come from and what should they be,” said national security adviser Stephen Hadley.  Bush “did a lot of listening” and now “has really got to go back and think about it, quite frankly,” Hadley said. Calls have been increasing for a “convergence” in the international approach to Iran — meaning that Washington and Brussels join in offering both incentives and threats, according to the Times. Until now, the European negotiators have focused on offering Tehran incentives, while Washington has maintained a harder line (Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times, Feb. 24). Iran said today it opposes U.S. involvement in the EU negotiations, Reuters reported. “The Islamic Republic of Iran does not see any reason why the United States should join the negotiations between [France, Germany and the United Kingdom] and Iran on its nuclear program,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. “I hope the European countries continue to act independently in the negotiations” (Reuters, Feb. 24). Nevertheless, Iran still has issues to resolve with European negotiators, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said yesterday, the Associated Press reported. “There are deep differences of opinion between Iran and the Europeans,” Khatami said. “We have to give objective guarantees to the (European) gentlemen that we won’t divert from the peaceful path. They must also … give objective guarantees that our rights and security will be protected.” British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday in London that he believes a diplomatic solution to the dispute remains possible, according to AP (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/ABC News, Feb. 23). Developing a nuclear arsenal could provide Iran’s ruling clerics with security against an attack from the United States, one security expert told Knight Ridder. “Any strategist of nuclear weapons will tell you that nuclear weapons are inherently defensive weapons,” said James Walsh, director of Harvard University’s Managing the Atom Program. “What they are good at is deterring other countries from attacking you.” Nuclear weapons could also embolden Iran to act more aggressively against U.S. policies and redouble efforts at fomenting Islamic revolution in Muslim nations, U.S. officials and experts said. “If Iran developed a real arsenal it would be in a better position to blackmail some countries,” said analyst Emile El-Hokayem of the Henry L. Stimson Center. “The mullahs are prone to brinksmanship.” Other countries in the region — particularly Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt — could be prompted by Iranian nuclear weapons to develop nuclear arsenals, a senior U.S. State Department official said. “They will start hedging their bets,” the official said (Jonathan Landay, Knight Ridder/Cape Cod Times, Feb. 24). Back to top       North Korea, KEDO Discuss Shelved Reactors North Korean officials and representatives from an international consortium met this week to discuss a suspended nuclear reactor project in North Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported today (see GSN, Feb. 23). The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization decided in November to halt construction on two nuclear reactors for another year (see GSN, Nov. 29, 2004) due to the continuing standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. The organization said it would continue to work with Pyongyang on preserving and maintaining the project site in the village of Kumho on North Korea’s northeastern coast. Work on the two reactors was 34 percent complete before being halted, according to Yonhap. The original schedule called for construction to be finished in 2003 (Yonhap/BBC Monitoring, Feb. 24). Meanwhile, South Korea’s intelligence agency released a report today saying it believes North Korea has not been able to construct a uranium enrichment plant, Agence France-Presse reported. Pyongyang probably purchased materials in 2000 to produce centrifuge prototypes for uranium enrichment, according to the report. Rigorous international surveillance, however, has prevented North Korea from acquiring other equipment. “We believe North Korea has not reached the stage of building an HEU plant because of enhanced efforts by the international community to stop it from securing key equipment,” the Yonhap news agency quoted the report as saying. North Korea is also developing rocket engines for its Taepodong 2 missile with a range of 4,150 miles, the agency believes (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Feb. 24). Elsewhere, a Chinese official said his country’s work on the nuclear matter has achieved results, even though Pyongyang has not agreed to another round of talks, AFP reported. “All sides have been building consensus among themselves and we have a much clearer picture of the questions we need to settle,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan. “These results have not come by easily” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Feb. 24). Back to top       Potential NPT Violators Should Be Punished Before Completing Weapon Work, U.S. Envoy Says Potential violators of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty should be punished before actual breaches occur, U.S. envoy Jackie Sanders said earlier this month during a treaty review meeting in Tokyo (see GSN, Feb. 3). “It is dangerous and foolish to wait until a non-nuclear-weapon state has finished assembling a nuclear weapon — or until unassailable proof of weaponization work has been disclosed,” Sanders said, according to a transcript of her remarks. “There are activities that can demonstrate a purpose to acquire nuclear weapons, including the pursuit of clandestine programs for reprocessing and enrichment, and which thus make clear an Article II [violation],” she said (PTI/NewKerala.com, Feb. 24). Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday expressed his support for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, which gives the agency increased authority to monitor a country’s nuclear activities, according to the Associated Press. In a speech before the U.N. Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, Annan said the Additional Protocol was “the norm for verifying compliance with the NPT.”   He said that this year’s NPT review conference, set to be held in May, “will test the commitment of all states to nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.” Annan also called on all U.N. member nations to implement a 2004 Security Council resolution requiring them to pass laws to prevent WMD proliferation (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 23). Back to top       First Shipment of Nuclear Fuel Made From Surplus U.S. HEU Arrives at Alabama Nuclear Power Plant The first shipment of nuclear fuel produced from surplus U.S. weapon-grade nuclear material arrived late last month for use at a nuclear power plant in Alabama, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 22, 2004). The program calls for blending down a total of 39 metric tons of highly enriched uranium over four years to a lower enrichment level for use as fuel at the power plant, which is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The U.S. Energy Department plans to spend about $500 million on the effort. Originally, 33 metric tons were to be converted to nuclear fuel. Six additional tons were added last year, AP reported. As much as 55 metric tons of material could be disposed through the program, National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman Steven Wyatt said (Duncan Mansfield, Associated Press, Feb. 23). Back to top

D.C. Train Ban to Take Effect March 14 Unless Blocked; Norfolk Southern Rejects Rerouting Idea By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A city ban on certain shipments of toxic materials such as chlorine through the U.S. capital is expected go into effect March 14 unless rail operator CSX succeeds in having the measure blocked before then, Washington officials said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 23). The District of Columbia Council passed the ban Feb. 1 (see GSN, Feb. 2), and Mayor Anthony Williams signed it two weeks later (see GSN, Feb. 16). Yesterday, city Transportation Department spokesman Bill Rice said the agency plans to publish rules on March 4 for implementation of the ordinance, a move that would clear the way for the measure to take effect 10 days later. “At that point, a shipper will be required to get a permit to ship any of the hazardous materials as described in the bill within 2.2 miles of the Capitol, and presumably … the applicant will show that there’s no practical alternative,” Rice said in a telephone interview. Fearful of what they saw as an opening for a terrorist attack using toxic-by-inhalation gases in transit as improvised chemical weapons, council sponsors designed the bill effectively to block shipments of the materials in certain quantities by requiring shippers to obtain permits that would be accorded only in rare circumstances. The regulation applies to gases in the U.S. Transportation Department’s top two categories of toxicity, when transported in quantities of at least 500 kilograms. CSX has petitioned the U.S. Transportation Department’s Surface Transportation Board to block the ban and has filed suit against the city in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The company is supported in the former effort by the U.S. Transportation Department itself and in the latter by Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (NSR), the Association of American Railroads and U.S. House of Representatives Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.). With implementation of the measure not expected until March 14, a CSX success on either front could block the ban before it begins. Ban supporters played down that possibility yesterday, stressing that the bill was designed to withstand such challenges. “We had always anticipated that there would be challenges to the legislation,” Williams spokeswoman Sharon Gang said in an interview. Greenpeace Toxics Campaign Legislative Director Rick Hind added in an interview that “the statute was drafted to not be relevant to [opponents’] claims.” District Court filings this week by Norfolk Southern and the railroad association supported CSX’s view that the Washington measure is pre-empted by several federal laws, including the U.S. Constitution, which protects interstate commerce. Norfolk Southern Would Not Accept Rerouting Norfolk Southern said it would not accept on its lines any large-scale shipments diverted by CSX, also known as CSXT, to avoid Washington in compliance with the city ordinance. “CSXT’s motion demonstrates the severe harm that the imposition of the D.C. ordinance will cause its business. … CSXT would be forced to implement extensive and inefficient reroutings that would drive up its costs, impair service to its customers and congest its rail lines and yards,” Norfolk Southern wrote. “The district has suggested that CSXT could mitigate this harm simply by rerouting its cars onto other carriers’ lines. … This supposed solution is a mirage.” “NSR, whose lines would be the only feasible alternative routing for most if not all of this traffic, would not consent to any proposal to divert large volumes of CSXT hazardous materials traffic to NSR’s lines, because such action would serve only to transfer the risk inherent in the movement of those shipments from the district to the communities through which NSR operates,” Norfolk Southern wrote. Both Norfolk Southern and the railroad association disputed the idea — on which the district’s argument is partially based — that the capital city is a special case for the purposes of such shipments because of its attractiveness to terrorists. “The danger to D.C. residents posed by the potential release of a hazardous material is fundamentally no different from the danger of such a release to residents of Richmond, Philadelphia and Cleveland — three of the cities through which hazardous materials would likely have to be diverted,” Norfolk Southern wrote. “There is nothing ‘essentially local’ about the D.C. government’s concern about hazardous material moving through the District of Columbia,” added the Association of American Railroads, referring to the city’s bid to avoid pre-emption by the Federal Railroad Safety Act on the grounds that the situation is “essentially local.” “Every densely populated locality in the country could invoke the same rationales that the District of Columbia has invoked here,” wrote the association in its friend-of-the-court brief. “The mere fact that D.C. is the seat of the national government is insufficient to support the assertion that this ordinance addresses ‘essentially local’ concerns; significant terrorist threats have been made against numerous other major metropolitan areas as well.” Supported already by the U.S. Transportation Department, CSX could receive another powerful federal backer today. The U.S. Justice Department said in a Feb. 18 District Court notice that because CSX’s suit “implicates issues in which the United States may be interested, the United States is considering whether to exercise its right to file a statement of interest.” The department said any such statement would be filed by today. Back to top       Price Tag for Chemical Weapons Neutralization Plant in Colorado Rises to $2.6 Billion A $1 billion cost increase is behind the delay in plans to build a facility to neutralize chemical weapons stored at the U.S. Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 15). U.S. Representative John Salazar (D-Colo.) asked Patrick Wakefield, deputy assistant to the defense secretary for chemical demilitarization and threat reduction, to attend a town meeting yesterday in Pueblo to discuss the Defense Department’s position. Wakefield said the anticipated cost of the plant has increased from $1.6 billion to $2.6 billion. A report on alternatives to the plan is expected by April, he said (Associated Press/KCTV5.com, Feb. 24). Back to top       Jordan Chemical Plot Defendants Request Execution Nine men being tried in Jordan for allegedly plotting a foiled chemical attack asked yesterday to be put to death rather than let the trial continue, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 15, 2004). “God, and no one else, is our master. We wish to be executed,” the defendants shouted in court, according to AFP. “The verdict is ready, so why put us on trial,” said the suspects, who could be sentenced to death if convicted of planning to attack the Jordanian intelligence agency with 20 tons of chemicals that could have killed up to 80,000 people. The men are suspected of belonging to the outlawed Kataeb al-Tawhid (“Unification Brigades”) group and of having connections to terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, AFP reported. All nine denied the charges after they were read aloud in court, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, Feb. 23). Back to top

Canada Formally Rejects Missile Defense Cooperation Canada officially announced today it would not join the United States in operating a continental missile defense program, the Globe and Mail reported (see GSN, Feb. 23). “After careful consideration of the issue, we have decided that Canada will not participate in the U.S. ballistic missile defense system,” Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew announced in Parliament, adding that the decision would not “in any way” hurt relations between the neighbors (Oliver Moore, Globe and Mail, Feb. 24). Prime Minister Paul Martin said he intended to speak with U.S. President George W. Bush later today. Martin said Canada’s focus would be on other efforts to strengthen its military. “Canada recognizes the enormous burden that the United States shoulders, when it comes to international peace and security,” Martin said. “The substantial increases made yesterday to our defense budget are a tangible indication that Canada intends to carry its full share of that responsibility” (Beth Duff Brown, Associated Press/Billings Gazette, Feb. 24). Back to top       Pakistan Warns Against Patriot Missile Sale to India Pakistan has criticized the possible sale of U.S.-made Patriot missile interceptors to India, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept. 11, 2003). “We have heard rumblings and rumors ... that India was contemplating buying these systems from the United States,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said during a press conference this week.  “This is our stance: That this step would be counterproductive, that this would erode deterrence, that this would send the entire region into a crisis mode, that you will have an arms race — an unintended arms race here, which nobody wants,” he said. U.S. defense officials were in New Delhi on Monday to make a presentation on the Patriot system to Indian defense and Foreign Ministry officials, AP reported (Matthew Pennington, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 24). Back to top       U.S. to Test Sea-Based Missile Interceptor Today The United States is expected to test its Aegis sea-based antiballistic missile system today off the coast of Hawaii, Reuters reported (see GSN, Jan.11). A mock warhead would be fired from the U.S. Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands on the island of Kauai, said Chris Taylor, a spokesman for the Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency. The Aegis-equipped guided missile cruiser Lake Erie would be responsible for detecting and tracking the target missile. The ship is expected to fire a Standard Missile 3 to intercept the target at midcourse. The Erie crew and those on board a second ship in the exercise, the guided-missile destroyer Russell, are to receive no advance alert of the launch, Taylor said. “They will know nothing until the target’s airborne,” he said. Four of five of the previous Aegis tests have been successful, Reuters reported (Jim Wolf, Reuters, Feb. 23).   Back to top

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