False alarms from radiation detectors worn by New York City police and other emergency personnel are requiring significant resources to process, a city official said yesterday at a London conference on nuclear terror (AFP photo/Don Emmert). Radiation Detectors Inadequate, New York Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire LONDON — The thousands of radiation detectors employed by New York City to identify radioactive material smuggled into the city for terrorism are too sensitive, sapping police resources with false alarms, a senior official said here yesterday (see GSN, March 8)...Full Story

Third World Must Boost Nuclear Security, Experts Say By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire LONDON — A strategy for preventing nuclear and radiological terrorism must include increased efforts to secure radioactive materials in developing countries, experts said at a conference here this week sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (see GSN, June 19, 2003)...Full Story

U.S. Energy Department Nuclear Materials Watchdog Hopes for “New Day” for Security Under Bodman By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A U.S. Energy Department watchdog for nuclear materials security today criticized the past performance of managers involved in the effort but expressed hope for a “new day” under the department’s new leader (see GSN, Feb. 1)...Full Story

	Friday, March 18, 2005

U.S., U.K., Canada Prepare for TOPOFF 3 Drills Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States plan to begin the world’s largest terrorism drill on April 4, officials from the three countries announced in a press statement yesterday (see GSN, April 6, 2004). The U.S. component of the five-day exercise involving mock WMD attacks is the third in a series of congressionally mandated exercises called TOPOFF, for “Top Officials training program.” “By responding realistically to simulated attacks, we are able to identify our strength and weaknesses and make our national response system stronger,” said U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in the press release. “Our partnerships with the U.K. and Canada will further enhance our ability to deal with terrorism on an international level.” The U.S. drills are expected to involve more than 10,000 participants from federal, state and local agencies, as well as international organizations and volunteer groups, according to the Homeland Security Department. A simulated chemical incident is planned for New London, Conn., and a biological incident is to be staged in Union and Middlesex counties in New Jersey, according to the statement.  The United Kingdom will be involved in TOPOFF 3 through exercise Atlantic Blue, according to the joint press statement. The drill, in which British responders will focus on communication across international borders, is to be conducted as a command post exercise only — meaning that instead of deploying emergency services, movement of resources will be simulated. The Canadian component, Triple Play, will also be a command post exercise, according to the Canadian Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Federal officials and officials from the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are set to participate (Canada Newswire release, March 17). Back to top

Radiation Detectors Inadequate, New York Official Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire LONDON — The thousands of radiation detectors employed by New York City to identify radioactive material smuggled into the city for terrorism are too sensitive, sapping police resources with false alarms, a senior official said here yesterday (see GSN, March 8). Ed Gabriel, deputy commissioner at the New York City’s Emergency Management Office, discussed the issue in a presentation on the city’s extensive post-Sept. 11 efforts to prevent or mitigate the consequences of any potential terrorist attack using a radiological or nuclear weapon. As many as 20,000 hand-held radiation detectors carried by police, fire and emergency personnel throughout the city “go off all the time,” he said. “They’re really not that effective in terms of their capability to help us protect, but we are deploying them and we have a standard protocol for response to that,” he said. Similarly, stationary devices throughout the city are triggered often by vehicles transporting medical isotopes. “Each and every time they go off, we are required to take that car off the road and look at their papers and define whether or not it is a threat or not,” Gabriel said. As a result, “that’s a huge manpower issue. … The response to that situation is really problematic for anyone who places these detectors,” he said. The Brookhaven National Laboratory of Upton, N.Y, is working on altering the equipment to focus on specific kinds of isotopes, he said. Multifaceted The Emergency Management Office has multiple missions, including coordinating federal, state and city response to a disaster, attack prevention, information dissemination, preattack public education, and funding solicitation, Gabriel said at a conference on nuclear and radiological security organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency. In the event of an incident, the agency is geared to manage multiple components of response, including organizing transportation shutdowns, and ensuring the availability of sources of drinking water, power and medical assistance. “There are many, many thousands of people responding to these kinds of events,” he said. Initial response to an incident, he said, takes an “all hazards approach,” anticipating any number of kinds of possible attacks. “We take a broad perspective of approaches to WMD,” he said. “The emergency response personnel who come to the scene will not know whether it is a radiological event or whether it’s a chemical event.” In the event of a catastrophic attack, the office would operate continuously a military-style command center that would be the focal point for coordinating a response. Mechanisms exist for bringing medicine into the city if needed for radiological or biological events, and some 50,000 people are prepared to administer such drugs at 210 locations to all 8.5 million people in the city within 48 hours, he said. The office has put together databases that can track equipment and supplies, at local, state and federal levels for knowledge of what’s in hand and potentially available. It can also locate physicians throughout the state and people with other skills throughout the city. “One of the things we learned from Sept. 11 is that without this kind of planning process, we have lots of equipment and it took us a long time to use it. Now we know where the equipment is and we have a logistics plan to use it in case it comes into play,” he said. To mitigate public panic, the office has prepared an information booklet called the Ready NY guide that gives citizens information on basic measures for preparing and dealing with different kinds of disasters. Comedians were hired to inform the public about city security preparations. “People are resilient when they know that everything’s going to be OK,” he said. To facilitate quick resumption of business in the city, authorities have “precredentialed” large numbers of people “in the event that their businesses are in an affected area, so they can get back into work,” he said. Working with the U.S. Energy Department, the office has a plume tracking mechanism for informing responders on who might be affected and who might require evacuation from an attack at a given location, he said. Training Training for disaster planning also is extensive, according to Gabriel. “We bring in all of the agencies that could participate and we run exercise after exercise after exercise in different venues around the city with thousands of emergency responders,” he said. For the sake of realism, exercises often are modeled on major events that occurred in other cities that illustrate particular challenges, called “motivational events,” and are informed by intelligence threat information. “In each of those exercises, we try to put in something that includes not only a force protection element, [but also] a large regional response element including hospitals. … Our events include 50, 60 hospitals from around the area,” he said. “Anything that we think is a large-scale event, we will test,” Gabriel said. The city conducted eight major exercises last year, each involving more than 1,000 patients treated by four or five thousand emergency responders, he said. “The only way you’ll ever work together in an emergency response is to practice, practice, practice,” he said. Back to top       Third World Must Boost Nuclear Security, Experts Say By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire LONDON — A strategy for preventing nuclear and radiological terrorism must include increased efforts to secure radioactive materials in developing countries, experts said at a conference here this week sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (see GSN, June 19, 2003). There may be thousands of sources of radioactive material in countries with no nuclear weapons programs or nuclear power plants, experts said. Many such countries lack the resources to secure them all on their own. “The problem of nuclear and radiological security is not a simple one,” said Azhar Djaloeis of Indonesia’s Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency in a presentation. “Loss of control over such materials, illicit trafficking, existence of orphan sources, all increase the risks not just of one country but of all countries of the region,” said Ron Cameron of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization. He cited three security incidents involving radioactive material that have occurred in Southeast Asia in recent years: accidental overexposures and deaths in 2001 in Thailand from a noncontrolled radiotherapy source; illegal possession and attempted smuggling of cesium in 2003 in that country; and theft in 2000 from a steel company in Indonesia of 25 radioactive sources, many of which have not been recovered. The International Atomic Energy Agency in a report last year estimated there were more than 10,000 sources of radiotherapy materials worldwide and tens of thousands of large radiation sources used as gauges, sterilizers and metal irradiators by industries, according to a story last June by New Scientist. There were 215 cases of confirmed radioactive materials smuggling in the previous five years and many more unconfirmed instances, the story said. Security measures can include technologies such as radiation detectors for border controls and on-site physical security arrangements including locks, alarms, tracking systems, and armed guards, according to experts attending the conference.  They can also include incident response training, support in developing regulatory and legal frameworks, an independent national regulatory body, assessments of security strengths and vulnerabilities, international sharing of experiences and best practices, and mechanisms for cross-border coordination on trafficking, they said. Different countries, though, might identify different security challenges, according to Denis Flory, a nuclear adviser for the French Embassy in Moscow, summarizing several papers submitted to the conference from different countries. He noted trafficking fears in crossroads countries such as Serbia, Bulgaria and Paraguay, regulatory framework and nuclear expertise concerns in Serbia, and a desire to obtain the most modern physical protection systems by the Czech Republic. For all four countries, a “need for trained and competent personnel was very, very strongly expressed,” he said.  Indonesian Case Djaloeis estimated that more than 3,000 sites with radioactive material at hospitals and about 1,000 industrial sources exist in Indonesia, in addition to the country’s three research reactors, research and development and training centers, and fuel cycle production facilities. He called the nation’s prevention, detection and response capabilities “inadequate” and said Indonesia faces “major challenges” in improving safety and protection features at the sites and in developing a strong regulatory framework and infrastructure.  Indonesia also must overcome patterns of “collusion, corruption and conflicts of interest,” he said. Securing such facilities is particularly important in light of recent major terrorist attacks and also because Indonesia aspires to have in about 10 years a nuclear power plant, he said. A radiological attack could “perhaps kill our nuclear program entirely,” he said. To muster political will for improving national capabilities, the government needs to promote national awareness about radiological threats, he said.  Indonesia also must obtain the benefit of international funding and expertise. The problems are “too big to handle” by the country alone, he said. Cameron said there are a number of countries including Australia, organizations including the International Atomic Energy Agency and agreements providing various kinds of assistance in the Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, including expertise, assistance with implementing international guidance, and potential tactical support. He said, though, that securing radioactive sources is a national responsibility and noted only three countries in the region — Indonesia being one of them — have indicated they intend to implement an International Atomic Energy Agency revised Code of Conduct on Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources published in January 2004. Back to top       U.S. Energy Department Nuclear Materials Watchdog Hopes for “New Day” for Security Under Bodman By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A U.S. Energy Department watchdog for nuclear materials security today criticized the past performance of managers involved in the effort but expressed hope for a “new day” under the department’s new leader (see GSN, Feb. 1). The department must succeed in improving physical and information security, protection technology and personnel at sites housing weapon-sensitive nuclear materials, Office of Security and Safety Performance Assurance Director Glenn Podonsky told the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. The department has been shaken in recent years by a series of security slip-ups, such as the apparent loss last year of computer disks at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico that were later found never to have existed. “We depend on local DOE line management for … timely identification and correction” of such weaknesses, Podonsky said, but management “has not always been up to the task.” He added, however, that the tenure of new Secretary Samuel Bodman could bring more discipline and effectiveness. Bodman became head of the department last month, replacing Spencer Abraham. “It’s a new day with Secretary Bodman,” Podonsky said. “He has made it clear that he will not tolerate missed commitments and inadequate management controls.” Speaking as part of the same panel, National Nuclear Security Administration chief Linton Brooks struck a different tone, emphasizing progress as he outlined security changes made at sensitive sites. “While we still need to improve, none of the security assets entrusted to NNSA are at risk, and our security program is robust and effective,” Brooks said. Brooks said his agency is taking measures to harden nuclear sites — by increasing numbers of guards, improving weapons and barriers, and making employees more aware of potential security threats — even as it works toward consolidating special nuclear materials in fewer locations. Physical security must be accompanied by electronic security of classified materials, Brooks said. He said the agency is reducing the amount of classified materials at its facilities and has begun using central, formal lending libraries at the sites. Ultimately, he said, the facilities will operate in a “diskless computer environment” without removable hard drives or zip drives containing classified material. Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) elicited a difference of views between the two officials when he asked whether Brooks’ plan to create an oversight office within his agency would clash with Abraham’s purpose in creating Podonsky’s office. Brooks replied that his goal was to create a more frequent oversight process to keep him and his site managers continually informed about security performance. “He [Podonsky] is the verification to the secretary that we’re doing our job,” Brooks said. “What I want to do is provide a routine interaction … that the site manager can call on if he needs help.” Podonsky said he approved of the plan as Brooks described it but voiced concern that the planned office’s eventual role could become different from what was intended. He added that oversight at the Energy Department often does not bring improvement. “This department does a lot of checking on itself without much improvement,” Podonsky said, blasting what he called a history of “checkers checking checkers … a lot of reports and not a lot of action.” Back to top       U.S. Incentives Offer to Iran Symbolically Important Even While Rejected, European Diplomats Say The U.S. incentives offer for Iran to abandon its nuclear efforts was symbolically important even though Iran quickly rejected the measures as inadequate, European diplomats said in a Financial Times article today (see GSN, March 17). Iran had requested the gestures, and it was understood that additional rewards would be forthcoming if Tehran made concessions on its uranium enrichment activities, diplomats said. Analysts close to the Bush administration, however, said Washington had no plans for additional concessions and that the United States was focused on preparing to take Iran before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. The White House also rejected Iran’s quiet offer to halt most of its nuclear work while maintaining some enrichment capabilities, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, March 14). “We are on a course for disaster,” said Cliff Kupchan, an analyst with the Eurasia Group consultancy. “There is a 30 percent chance of saving it. President Bush is not willing to play a meaningful card” (Dinmore/Dombey, Financial Times, March 18). Back to top       Chances for Normal U.S. Relations With North Korea Killed in 1994, Top KEDO Official Says The Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 undid North Korea’s hopes for normalizing relations with the United States in 1994, the head of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization said yesterday (see GSN, March 17). “The bad lesson they learned is that you’d better get your benefits a little up front” in any deal with the United States, said KEDO Executive Director Charles Kartman, according to the Associated Press. “Normalization with the United States (was) something that the North Korean government felt was more important to its long-term security needs than the two light-water reactors, which were going to take many years to build,” he said. The 1994 Agreed Framework establishing KEDO was negotiated by the Clinton administration in response to Pyongyang’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and suspicions that North Korea had diverted plutonium from its Yongbyon reactor to a weapons program. A political settlement was less likely to occur after the Democratic Party lost control of Congress in 1994, said Korea Society President Donald Gregg. “Putting it a bit more bluntly, I think that the Republican Party never really liked the Agreed Framework,” Gregg said. “When the 1994 elections took place, Newt Gingrich was at the height of his powers, and a number of the things which we were supposed to have done, in addition to building light water reactors, thereby were jeopardized,” Gregg said (Peter James Spielmann, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 18). Back to top       Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Vanunu Indicted Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu faces another two years in prison after being indicted on charges of violating the terms of his 2004 release from custody, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 29, 2004). The indictment contains 21 counts alleging that Vanunu spoke to reporters and attempted to visit the West Bank despite orders that he not speak to foreign media or leave Israel. “Since his release, Vanunu has systematically violated (the orders), the Israeli Justice Ministry said in a statement. “In the many interviews he has given … he passed on information on sensitive and classified matters allegedly related to materials manufactured at the Dimona nuclear reactor.” Vanunu spent 18 years in prison after passing on Israeli nuclear secrets he gleaned while working at Dimona to a British newspaper in 1986. He was released in April. “They can charge me 50 times if they want. I will continue speaking to the press,” Vanunu told Reuters. He was not arrested following the indictment. “I have not been charged with harming national security but with not respecting the restrictions placed on me. The police are just following procedure … I am hopefully they will end my restrictions,” he said (Jeffrey Heller, Reuters, March 17). Back to top

Shortage Reported of Bioagent Detection Chemicals A shortage exists in the United States of chemical compounds that are used to detect biological agents such as anthrax, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, March 17). The limited availability means that, in the instance of a large-scale bioterror attack, authorities would be expected to focus testing on cases where humans might have been exposed to an agent rather than performing more widespread examinations, several federal experts told the Post. The warning follows anthrax scares this week at two U.S. Defense Department mail sites in Northern Virginia and more than three years after the 2001 mail attacks that killed five people. Preparing a stockpile of the compounds would cost $20 million, according to the Association of Public Health Laboratories. “If further postal distribution centers or other places were pinpointed … we don’t know what will happen,” said organization Executive Director Scott Becker. “I don’t know if we (are) going to be able to do the job.” Other methods could be used to assess the extent of a biological attack in the case of a shortage of the detection compounds, said Charles Schable, director of the bioterrorism preparedness and response program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “CDC has sufficient reagent to determine if an event has occurred, and which individuals need to be given post-exposure (treatment). We could always figure out the extent of an event by many measures,” he said. He acknowledged, though, “We would like to have more reagent on hand to have 100 percent work-ups of everything that occurs during an event,” the Post reported. While the reagent issue has been raised quietly this week, officials have publicly criticized the Defense Department’s response to the anthrax scare. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) has asked Pentagon Inspector General Joseph Schmitz to investigate the agency’s guidelines for handling potentially hazardous and coordinating with other federal agencies (Hsu/Stockwell, Washington Post, March 18). U.S. Representative Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) has also set an April 5 meeting of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security to address the coordination issues that arose this week, the Associated Press reported. Officials from the Pentagon, Homeland Security Department, U.S. Postal Service and other agencies are expected to testify. “More than three years after the anthrax mail attacks, the lack of standardized detection and testing procedures poses a risk to national security,” Shays said. “Every false positive brings multiple federal agencies stumbling to the scene with no real plan, and every false negative risks complacency in the face of a lethal threat” (Associated Press, March 17). Back to top

Dutch Businessman Accused of Selling Chemical Precursors to Iraq Appears in Rotterdam Court A Dutch businessman appeared in a Rotterdam court today in connection with allegations that he sold chemical weapons precursors to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime, Reuters reported (see GSN, Feb. 4). “It was known since the mid-1980s that the Iraqi government was using poison gas in the war against Iran and against its own population,” prosecutor Fred Teeven said at today’s pretrial hearing. Frans van Anraat is accused of supplying Iraq with thousands of tons of chemicals used to make mustard agent, which the former Iraqi regime used in the 1980-1988 war with Iran and against the Kurds of Halabja in 1988. Van Anraat could face life in prison if convicted of complicity in genocide and war crimes. His trial is expected to begin later this year, according to Reuters (Paul Gallagher, Reuters/Washington Post, March 18). Back to top       Markey Reintroduces Bill on Hazardous Rail Shipments U.S. Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday reintroduced legislation requiring some rerouting of trains carrying hazardous materials away from sensitive areas and other measures designed to improve the safety of such shipments (see GSN, Feb. 24). “Across the country, enough chlorine to kill 100,000 people in half an hour is routinely contained in a single rail tanker car that rolls right through crowded urban centers without adequate security protections,” Markey said in a press release. “The industry, with the encouragement of the Bush administration, claims it can’t afford to beef up security and reroute the most dangerous materials. The reality is that we can’t afford not to.” Markey’s bill calls on the Homeland Security Department to take the following actions: —      reroute particularly dangerous materials such as chlorine and highly flammable or explosive substances away from urban centers or other sensitive areas unless no safer routes are available; —      increase security on hazardous materials shipments by adding guards and surveillance technology; —      require rail companies to use technology to make railcars more resistant to puncture; —      prepare response plans and increase notification of local emergency personnel when toxic shipments are coming through their jurisdictions; —      mandate training for personnel working with toxic materials shipments; —      ensure whistleblowers are protected; and —      establish civil and administrative punishments for those who violate the regulations. Senator Jon Corzine (D-N.J.) plans to submit a similar bill, the press release states. “This legislation isn’t about adding an extra layer of regulation on industry, but about adding an extra layer of protection for everyday Americans,” Corzine said in the release (U.S. Representative Edward Markey press release, March 17). Back to top       Chemical Weapons Experts Examine Vials in Hawaii A total of 130 glass vials filled with an unidentified liquid have been found underneath a house and at a boating maintenance company in Hawaii, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Oct. 8, 2002). A Honolulu woman found the first 100 vials underneath a home that once belonged to a chemical engineer who had served in the U.S. Army’s 29th Chemical Decontamination Company and the Chemical Warfare Section of the 35th Infantry Division, AP reported. The resident, Kelly McArthur, brought one of the vials to the Hawaii Health Department on Tuesday. Officials subsequently evacuated her house and the homes of two neighbors, AP reported. Other nearby residents were either evacuated or ordered to stay inside yesterday as WMD experts removed the vials from the house. Containers found at the boat maintenance firm appear to be identical to the vials at McArthur’s home. Chemical Weapons experts from the U.S. Army Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland were sent to Hawaii to identify the liquid in the vials, according to AP. The contents might be a liquid used to prepare troops in World War II for a possible gas attack, Hawaii Adjutant General Robert Lee said. McArthur, who cared for the engineer and his wife before their deaths, said she was exposed to the liquid but has not become ill. “I wouldn’t think he would have anything dangerous under his house,” she said (Associated Press, March 18). Back to top

Ukraine Sold Missiles to Iran and China, Official Says Ukraine’s prosecutor-general has acknowledged that his country sold 12 nuclear-capable cruise missiles to Iran and six to China in 2001, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 7). None of the X-55 missiles with were sold with nuclear warheads, Svyatoslav Piskun told the Times.   The admission is the first confirmation of the exports by a Ukrainian government official. Proof that Iran acquired the missiles would augment concerns about its nuclear program, according to the Times. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had about 1,000 X-55 missiles in its arsenal. Half were expected to be turned over to Russia in the 1990s, while the rest was supposed to have been destroyed under a U.S.-funded nonproliferation program, the Times reported. Additional investigations and a secret trial in connection with the case were under way, said a spokeswoman for Olexander Turchinov, the head of Ukraine’s security service. Another suspect is awaiting extradition in the Czech Republic (Tom Warner, Financial Times, March 18). Back to top

Japan Would Not Use U.S.-Aided Missile Defense System to Protect Allies, Prime Minister Says Japan would not use a missile defense system it is developing jointly with the United States to intercept missiles launched at other countries, including allies, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said today (see GSN, Feb. 22). “The purpose of our country’s missile defense is to intercept incoming missiles targeting Japan,” Koizumi told the upper house of parliament, according to the Associated Press. “We are not thinking of dealing with other missiles targeting our allies” (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 18).   Back to top

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