The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has urged U.S. nuclear power stations, such as the Diablo Canyon plant in California (above), to reassess their security measures (AFP photo). Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools Remain Vulnerable to Terrorist Attack, National Academy Says U.S. commercial nuclear reactors should reassess their vulnerability to a terrorist attack, the National Academy of Sciences said in a report released yesterday (see GSN, March 28)...Full Story

Missile Defense Budget to Climb Again By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Although it expects to reduce spending in the next fiscal year, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency wants to ramp up its budget over the next four years to more than $10 billion annually by fiscal 2009, according to Defense Department budget documents. Critics say the numbers could climb even higher (see GSN, Feb. 18)...Full Story

VX Disposal Set to Begin at Newport Disposal of more than 250,000 gallons of VX nerve agent could begin in May at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 28)...Full Story

	Thursday, April 7, 2005

CIA Officials, Lawmakers Question Why Iraq Intelligence Failure Details Did Not Emerge Earlier U.S. lawmakers and CIA officials are asking why previous investigations of intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq war failed to discover details regarding troubles with a source on Iraq’s alleged mobile biological weapons laboratories, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 4). The information about agency handling of the Iraqi defector code-named Curveball was discovered by the presidential commission on WMD intelligence that released its report last week (see GSN, April 1). CIA Director Porter Goss has ordered an investigation on why the information was not discovered prior to the commission’s report, said spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise.  “It was an unhappy surprise to the director that his first understanding of this issue was when he first read” the report, Millerwise said yesterday. Goss took the job in September. If the commission discovered “something obvious, we want to make sure the intelligence community does fill in those gaps so we have a clear picture,” said Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), whose panel performed its own intelligence investigation. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), a member of the intelligence panel, called for former CIA Director George Tenet to testify on the matter under oath. “As far as I am concerned, the CIA threw us a curve ball,” said Levin. “I don’t think the intelligence committee was given some of that detail on Curveball, but I think it should have been,” he said (Katherine Shrader, Associated Press/Los Angeles Times, April 7). Back to top       Lessons Being Learned from TOPOFF 3, Chertoff Says Agencies involved in TOPOFF 3 are communicating “efficiently and promptly,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday on the third day of the large-scale WMD terrorism exercise (see GSN, April 6). “At this point, we have received tremendous cooperation from New Jersey, Connecticut and our federal partners,” Chertoff said. “There’s no doubt we’re going to learn something from this.” Chertoff said officials plan to review the drill after it ends Friday to determine weaknesses that need to be corrected in the event of an actual attack, the Associated Press reported (Wayne Parry, Associated Press/PhillyBurbs.com). Back to top

Six-Party Talks on North Korean Nuclear Program Could Resume in May, Japanese Report Says China appears to have persuaded North Korea to resume six-nation talks on its nuclear programs by mid-May in exchange for a visit from Chinese President Hu Jintao before the end of June, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today (see GSN, April 5). Hu has not visited North Korea since becoming general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2002. The visit was reportedly negotiated during talks this week between North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju and a senior Chinese official, a senior U.S. official told the Yomiuri (Yomiuri Shimbun, April 7). The United States yesterday denied having knowledge of any acquiescence by Pyongyang on talks, Reuters reported. “We have no indication that North Korea has yet agreed to return to the table,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher (Reuters, April 6). Back to top       Senior Iranian Official Denies Tehran Proposed 500-Centrifuge Limit on Uranium Enrichment A top Iranian official yesterday rejected reports that Iran has offered to limit its uranium enrichment capabilities to 500 centrifuges (see GSN, April 4). Iran has already provided the international community with four guarantees on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, said Hossein Mousavian, a member of the negotiating team in discussions with the European Union. Those guarantees are Iran’s status as a member state to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, signing on to the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement and the IAEA Additional Protocol and offering transparent cooperation to the U.N. nuclear watchdog. “The European partners wanted objective guarantees to ensure that the fuel cycle will not be deviated to produce nuclear arms and we expected them to come up with proposals how to get guarantees from Iran, but in the past three months of negotiations, they did not bring up any formula to get objective guarantees from Iran,” he said (IRNA/BBC Monitoring, April 6). Back to top

Federal Standards for Anthrax Contamination Detection Flawed, Government Accountability Office Says The U.S. Homeland Security Department should take the lead in developing guidelines for detecting anthrax contamination in buildings, the Government Accountability Office concluded in a report released Tuesday (see GSN, March 29). “It’s really fair to say nothing got fixed,” Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said during a congressional hearing on the agency’s findings Tuesday, referring to efforts to revamp testing guidelines after the 2001 anthrax attacks. Auditors examined a series of incidents since fall 2001, with particular attention to the “targeted” federal methods to collect samples for testing, which are based on officials’ judgments about the areas of likely contamination. It took four tests to detect contamination at the Wallingford, Conn. post office, one of the facilities affected by the 2001 attacks, said Keith Rhodes, the GAO’s chief technologist. He said his agency concluded that more random sampling is needed. Some officials at the hearing defended targeted sampling. Targeting suspected areas is a “more straightforward approach,” said Tanja Popovic, associate director for science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  “It’s rapid and successful, and will continue to be our primary strategy,” she said. The methods by which federal officials validated their testing methods also came under criticism. “Because the agencies did not use an empirical process to validate their testing methods, the agencies had limited information available for reliably choosing one method over another and no information on the detection limit to use when evaluating negative results,” Rhodes said. Thomas Day, vice president of engineering for the U.S. Postal Service, disagreed. The Postal Service has installed biohazard detection systems in 107 of its facilities, according to Day. The system has performed 550,000 tests on more than 12 billion pieces of mail, and “there have been no false positives,” he said (David Lightman, Hartford Courant, April 6). Back to top       U.S. Works to Prevent Disease Spread by Air Travelers The United States is working with airlines and airports to mitigate biological weapons attacks or the spread of disease by infected travelers, officials said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 8, 2004). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seeking access to electronic passenger lists for airplanes coming from locations experiencing an outbreak or for flights in which a passenger is later determined to be suffering from an infectious disease, the Associated Press reported. Delta Airlines has agreed on a test basis to provide such lists, which CDC officials say would help health officials quickly notify people who might have been exposed to an infectious disease or biological agent. The federal health agency currently collects names manually from sources such as flight manifests and customs declarations, Anne Schuchat, acting director of the CDC National Center for Infectious Diseases, told the House Aviation Subcommittee. That can be a slow process, she said (Leslie Miller, Associated Press/New York Newsday, April 7). “The best strategy for preventing disease introduction into the United States is through disease surveillance, early detection and rapid response,” Schuchat said. The Homeland Security Department, meanwhile, is working to reduce harm caused by a possible biological attack at airports, Reuters reported. Officials are examining airflow patterns and evacuation plans at airport terminals. Early warning systems are being tested for detection of biological agents. Homeland Security is also beginning to study biological detectors that could be used on airplanes, according to Reuters (John Crawley, Reuters, April 6). Back to top       Japan Plans Vaccine Stockpile Japan plans to stockpile vaccines in preparation for a bioterrorist act or the spread of a natural disease, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today (see GSN, Feb. 21, 2003). Tokyo now relies on vaccine manufacturers in case of an emergency, with the government stockpiling only a handful of vaccines, according to the Yomiuri. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is expected to establish a committee to revise relevant laws in the next session of parliament. The ministry is also considering new subsidies for vaccine research, the Yomiuri reported (Yomiuri Shimbun, April 7). Back to top

VX Disposal Set to Begin at Newport Disposal of more than 250,000 gallons of VX nerve agent could begin in May at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 28). The Defense Department on Tuesday submitted its 30-day notice to Congress that neutralization is ready to begin of the chemical agent held in 1,600 steel containers. Work should start in mid-May and be completed in 30 months, said Jeff Lindblad, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency. “It’s going to be a slow, deliberate startup. In the first week we’ll probably just do one container and then gradually ramp it up from there,” he said (Rick Callahan, Associated Press, April 6). The Army also notified the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which will send an inspection team to confirm the VX elimination (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency press release, April 6). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday noted its public health and environmental concerns over plans to dump 4 million gallons of the chemical byproduct from neutralization at Newport into the Delaware River (see GSN, April 6). Nerve agent traces left in the hydrolysate could harm fish, and there is no indication yet that the contractor DuPont could treat VX or other compounds in the wastewater at its New Jersey plant, AP reported. However, the federal health agency said it saw no problems in using tanker trucks to transport the wastewater from Indiana to New Jersey, AP reported. The Army and DuPont said they are reviewing the report (Donna De La Cruz, Associated Press/Miami Herald, April 6). With disposal set to begin at Newport, the United States is on schedule to destroy 90 percent of its chemical weapons stockpile by the anticipated 2012 deadline under the international Chemical Weapons Convention, AP reported. The remaining 10 percent sits in depots at Pueblo, Colo., and Blue Grass, Ky. Construction of disposal facilities at those locations could be delayed for years, or even scrapped, due to budget concerns and other problems with the neutralization process. The Army is considering options for handling the weapons stockpiles at Pueblo and Blue Grass, which could include shipping them to operating incinerators in other states for disposal. The study should be finished this month, after which the Defense Department will decide what to do with the two sites, Dale Klein, assistant to the secretary of defense, said yesterday. “If you ask us right now, do we have a decision exactly how we will proceed, we don’t,” he told a House Armed Services subcommittee. The specter of chemical weapons relocation has unsettled lawmakers in potentially affected states, and their constituents. “You will be surprised, I think, at the type of agitation you will see. … You’ll probably see a nuclear response from the citizens of my district,” said Representative Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), whose district includes the Blue Grass Army Depot. “Transportation is not an option to us, very simply” (Hilary Roxe, Associated Press/Lexington Herald-Leader, April 7). The Senate Appropriation Committee yesterday blocked funding in a spending bill for the Army alternatives study, AP reported. “My colleagues agreed with me that the law [outlawing chemical weapons transportation across state lines] should remain unchanged,” Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) said in a prepared statement. “I appreciate their endorsement of our efforts to block the shipment of toxic munitions to our state. Utah currently houses and is successfully disposing [of] more than 40 percent of the nation’s chemical stockpile. That’s more than enough.” Acting Defense Undersecretary Michael Wynne said in a letter released Tuesday that alternatives are being considered because neutralization of mustard gas at the Pueblo Chemical Depot is “technically challenging,” risky and costly, AP reported (Associated Press, April 6). Back to top

Missile Defense Budget to Climb Again By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Although it expects to reduce spending in the next fiscal year, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency wants to ramp up its budget over the next four years to more than $10 billion annually by fiscal 2009, according to Defense Department budget documents. Critics say the numbers could climb even higher (see GSN, Feb. 18). Citing program restructuring, the Bush administration announced this year it would cut the Missile Defense Agency’s requested fiscal 2006 budget by nearly $1 billion, from $8.7 billion to $7.8 billion. However, budget documents show a plan to spend $1 billion more than earlier estimated over the four-year period of fiscal 2006 through fiscal 2009. Much of that increase appears to come from projected hikes to the fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009 budgets, corresponding with newly announced plans to buy additional interceptor missiles, radar, and other equipment. In the six years from fiscal 2004 to fiscal 2009, the agency last year projected spending $53.1 billion, and this year’s budget plan anticipates spending even more in the future, $57.7 billion in the six years from fiscal 2006 through fiscal 2011. An agency spokesman said the budget could peak in fiscal 2010. Budgeting Practice The Missile Defense Agency’s budget documents, published online this week, do not articulate reasons for the projected budget increases. Agency spokesman Richard Lehner, though, said the increase from the previous six-year period projection to the most recent plan results in part from budget “increases for additional early warning radar upgrades, new forward based air-transportable X-band radars, [the] multiple kill-vehicle program, [and the] Japanese Cooperative Program” (see GSN, Feb. 22). He attributed the increases during fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009 “mainly” to boost-phase equipment scheduled to be fielded then, missile defense sensors for fielding over the next six years, and potentially new interceptors under consideration by 2010. The agency’s budget documents, however, also show substantial spending increases for midcourse defense equipment such as land-based interceptor missiles to be deployed during fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009. The projected increases parallel newly disclosed plans to acquire by the end of 2009 an additional 20 land-based interceptor missiles through the midcourse program to bring the projected total to about 40, as well as additional sea-launched missiles, terminal-phase interceptors, two additional advanced radars and radar upgrades. The White House budget office last year and again in February criticized the agency for its practice of not budgeting such hardware procurements six years in advance, but rather a couple of years prior to expected delivery (see GSN, March 19, 2004). The practice, analysts have said, effectively conceals the overall potential cost of programs and could create budget trouble when the costs of new purchases are announced. In a report published in February, the Office of Management and Budget said the agency’s failure in previous years to budget for such equipment beyond fiscal 2007 could jeopardize funding for such purchases, stating, it “puts at risk the ability of MDA to field operational capabilities.” Part of the problem, according to the document, is that the military services are not fully committed to the agency’s goals. The Bush administration has not been able to persuade the armed services to pay for much of the equipment, the Office of Management and Budget stated. “Currently MDA and services are collaborating to determine the responsibilities for funding outyears,” it says. Generally, research and development agencies such as Missile Defense do not procure equipment for operations. The military services usually buy the equipment, normally after it has been demonstrated operationally effective through testing.  A process under way for transferring responsibility for funding elements of missile defense [to the services] is “problematic” and “will take a number of years to evolve,” it says. The Missile Defense Agency’s long-range, multisystem Ballistic Missile Defense System [BMDS] is now not ready for full operational testing, as the Pentagon’s acting director of operational test and evaluation told Congress last month. Some legislators have argued more realistic testing of the system should occur before fielding additional missiles (see GSN, Sept. 30, 2004). In a letter to members of Congress today, 22 physicists with weapons system expertise including nine Nobel laureates called for the elimination of all funding for building ground-based interceptors “until operationally realistic tests of the system demonstrate that it would work against a real world attack.” Budget Could Climb Further The Government Accountability Office said in a report last month that future budgets could be pressured to climb even higher than projected as the Missile Defense Agency announces more equipment purchase plans and pays for operation and maintenance of fielded systems. “Fielding costs can be expected to increase in the years to come as more components … are integrated into the BMDS,” it said. Unexpected cost growth within development programs could also pressure future agency budgets, it said. It said that agency program costs had increased by $380 million than budgeted for in fiscal 2004. Budgets also could climb if the government decides in the future to develop and field new approaches for defeating ballistic missiles that are currently under consideration, such as space-based interceptors, according to Philip Coyle, a senior adviser at the Center for Defense Information. He cited a Congressional Budget Office estimate published last year that said alternatives for building, launching and operating space-based defenses could cost between $27 billion and $78 billion. “I don’t see that it is going to taper off,” he said, of the budget’s generally upward track. Spokesman Lehner said he anticipates that the agency’s budget would “presumably” peak at about $10.27 billion in fiscal 2010. The fiscal 2006 budget projects a slight drop the following fiscal year to $10.21 billion. He noted Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Henry Obering has said a mobile, land-based Kinetic Energy Interceptor being researched may be considered for replacing — as opposed to supplementing — the in-silo ground-based interceptor being developed and fielded for the midcourse program. “As Lieutenant General Obering has been saying for several months now, long-term objective is to explore potential for mobile GBIs [ground-based interceptors] rather than fixed sites,” according to Lehner.  Requested funding was reduced for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor for fiscal 2006 to allow for efforts to demonstrate its key technologies could work and to reduce developmental risks, Obering said in congressional testimony last month. Back to top

Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools Remain Vulnerable to Terrorist Attack, National Academy Says U.S. commercial nuclear reactors should reassess their vulnerability to a terrorist attack, the National Academy of Sciences said in a report released yesterday (see GSN, March 28). An attack on one of the more than 60 commercial reactors that have pools containing spent nuclear fuel rods could cause the release of “large quantities of radioactive material,” according to a press release from the organization. The academy called for a “plant-by-plant” analysis of vulnerability. The committee that prepared the report also recommended shifting fuel rods in the pools and installing water-spraying devices to reduce the likelihood that a fire would ignite and release radiation from the pool if terrorists use an airplane or other means to attack a reactor. The report encourages long-term storage of nuclear fuel rods in dry casks that could reduce the chances of a significant release of radiation. Security measures already in place at nuclear reactors make it unlikely that terrorists could steal spent fuel for use in a radiological “dirty bomb,” according to the report.  “Nevertheless, the [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] should review and upgrade where necessary its security requirements for protecting those spent fuel rods not contained in fuel assemblies from theft by knowledgeable insiders,” the National Academy said in its press release. Yesterday’s report is the public version of a classified document submitted last year to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Homeland Security Department (National Academy of Sciences press release, April 6). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees all U.S. commercial reactors, said in a press release it “is giving the results and recommendations serious consideration and has an internal action plan to address the NAS recommendations.” “Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, spent fuel was already well protected by physical barriers, armed guards, intrusion detection systems, area surveillance systems, access controls and access authorization requirements for employees working inside nuclear power plants. Since then, the NRC has issued no fewer than nine sets of mandatory instructions or guidance to nuclear plant operators to improve security of nuclear power plants, including spent fuel in storage,” the agency said. “Since early 2002 — well before Congress requested the NAS study — the NRC has been conducting significant analysis and reviews which resulted in a number of safety security improvements to provide additional protection of spent fuel” (Nuclear Regulatory Commission release, April 6).   Back to top

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