Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressing the U.S. Congress this morning. The Bush administration yesterday announced plans to ease domestic and international restrictions on nuclear trade with India, ending a long-standing nuclear nonproliferation strategy (Getty Images/Win McNamee). Bush Looks to Ease Restrictions and Offer Nuclear Cooperation to India The Bush administration plans to ease domestic and international restrictions on nuclear trade with India, a move that would allow for the transfer of civilian nuclear technology to New Delhi, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. India has never joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and does not permit international nuclear inspectors to examine all of its nuclear facilities. U.S. law and international trade agreements prohibit the supply of nuclear technology to nations that refuse international oversight of their entire nuclear power infrastructure, according to AFP. India incurred additional sanctions after it tested nuclear weapons in 1998 (see GSN, July 5). President George W. Bush said yesterday he would “seek agreement from Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies” and work with “friends and allies to adjust international regimes” allowing for nuclear cooperation with India, according to a joint U.S.-India press statement...Full Story

Years After Anthrax Attacks, Hoaxes Persist By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The anonymously angry of the world are creating serious trouble today with just a stamp, an envelope and a household product...Full Story

Date Set for North Korean Nuclear Talks Six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear program are expected to begin Tuesday in Beijing, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, July 18)...Full Story

	Tuesday, July 19, 2005

U.S. Maritime Security Plan Nears Completion By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The first U.S. national maritime security strategy is being reviewed by the White House and could be released by September, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins said here yesterday (see GSN, June 21). Under a directive signed in December by President George W. Bush, the Homeland Security and Defense departments were required to complete the strategy and submit it to the White House by last month. The strategy is meant to integrate the maritime security work of federal, state and local agencies and the private sector. “Hopefully, by the end of the summer, we will have a rollout of this national plan for homeland security,” Collins said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation. The admiral used much of his time to tout efforts to improve “maritime domain awareness” — which draws on a host of information sources, such as database checks on arriving vessels and monitoring of cargo for radiation and other threats — as the foundation for Coast Guard antiterrorism efforts in the wake of the September 2001 attacks. Collins also called on Congress to provide as much funding as possible, as soon as possible, for the Coast Guard’s modernization program, known as Deepwater. Maritime domain awareness is a major “building block” of the post-Sept. 11 Coast Guard, Collins said, and “the next huge building block to our strategy is our Deepwater program.” The Coast Guard in March changed its plans for Deepwater to reflect what it calls a greater need for anti-WMD and other new technology, asking for better capabilities in such areas and fewer new vessels. Amid consternation over the new approach, both houses of Congress have cut Deepwater funds in their fiscal 2006 Homeland Security Department appropriations bills. Collins expressed hope that funding for the modernization could be restored in the House of Representatives-Senate conference process. “It isn’t over until it’s over,” he said. Back to top

Russia Signs WMD Disposal Agreement with Canada Russian President Vladimir Putin has given final approval to an agreement under which Canada will provide technical and financial support for Russia’s efforts to eliminate its chemical weapons and decommissioned submarines and to protect nuclear materials, Interfax reported yesterday (see GSN, July 6). The Russian Duma approved the legislation on July 1, followed by the Federation Council on July 6 (Interfax/BBC Worldwide Monitoring, July 18). Back to top       More Than 200 Scientists Rejected for Work in U.K. Fears of terrorism led the United Kingdom in recent years to reject applications from more than 200 foreign scientists looking to do research at British universities in chemistry, microbiology, biotechnology and other fields, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, July 6). Documents from 2001 to May 2005 show that British security services recommended that 238 of 2,282 scientists applying to study in the United Kingdom be rejected due to security concerns (Guardian, July 19). Back to top       Russia Short of Military WMD Protection Equipment Russia’s military is facing shortages in radiological, chemical and biological protection equipment, Interfax reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2004). “As a whole, the armed forces are provided with the above means by 80-100 percent, depending on the arm of service,” a Defense Ministry source said. “However, timely replacement of individual protection means remains a problem.” Moscow did, however, spend $73.22 million on such equipment last year, the source said. “Permanent-readiness formations and units are fully equipped with the main types of RBC [radiological, chemical and biological] protection assets,” he said (Interfax/BBC Monitoring, July 18). Back to top

Bush Looks to Ease Restrictions and Offer Nuclear Cooperation to India The Bush administration plans to ease domestic and international restrictions on nuclear trade with India, a move that would allow for the transfer of civilian nuclear technology to New Delhi, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. India has never joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and does not permit international nuclear inspectors to examine all of its nuclear facilities. U.S. law and international trade agreements prohibit the supply of nuclear technology to nations that refuse international oversight of their entire nuclear power infrastructure, according to AFP. India incurred additional sanctions after it tested nuclear weapons in 1998 (see GSN, July 5). President George W. Bush said yesterday he would “seek agreement from Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies” and work with “friends and allies to adjust international regimes” allowing for nuclear cooperation with India, according to a joint U.S.-India press statement. Such cooperation could include “expeditious consideration of fuel supplies” for the Tarapur nuclear power plant, which was constructed with U.S. assistance, Bush announced. Bush praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, traveling in Washington, for India’s efforts to prevent WMD proliferation, saying that “as a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology, India should acquire the same benefits and advantages as other such states” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, July 18). India, for its part, “is fully conscious of the immense responsibilities that come with the possession of advanced technologies, both civilian and strategic,” Singh said today before a joint session of the U.S. Congress (Associated Press, CNN.com, July 19). Speaking yesterday, he said India would place its civilian nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and would separate civilian facilities from those with military applications. Singh added that New Delhi would maintain its moratorium on nuclear testing. The State Department said the new understanding does not mean the United States has recognized India as a nuclear-weapon state. “That’s a separate matter. India is not part of the NPT”, said Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns. India raised the recognition issue, but “we said no, we couldn’t do that, given the fact that they didn’t adhere to the NPT,” said a senior U.S. official (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com). It could take months for U.S. lawmakers and other nations to approve the nuclear cooperation with India, a U.S. official told Reuters. Some lawmakers said they would not support lifting sanctions. “We cannot play favorites, breaking the rules of the Nonproliferation Treaty, to favor one nation at the risk of undermining critical international treaties on nuclear weapons,” said Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Some nuclear proliferation experts agreed. “The president just gave India everything it wanted. He’s rewarding India despite that country’s remaining outside the global NPT regime,” said Joseph Cirincione, nonproliferation director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “This is the triumph of great power politics over nonproliferation policy,” he said (Paul Eckert, Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 19). Back to top       Date Set for North Korean Nuclear Talks Six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear program are expected to begin Tuesday in Beijing, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, July 18). No end date for the session has been set, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told the Xinhua news agency. South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-hyung confirmed the date given by Beijing (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, July 19). Japan plans to propose during the negotiations that both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy programs be forbidden to Pyongyang, the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted Japanese officials as saying yesterday. Under the Japanese plan, North Korea would have to entirely dismantle its nuclear program — including civilian applications — and allow inspections to verify the move in order to receive energy assistance from the negotiating partners, Yomiuri reported. South Korea has offered 2 million kilowatts of electricity aid to North Korea (see GSN, July 13). That means Pyongyang would no longer need a nuclear power program, Tokyo plans to argue, according to the officials (Yomiuri Shimbun, July 19). Back to top       South Africa Agrees to Stop Using HEU Reactor Fuel South Africa is expected in the next few years to begin using low-enriched uranium in its SAFARI-1 nuclear research reactor instead of highly enriched uranium that could be used to create a nuclear weapon, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, March 14). “The switch marks a further milestone in the government's program to ensure that the safety of nuclear materials is enhanced globally,” said South Africa’s Mineral and Energy Affairs Department. The director of South Africa’s main nuclear reactor at Pelindaba refused to confirm how much highly enriched uranium was being stored at the site. “That information cannot be divulged” under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, said Tseliso Maqubela. The reactor was built in the 1960s and is primarily used to produce radioisotopes used in nuclear medicine. Converting the reactor to use low-enriched uranium is expected to take three years, AFP reported. Remaining highly enriched uranium at the site “will generally be applied to the manufacturing of medical isotopes … used in nuclear medicine diagnostics,” according to a department statement (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, July 18). Back to top       Former Broadcast Chief Could Replace Rohani as Iran’s Top Nuclear Negotiator, Local Media Say Iranian media are speculating that the former head of Iran’s state-operated television IRIB could succeed Hassan Rohani as Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator with the European Union, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported yesterday (see GSN, July 18). Ali Larijani yesterday appeared publicly with President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Fars news agency, seen as sympathetic to Ahmadinejad, led the speculation, according to DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/Expatica.com, July 18). Back to top       Ex-Russian Atomic Minister to Remain in Switzerland Pending Decision on Extradition to U.S. Former Russian Nuclear Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov will remain in custody in Switzerland while awaiting a decision on his extradition to face embezzlement charges in the United States, Reuters reported today (see GSN, June 28). The Swiss Supreme Court rejected a lower court’s ruling that Adamov should not have been arrested because he had come to Switzerland to provide information in a related court case involving his daughter’s financial activities, said Justice Ministry spokesman Rudolf Wyss. Adamov’s daughter is a Swiss citizen. “The Federal Supreme Court has ruled and upheld our appeal,” Wyss told Reuters. “It means he stays in detention for extradition purposes” (Reuters, July 19). Back to top       Singapore Firm Fined for Dual-Use Exports Singapore has fined a domestic manufacturer $12,000 for illegally exporting dual-use technology that could be used in a nuclear weapon, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 10). Far Eastron Co. Pte. Ltd., pleaded guilty to exporting integrated circuits to an undisclosed country without the necessary permit, Singapore Customs announced in a statement (Associated Press, July 19). Back to top       Radiation Detector to Be Installed at Manila Port The port in Manila is set to receive equipment capable of detecting nuclear and radioactive cargo under an agreement signed today by the Philippines and the United States, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 22). “The United States and the Philippines both recognize the need to remain vigilant against the threat posed by the trafficking of nuclear and other radioactive materials through the global shipping network,” Joseph Mussomeli, Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy, said in a statement (Associated Press, July 19). Back to top

Years After Anthrax Attacks, Hoaxes Persist By Chris Schneidmiller Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The anonymously angry of the world are creating serious trouble today with just a stamp, an envelope and a household product. It takes only moments for someone to send a package containing a suspicious but ultimately harmless powder. The act, however, can force entire buildings to be locked down and tie up emergency personnel for hours. Each incident must be taken seriously in case the contents turn out to be anthrax rather than crushed aspirin, officials said. The Australian capital of Canberra sustained a barrage of such mailings beginning June 1 to its Parliament building, Prime Minister and Cabinet Department, and the embassies of Indonesia, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Italy and South Korea (see GSN, June 6). Also receiving powder-filled envelopes since April: the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Danish embassies in Stockholm and Vienna, the New Mexico state capitol, a Slovenian government office, the office of Quebec Premier Jean Charest and a Vermont multimedia company. That’s just a partial list — an online search turned up news reports of 15 incidents in June alone. “It seems like it’s a daily occurrence, even when it doesn’t get publicity,” said FBI spokesman Bill Carter. The hoaxes are unpleasant, but no longer unexpected. “These things happen periodically in Washington,” said an official at the Israeli Embassy. An embassy employee checking mail at 5 p.m. June 16 opened one envelope that contained a small amount of a white powder, the official said. A section of the building was closed and some employees remained inside until tests indicated at 11 p.m. that the substance was benign. The letter, which reportedly contained anti-Semitic language, was traced to a man jailed in North Carolina, according to the FBI. Six days earlier and across the continent, an employee in the collections department of Imperial Parking in Vancouver, British Columbia, opened an envelope containing a similarly suspicious white powder. Vancouver emergency services were quickly alerted. “Around lunchtime we started seeing a lot of emergency vehicles out front, HAZMAT teams, fire trucks, police cars,” said Linda McClusky, a legal assistant in the company’s administrative office, which is located in another section of the building. The affected section of the building was locked down — the air-conditioning system and elevators were shut off and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Twenty-five workers were quarantined for several hours until tests determined the substance was not dangerous, said Capt. Rob Jones-Cook, spokesman for the Vancouver Fire Department. “It’s not the kind of thing that one expects to happen up here. It’s something that we read about happening in the United States,” McClusky said. Hate Mail People were putting powder in the mail to scare others years before someone sent envelopes laced with anthrax that killed five people in fall 2001. There were 22 incidents reported worldwide in 2000 involving faked biological agents, according to the Monterey Institute’s Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The count jumped to about 730 in 2001, due largely to Clayton Lee Waagner’s campaign against abortion providers (see GSN, July 8).   Waagner was arrested late that year after sending roughly 550 powder-filled letters, and the number of biological hoaxes dropped to 70 in 2002. However, excluding his count, both 2001 and 2002 saw significant increases in such incidents from 2000, spurred by the anthrax mailings and the resulting media coverage, said Sundara Vadlamudi, research associate for the center’s WMD Terrorism Research Program. “It’s people who see there is the opportunity for media attention,” Vadlamudi said. “It’s a really simple thing to do. All they have to do is get some white powder and put it in an envelope and write a scary note and send it off.” The number of known hoaxes has been dropping since 2003 as news of the anthrax case dwindled. The FBI and U.S. Postal Service continue their investigation, but have made no arrests to date. While the Monterey center has not finished researching all possible cases, there is no indication of a significant rise in incidents so far this year, Vadlamudi said. Although certainly the most relentless, Waagner was not the first anti-abortion biological hoaxer or the last. More than 20 letters containing fake anthrax were mailed to abortion providers and abortion rights organizations in January 2002, several weeks after his arrest. Such acts allow the perpetrators to keep their issue on the public agenda without stepping forward themselves, and can force clinics to shut down temporarily, Vadlamudi said. “If affect the functioning. It scares the people who work there,” he said. “It tells the workers that ‘We are on the radar of anti-abortion activists.’” Motives for anthrax hoaxes in recent years have been more likely to be unknown or based on an ideology or belief system — for example, the unidentified person who last year claimed that “god told me to send this letter” containing a white powder to a Long Beach, Calif., postal facility.  Reasoning is not necessarily ideological. The Vancouver Fire Department’s Jones-Cook said he suspects an angry motorist sent the letter to Imperial Parking, which handles parking meter enforcement for the city. “You can imagine, we’re a parking company, people don’t like us,” McClusky said. “But it’s usually angry letters and angry phone calls.” No Injuries, But Harm Done Biological hoaxes are more popular than those involving mock chemical or radioactive materials, according to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. A simulated biological agent can be “easily produced and safely handled by the perpetrator,” it said in its 2002 WMD Terrorism Chronology, but can have extended consequences. Vancouver sent 48 emergency workers and 18 pieces of equipment to the powder scare at the Imperial Parking office. Firefighters suited up in protective gear to retrieve a sample, while others managed the quarantine and organized decontamination for the hazardous materials workers. Emergency medical personnel examined firefighters before they entered the building and after they exited, and waited to see if they would have to take anyone to the hospital. Police officers handled crowd control and traffic and provided an escort when the sample was taken for further testing at a laboratory. This occurred while the city’s emergency services were also handling a hotel fire, an injured person and the nearby appearance of the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, Jones-Cook said. The department receives hundreds of calls each year regarding suspicious substances. Half of those involve material that came through the mail, Jones-Cook said. “It creates all sorts of problems, but we have to err on the side of caution,” he said. “It certainly puts a strain on our equipment and personnel.” Emergency personnel in Canberra had to decontaminate 46 staffers at the Indonesian Embassy when it appeared some form of powered toxin had been sent to the building, according to Australian media reports. Tests later indicated the substance was not dangerous (see GSN, June 2). Prime Minister John Howard said at the time that he believed the threat was meant as retaliation for the 20-year prison sentence Australian national Schapelle Corby received in Indonesia for smuggling drugs. Such acts could damage relations between the two nations and invite retaliations against Australians in Indonesia, he said. “This is a very serious development for our country, and I can't overstate the sense of concern I feel that such a recklessly criminal act should have been committed,” Howard said in the early hours of the crisis. The mailings remain under investigation, said Matt Francis, spokesman for the Australian Embassy in Washington. “The incidents are being treated as serious criminal matters,” he said by e-mail. Australian Federal Police have also asked prosecutors to sue any person convicted of sending the powders, to recoup costs from the emergency responses, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. U.S. federal authorities in fiscal 2005 have arrested 22 people for biological agent hoaxes and made 10 convictions, said Postal Inspector Paul Krenn. Charges can range from terrorism-related hoaxes to mailing threatening communications, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Parcels containing suspicious substances are found each day at U.S. Postal Service facilities, officials said. The overwhelming percentage turn out to be innocently sent, containing anything from sand to cooking ingredients. A single phone call clears up most concerns.  Postal inspectors are able to track more malicious mailings back to their area of origin; hints left in letters or other clues can then lead them to the perpetrators. “Some of these folks put their home address on the letter,” Krenn said. Hoaxers see the powder-filled letters as a way to send a message, without considering that they are committing a crime, Krenn said. The mailings are particularly popular with people in jail or prison, who are less likely to fear facing criminal charges and have few avenues for making themselves heard, he said.  Decisive and public action by authorities against people found to be sending fake biological agents is perhaps the best way to reduce the instances of such crimes, Vadlamudi said. “The general feeling is to hand them a tough sentence to serve as an example for future cases,” Vadlamudi said. Back to top       Indiana Post Office to Get Anthrax Detector The U.S. post office in Fort Wayne, Ind., is expected to install a machine that can detect anthrax in the mail, the Journal Gazette reported today (see GSN, July 11). Allen County Emergency Management Agency Director Ed LaRocque told the county’s EMA board that the system is scheduled to be installed in September (Benjamin Lanka, Journal Gazette, July 19). Back to top

Japanese Officials Arrive in China to Remove Weapons Japanese scientists and Foreign Ministry officials arrived in southern China today to remove World War II-era chemical weapons found in the city of Guangzhou, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, June 28). Three city residents inhaled gas from the munitions, the Chinese government said. A Japanese Cabinet Office official said the 25-person delegation is expected to work with Chinese officials until Sunday to deal with the weapons, according to AFP. “We have so far found at least seven shells believed to be chemical weapons abandoned by the wartime Japanese army near a river bank,” the official said. “We will remove all the weapons that belonged to the Imperial Japanese Army” (Agence France-Presse, July 19). Meanwhile, the Tokyo High Court today ruled that reparations would not be paid to survivors or relatives of victims of Japanese World War II germ warfare experiments in China involving pathogens such as plague and cholera, AFP reported. The 180 plaintiffs in the lawsuit had asked the Japanese government for an apology and $90,000 each. The court recognized the harm caused by the experiments but said it was up to the government to offer compensation (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, July 19). Back to top

U.S. Congress to Subpoena Yucca Mountain Records The U.S. Energy Department is expected to face a congressional subpoena demanding documents related to possible paperwork fraud on the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility in Nevada, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 30). Representative Jon Porter (R-Nev.) requested the subpoena after the department failed to turn over documents, including personnel records, research details and organizational charts. House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) agreed to issue the subpoena today, according to AP. “We have asked for these documents since early April. They have been uncooperative,” Porter said. “I'm going to use every tool I have available and turn over every stone to make sure we have all the information.” A DOE spokesman said Porter was welcome to view the documents in a reading room but refused to turn them over because of fears that they would be made public. Porter released an earlier round of documents indicating fraud connected with the project, AP reported. “It's unfortunate that the congressman has chosen to go this route, especially in light of the fact that all the information he has requested has been available to any member of his subcommittee or staff for three weeks,” said spokesman Craig Stevens. Porter called the offer to view the documents at the department “a continual insult to the U.S. Congress.” Department officials have determined that the documents provided to Porter in March, including e-mails between government scientists, do not disprove the justification for the site.  In a letter to Porter, acting department General Counsel Eric Fygi wrote that he was concerned that the Yucca investigation could “metastasize without discrete bounds to embrace all current and future Yucca Mountain licensing proceeding matters” (Erica Werner, Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, July 18).     Back to top

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