World leaders pose for pictures at the conclusion of the Group of Eight summit. The meeting ended today without leaders agreeing to any new WMD nonproliferation measures (Richard Lewis/H.M. Government via Getty Images). Nonproliferation Sees Little Headway at G-8 Summit By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire EDINBURGH, Scotland — Leaders of the Group of Eight nations ended their Scottish summit today without agreeing to any new WMD nonproliferation measures. The annual meeting closed earlier than scheduled to allow British Prime Minister Tony Blair to return to London where multiple terrorist bombs yesterday killed more than 50 people and injured several hundred more (see GSN, July 7)...Full Story

Mass Transit “Ideal Target” for Use of Unconventional Weapons, U.S. Official Says Mass transit is an “ideal target” for terrorists to use conventional weapons or weapons of mass destruction, the head of the U.S. National Transportation Security Center said yesterday following the bombings in London (see GSN, July 7)...Full Story

National Institutes of Health Decision Delayed on Anthrax Vaccine Testing on Children By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A plan to conduct safety tests of two experimental anthrax vaccines on children could proceed, despite the recent removal of any reference to such testing from a notice on the National Institutes of Health Web site (see GSN, June 27)...Full Story

	Friday, July 8, 2005

Mass Transit “Ideal Target” for Use of Unconventional Weapons, U.S. Official Says Mass transit is an “ideal target” for terrorists to use conventional weapons or weapons of mass destruction, the head of the U.S. National Transportation Security Center said yesterday following the bombings in London (see GSN, July 7). “First, it’s public, so there’s ease of access,” said center Director Brian Jenkins. “Second, these are congregations of strangers that guarantees attackers anonymity. And third, it’s concentrations of people in a contained environment, and that enhances the effects of explosives as well as unconventional weapons. It guarantees them high body counts.” “To say we’re going to seal it off against terrorism cannot be done,” he told the Washington Post. Authorities in the Washington, D.C. area sharply increased patrols of mass transit systems following the London bombings, the Post reported (Layton/Ginsberg, Washington Post, July 8). Other cities also took additional measures. Authorities are monitoring the air and water supply in New York City for biological and chemical agents, the Post reported today. In addition, New York City yesterday morning doubled the number of police officers assigned to patrol its transit systems. A police officer was assigned to every train, with a total of 6,000 officers patrolling the system, according to the Post (Goo/Eggen, Washington Post, July 8). New York Senator Charles Schumer (D) yesterday said he planned to seek a quadrupling of the $100 million in federal funding designated in a homeland security spending bill for mass transit and rail security, the Associated Press reported. “It seems clear mass transit is the terrorists’ target of choice,” he said. “The bottom line is, we are not doing enough to protect mass transit.” He also said $50 million of the homeland security funds should be allocated for developing explosive and WMD detection devices for subways (Sam Dolnick, Associated Press/1010wins.com, July 7). Walk-through explosive detection portals are now being tested at some U.S. airports, but such screening procedures are unlikely to be used in subways or other mass transit systems, Inside Bay Area reported today. While airline security screening is already a fairly time-consuming process, “imagine the line at a subway entrance,” said Susanne Gordon, a Sandia National Laboratory physicist who works on chemical and biological weapons detection. In addition, while explosives leave detectable traces, chemical and biological weapons are more difficult to uncover, she said (William Brand, Inside Bay Area, July 8). One expert said mass transit security issues could not be solved quickly, AP reported. “Very little technology can be applied in this area in an effective way,” said security consultant Rafi Ron (Associated Press/USA Today, July 8). Elsewhere, Japan today responded to the London bombings by boosting security at its nuclear plants, among other measures, AP reported (Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 8). Back to top

Nonproliferation Sees Little Headway at G-8 Summit By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire EDINBURGH, Scotland — Leaders of the Group of Eight nations ended their Scottish summit today without agreeing to any new WMD nonproliferation measures. The annual meeting closed earlier than scheduled to allow British Prime Minister Tony Blair to return to London where multiple terrorist bombs yesterday killed more than 50 people and injured several hundred more (see GSN, July 7). In a joint statement issued this afternoon at the summit site in Gleneagles, the leaders said they supported a wide range of existing efforts to curb the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and to prevent terrorists from acquiring such materials. “The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery means, together with international terrorism, remain the pre-eminent threats to international peace and security.  The threat of the use of WMD by terrorists calls for redoubled efforts,” says the statement. The leaders praised international agreements banning or restricting the possession of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, although those pacts have suffered political damage in recent years (see GSN, May 31; GSN, Dec. 13, 2004). In addition, their statement praises newer efforts such as the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative — under which nations have agreed to intercept shipments of suspected WMD cargo — and a U.N. Security Council resolution on fighting terrorism (see GSN, Dec. 10, 2004). The statement also supports a U.S. push to restrict non-nuclear nations from developing the technology to produce nuclear fuel, a capability that could also be used to produce nuclear weapons. None of these endorsements, however, represent any new initiatives, and leaders mentioned none of the initiatives during the summit or in briefings so far today. Furthermore, no breakthrough was made toward resolving a key U.S.-Russian dispute over the liability protections for U.S. personnel and contractors working to dismantle and secure WMD materials in Russia. That disagreement has already led to the suspension of projects to redirect Russian nuclear weapon development sites toward peaceful activities and to dispose of Russian weapon-grade plutonium. Some nonproliferation experts said the inaction was regrettable, particularly in light of yesterday's terror. “The fact that nonproliferation issues were not front and center was a missed opportunity that is underscored by the London bombings,” said Michele Flournoy, a senior adviser to the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “As tragic as the bombings were, it is quite plausible to envision a future attack that would be worse because it involved weapons of mass destruction.” “If we really believe that threat [of terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction], then we have to keep placing that at the top of the agenda,” she said. Terrorist and nonproliferation issues had been given a lower profile at this summit than at the past three G-8 sessions. Meeting host Blair had sought major agreements on African aid and climate change, and he was pleased to announce a doubling of international aid to Africa today. Changing the meeting's painstakingly developed focus would have been difficult, said another expert, but should have been attempted after the bombings. “You would think if anything would galvanize the G-8 it would be a terrorist attack during the summit. We can only hope we don't look back at this as one of the greatest missed opportunities,” said Jon Wolfsthal, deputy director of the Carnegie Endowment's Nonproliferation Project. “Terrorism experts have long been warning about attacks on transportation lines. They have also been warning that there will be WMD strikes and the G-8 has not heeded their warnings. It has not done enough to prevent those predictions from coming true,” he added. Back to top       Pine Bluff Facility to Test WMD Protective Gear The U.S. Army’s Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas opened a new $18 million dollar facility yesterday to test protective equipment that would be used by military personnel in a chemical or biological attack, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, June 24). Representative Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) said planning for the Quality Evaluation Facility began in 1987. Snyder said money for the facility, appropriated by Congress after several attempts to secure funding, came from the Defense Department. “We need to stay focused on what is going on and part of that is facilities like this,” Snyder said. An older, smaller testing facility is now home to 14 scientists. Transfer to the new facility is set to take place over the next two months, said Col. Thomas Woloszyn. “It will give us a significant increase in the ability to meet the demands of the war fighter,” he said. The new facility is expected to house 40 scientists from the private and public sectors. Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, a firm specializing in biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear research has already been promised space at the test site, AP reported (Carolyn Rousseau, Associated Press, July 7). Back to top       Slovene Plan Includes WMD Defense Force Slovenia has approved a defense plan with commitments to creating a force to defend against a biological, chemical or nuclear attack, the Slovene news agency STA reported yesterday (see GSN, May 31). The five-year plan also calls for the formation of a tactical infantry and air defenses and integration into NATO’s air defense scheme (STA/BBC Monitoring, July 7). Back to top

North Korea Nuclear Talks Not Seen Before September South Korean diplomats say they do not expect six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program to resume this month, as had been hoped, Reuters reported today (see GSN, July 7). Negotiating partners China and Russia oppose an August start to the negotiations, said diplomats in Seoul, meaning that September may now be the earliest possible resumption date (Herskovitz/Kim, Reuters, July 8). A secret South Korean proposal to Pyongyang is being studied by the United States, but talk that it could be formally presented in conjunction with a U.S. package to end the nuclear standoff is “premature,” a top U.S. State Department official said Wednesday. Seoul briefed Washington about the offer Unification Minister Chung Dong-young recently made to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the official told Chosun Ilbo. He also said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill had expressed interest in the proposal, but denied that Hill had said there was “no problem” with the plan. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Wednesday said the proposal could not yet be publicly disclosed because it involved “strongly strategic elements” (Chosun Ilbo, July 7). Meanwhile, China announced that it plans to send an envoy to North Korea next week, Agence France-Presse reported. Former Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan is scheduled visit Tuesday through Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said today (Agence France-Presse/Channel News Asia, July 8). Back to top       U.S.-Russia Nuclear Working Group Reveals Plans The U.S.-Russia nuclear security working group has issued its first progress report, the White House announced in a June 30 press statement (see GSN, July 1). The U.S.-Russia Senior Interagency Working Group on Nuclear Security Cooperation, established in February and co-chaired by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Federal Atomic Energy Agency Director Alexander Rumyantsev, has agreed to: — Prioritize the schedule for repatriating highly enriched uranium from U.S.- and Russian-designed research reactors in other countries; — Produce a plan for security upgrades at Russian facilities; — Schedule a series of bilateral workshops in September; and — Conduct a tabletop nuclear emergency response exercise in October. The group is expected to report again in December, according to the statement (White House release, June 30). Back to top       Iran Plans for 20 New Nuclear Plants Iran is looking to build 20 nuclear energy plants over the next few years, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported today (see GSN, July 7). Kazem Jalali, head of Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, made the announcement yesterday in Russia. He urged Moscow to provide fuel for the Bushehr nuclear plant, which Russia is helping to construct (IRNA, July 8). Once Bushehr is up and running, spent fuel would be storied at the facility for up to four years before being repatriated to Russia, RIA Novosti reported today. “There will be no access to the fuel as there is no access to the radiation zone in water-cooled reactors,” said Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency. “When enough fuel for a shipping package is accumulated, it will be sent back to Russia.” Spent fuel can be transported only after it has cooled sufficiently, which can take up to three years, he added. “This is difficult due to the high radioactivity and temperature of the spent fuel,” he said. Rumyantsev said spent fuel would be placed in nuclear waste storage for another 10 years after it arrives in Russia. “After reprocessing, 95 percent of the fuel will be used in the energy cycle again. The 5 percent of the waste left over will be vitrified and stored,” he said (RIA Novosti, July 8). Back to top

National Institutes of Health Decision Delayed on Anthrax Vaccine Testing on Children By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A plan to conduct safety tests of two experimental anthrax vaccines on children could proceed, despite the recent removal of any reference to such testing from a notice on the National Institutes of Health Web site (see GSN, June 27). Researchers from the National Institute for Child and Human Development (NICHD) last year proposed including 100 first- and second-graders along with 350 adults in a clinical study assessing the relative safety, safe dosage levels, and side effects of a currently used vaccine and a new one for protection against inhalation anthrax. A NICHD review board approved the study in July 2004, but directed that a decision on whether to include children be deferred until after the adults, ages 18-30, were tested and the results assessed. The study formally began Sept. 8, 2004 and its completion is dependent, in part, upon recruiting volunteers. As of last week, 52 adult patients had been vaccinated using either the focal point of the testing, a genetically engineered anthrax vaccine now under development by NIH, or the controversial Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed, which is now administered to U.S. military personnel deployed to certain regions of concern (see GSN, July 7). The National Institutes of Health has published advertisements seeking participants for the trials in the Washington, D.C. area, offering compensation totaling $400 for eight clinical visits over the course of a year. Compensation is not unusual and typically covers expenses and time, said Dr. Stephen Kaler, clinical director of the NICHD intramural research program. The institute would obtain parental consent for children to participate, if that component of the study is approved, he said. Web Site Notice Changed Complaints have surfaced in recent weeks that the trial, at least initially, should not include children and that no children should be vaccinated with the older vaccine because of doubts about its safety. “I have grave concern about any intent to proceed with clinical trials with children at this point,” Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) wrote in a July 1 letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. “Surely considerable information regarding the safety of the new vaccine, as well as about its potential effectiveness, should be obtained in adults long before any consideration is given to providing it to children. And, based on what already is known about the adverse event profile of the older vaccine, it should not be ‘tested’ in children at all,” he added. Critics have also expressed their doubts in U.S. newspapers. “There is almost no risk to these children of being exposed to a form of … anthrax that has been weaponized,” Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center told the Kansas City Star. “The benefits are zero and the risk is quite high.” A notice published in 2004 by the NIH Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office, which said the trial planned to include 100 children, prompted the criticisms. The institute recently removed that statement from the notice. Kaler said there was a misunderstanding that children were already part of the trial. He said an additional decision by the Institutional Review Board, following the outcome of testing on adults, would be needed before children might be included.  Whether children would ultimately be included is an “open question, because it hasn’t been approved,” he said Kaler said some view a perceived benefit from testing the new vaccine on children. “Whether we do this in children is tempered by the feeling of some that children would be at risk in a bioterrorism attack and it would be unfortunate if children weren’t included in the study,” he said. Safety Questions There are uncertainties about the safety of both vaccines.  This trial phase is the first human testing for the NIH vaccine, which is still under development, according to Kaler.  If the vaccine passes, it could then be subjected to two additional phases of trials involving larger numbers of patients, according to Food and Drug Administration regulations. One phase would evaluate its effectiveness and further evaluate its safety, and the second would seek to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that would allow the drug or treatment to be used safely, according to the regulations. After that, the Food and Drug Administration could determine whether to license the vaccine as safe and effective against inhalation anthrax, the method of contraction of foremost concern from biowarfare or terrorism. The entire process apparently could take years. The NIH vaccine is distinct from another genetically engineered anthrax vaccine, under development by the company VaxGen. The Health and Human Services Department in November purchased 75 million doses of that vaccine for $878 million, enough to vaccinate 25 million people against inhalation anthrax, according to the company (see GSN, May 6).   The department also awarded the company up to $69 million for, among other things, testing on children and the elderly after the Food and Drug Administration has approved the vaccine, according to Vice President of Public Affairs Paul Laland. The VaxGen vaccine is in its second phase of testing. The older Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed was licensed in 1970 as safe and effective against anthrax contracted through the skin, the disease form likely to infect textile and farm workers, and veterinarians. The Food and Drug Administration has not yet licensed it effective against inhalation anthrax.  Questions recur about its safety, with rare reports of debilitating reactions after vaccination and experts questioning whether there is a link to multisymptom illnesses effecting soldiers after the first Gulf War (see GSN, Nov. 16. 2004). The Defense Department insists the vaccine is as safe as other commonly used vaccines, or safer. “Study after study shows: people vaccinated against anthrax are as healthy as unvaccinated people,” according to a statement on the DOD Web site. It is uncertain how many military and civilian personnel have experienced severe reactions from the existing vaccine. However, of approximately 1.3 million personnel vaccinated against anthrax during 2003 and 2004, hundreds were said to have been treated for “complex” cases following those and other vaccinations at four special vaccine treatment clinics, ranging from muscle and joint weakness and pain to multiple sclerosis (see GSN, May 6). The military since May has been administering the vaccine to select military personnel on a voluntary basis, after a judge found that the treatment could not be required because the Food and Drug Administration had not yet properly licensed it against inhalation anthrax. About half the civilian and military personnel offered the vaccine have refused the shot. A Food and Drug Administration review for that license is under way, which could allow mandatory vaccinations to resume. The new vaccine however should be safer, according to an NIH advertisement for trial volunteers, provided by Kaler. “The vaccine is expected to be as effective as the licensed anthrax vaccine (AVA) but it is purer and should be safer,” it says. Back to top       U.S. Army to Test Hand-Held Pathogen Detector U.S. Army scientists next week plan to begin testing at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah a handheld device that can detect biological agents, KSL TV reported yesterday (see GSN, March 8). The detector, developed by AnzenBio, is capable of identifying a large number of pathogens quickly, according to Chief Executive Officer Gary Crocker. “By simply loading the biosensor chip with a different antibody or assay targeted to a different pathogen, the same basic device can be targeted for the detection of a very wide range of pathogens,” he said. Samples from a bus, train or building could be loaded into the handheld detectors to determine if a pathogen is present, KSL reported. Cocker said the device, which costs less than $2,000, could also be used to detect avian flu, pathogens used against crops or allergens and fungus (KSL TV, July 7). Back to top       Man Sentenced to 19 Years for Anthrax Hoaxes A Pennsylvania man who sent hundreds of letters with fake anthrax to abortion clinics was sentenced to 19 years in prison yesterday, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 24, 2004). Clayton Lee Waagner, who believed God told him to kill abortion providers, was convicted of 51 charges in 2003 including extortion and threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction. He was also found guilty of posting threatening messages on an anti-abortion Web site, according to AP. The letters were sent from a Federal Express office in Philadelphia in late 2001, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and anthrax mailings. “He wanted to exploit the moment to use the anxiety and panic caused by those other terrorist acts to fuel his own brand of terror,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Barrett (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 8). Back to top       Pennsylvania Postal Site Receives Anthrax Detector A system capable of detecting anthrax in the mail is being installed at a U.S. Postal Service facility in Bethlehem, Pa., the Express-Times reported yesterday (see GSN, July 5). Postal Service spokeswoman Cathy Yarosky expects the Biohazard Detection System to be installed by July 23 as part of a nationwide effort to protect the mail. Yarosky said she did not know whether the system, designed after the 2001 anthrax attacks, would be installed at other Lehigh Valley postal facilities (Jeff Schogol, Express-Times, July 7). Back to top

Rice Reassures Pakistan on U.S.-India Defense Pact The United States yesterday said it would be “responsive” to Pakistan’s worries regarding the recently signed U.S.-India defense agreement, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 1). U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with her Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, according to a statement released by Islamabad. “[Rice] said that the U.S. was mindful of the fact that Pakistan was both a key strategic ally and a major non-NATO ally,” the statement says. Kasuri “recalled their past discussions on this matter and the need to maintain military balance in South Asia and not to inject new and advance weapon systems which could destabilize the security situation in the region,” it says. U.S. and Indian defense ministers last week signed a 10-year agreement allowing for potential cooperation on weapons production and missile defense, as well as lifting of U.S. export controls on some military technologies, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 7).         Back to top

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