A 2002 satellite photo of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear reactor. U.S. satellite imagery indicates work has restarted at the facility, according to some news reports (Getty Images/Digital Globe). North Korea Reportedly Restarts Yongbyon Nuclear Reactor North Korea has reportedly restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which could be used to produce weapons material, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 19). A U.S. surveillance satellite detected steam coming out of a boiler connected to a building housing the reactor, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted sources close to the six-nation nuclear talks as saying. “It is hard to think that the boiler would operate by itself while the nuclear reactor is stopped. It can only be concluded that North Korea has put in new nuclear fuel rods and has restarted the nuclear reactor,” Asahi quoted a senior U.S. official as saying...Full Story

Report Finds Soviet “Antiplague” Labs Pose Threat A draft report by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies found that the Soviet military used civilian research institutes to build its biological weapons program, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, March 1)...Full Story

Global Interest in Arms Control Rising, Book Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — After years of little progress, there has been a recent resurgence of global efforts to encourage multilateral arms control, according to a recently published security almanac by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (see GSN, March 1)...Full Story

	Monday, August 22, 2005

British Stop Nerve Gas Attack on Parliament British authorities have uncovered and stopped an al-Qaeda plan to attack Parliament with nerve gas, the Sunday Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 10). Scotland Yard uncovered the plot in e-mail messages on computers taken from suspected terrorists in Pakistan and the United Kingdom. These messages led authorities to an al-Qaeda cell that had conducted video reconnaissance in preparation for the attack, according to the Times. Security around Parliament was increased this summer following discovery of the planned attack, the Times reported. A senior British officer said the terrorist group was planning on using a chemical “dirty bomb.” “The House of Commons was one of their targets as well as the Tube,” the officer said. “They were planning to use chemicals, a dirty bomb and sarin gas. They looked at all sorts of ways of delivering it.” British police, despite preventing the attack, are still concerned by the “unacceptable” level of security in place around the houses of Parliament, according to the Times (Leppard/Winnett, Sunday Times, Aug. 21). Back to top

Global Interest in Arms Control Rising, Book Says By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — After years of little progress, there has been a recent resurgence of global efforts to encourage multilateral arms control, according to a recently published security almanac by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (see GSN, March 1). The change, it says, has accompanied a shift from focusing on developing universal arms control norms toward more ad hoc efforts, targeted at specific problems and often led by the United States. “A number of developments in 2004 suggest that there is a steady growing momentum behind international efforts to explore how global processes might be strengthened in order to achieve their potential as part of an emerging mosaic of arms control measures,” says the SIPRI Yearbook 2005, which was released this month. It cites as progress the April 2004 U.N. Security Council resolution 1540 urging states to tighten national controls and “criminalize” proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical capabilities; “widespread” international support for strengthened nuclear fuel cycle safeguards developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency; and an “action plan” endorsed by Chemical Weapons Convention parties in 2003 to encourage implementation of the treaty. It also notes a European Union “Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction,” approved by European national leaders in December 2003, which is intended to assign resources and give greater importance in European policy-making to arms control and nonproliferation issues. These developments followed nearly 10 years in which multilateral arms control negotiations produced little progress and in some cases “suffered severe setbacks,” says the article written by SIPRI nonproliferation and export controls project leader Ian Anthony. Move Toward Ad Hoc Efforts Momentum is moving away from promoting universal arms control measures, which historically have taken years of negotiations to produce, according to Anthony. “Recently, many of the most important security-related activities have taken place outside institutions — in coalitions of willing, ad hoc processes and regimes, and contact groups,” the article says. It cites Group of Eight activities, the launch of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, and the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative for interdicting suspected WMD materials. U.N. Security Council resolution 1540, presented as a binding measure but lacking clear criteria for compliance, was an effort to sidestep “the difficulty of securing universal adherence to multilateral agreements” through traditional negotiations, according to the article. Focus on such efforts, the book says, has to some degree marginalized the U.N. organization, as opposed to the Security Council, which traditionally has been committed to promoting “universal, nondiscriminatory measures that emphasize disarmament.” “It has been impossible to find practical solutions to security problems within the U.N. in conditions where the organization is not prepared to recognize the special role of the United States and will not give the USA a special status with enhanced privileges or accommodate the U.S. security policy agenda,” the article says. “The USA, which devotes far more national resources to military security issues than any other state, also allocates far greater financial and human resources to arms control than the rest of the U.N. members combined,” it says. The report concludes there is international consensus that no single approach, institution or process can create and enforce arms control rules. “An effective multilateralism must find ways for states, international organizations and informal arrangements to cooperate in pursuit of common objectives,” it says. Back to top       Qadhafi Invites U.S. Leaders to Libya In a further sign of thawing relations, Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi has invited U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to visit the North African country, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 19). Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) was in Libya last week for talks on normalizing relations between the countries following Tripoli’s decision two years ago to renounce weapons of mass destruction. “I conveyed to the Libyan leader the very best wishes of our president and he likewise conveyed and would like to have the visit of Secretary Rice and the visit of our president and I will convey those words back to George Bush,” Lugar said. The United States is considering opening a full embassy in Tripoli, following the installation of a U.S. liaison office last year. Efforts are also ongoing to remove Libya from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, according to AP. Lugar said he discussed terrorism, human rights and economic cooperation with Qadhafi (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 21). Back to top       U.N. Considers Monitoring Iraqi Weapons Efforts The United Nations is beginning to consider monitoring potential WMD efforts in Iraq should they be someday restarted in the face of Iran’s nuclear program, Newsweek reported today (see GSN, July 12). “The question is starting to bubble up,” said a British official. Demetrios Perricos, chief of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, raised the issue in June at a U.N. Security Council meeting. Russia and France pushed for continued special inspections, while the United States did not comment because politicians in Iraq refuse to accept monitoring or extra constraints. “They are demanding the same treatment as any other nation,” said a U.N. official. However, White House experts said that Iraq would need to be monitored closely, especially after the release of Iraqi weapons scientists who served under former leader Saddam Hussein, Newsweek reported. U.N. investigators have never discovered Iraqi manuals on producing weapons of mass destruction. The issue has yet to become a major concern, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has disbanded its team that worked on Iraq’s nuclear program, according to Newsweek. The U.N. official said that the Iraqi WMD program “is an issue everyone wants to sweep under the carpet” (John Barry, Newsweek, Aug. 22). Back to top

North Korea Reportedly Restarts Yongbyon Nuclear Reactor North Korea has reportedly restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which could be used to produce weapons material, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 19). A U.S. surveillance satellite detected steam coming out of a boiler connected to a building housing the reactor, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper quoted sources close to the six-nation nuclear talks as saying. “It is hard to think that the boiler would operate by itself while the nuclear reactor is stopped. It can only be concluded that North Korea has put in new nuclear fuel rods and has restarted the nuclear reactor,” Asahi quoted a senior U.S. official as saying. “North Korea has been suggesting that it is ready to scrap such nuclear reactors, but it is steadily expanding the scope of its nuclear development behind the scenes,” the official said (Reuters, Aug. 21). Seoul promptly denied the report, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. “It looks like an inaccurate news report even though I cannot verify it because it belongs to intelligence,” a South Korean official told the Yonhap News Agency. “I understand such an issue was never raised at the fourth round of talks,” the official said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 21). Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Saturday that a peace treaty to replace the armistice that ended the Korean War should be forged after the nuclear issue is resolved, The Korea Herald reported. “Signing a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula and constructing a peaceful structure is not a matter that should be discussed at the six-party talks,” Ban, traveling in Washington, told Yonhap. North Korea, South Korea and the United States have discussed creating a separate forum on the peace treaty, Ban added. China, meanwhile, is expected to decide on a date for multilateral talks to reconvene by monitoring progress in bilateral contacts during the recess, the Korea Herald reported (Lee Joo-hee, Korea Herald, Aug. 22). Back to top       Pakistan to Discuss Uranium on Iranian Equipment With U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Pakistani and International Atomic Energy Agency officials are expected this week to discuss highly enriched uranium particles found on centrifuge parts smuggled from Pakistan to Iran, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 19 The agency has concluded that the contamination came from Pakistan rather than from any enrichment work conducted in Iran, AFP reported. One diplomat close to the agency said the results of tests comparing traces of uranium, however, were “murky.” The issue “will probably never be solved,” the diplomat said. Another diplomat said this means that the investigation’s results “don’t prove Iran’s story [that the contamination came from Pakistan] is true. They prove it is plausible” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 21). Meanwhile, Iranian officials said Saturday that Tehran would consider new European Union proposals on resolving the nuclear standoff but is not willing to resume a nuclear freeze, AFP reported. “It is natural that if they change their proposals, and in those new proposals they recognize the Islamic Republic’s rights, then we will look at it,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. “We will not go back on the UCF (uranium conversion facility) at Isfahan but we are ready to negotiate on Natanz (a uranium enrichment plant) and some other issues,” Asefi said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 20). Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned the European Union yesterday that economic cooperation was inseparable from political relations, which he said must include support for Tehran’s nuclear development, the Associated Press reported (Nasser Karimi, Associated Press/San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 21). Elsewhere, Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) on Wednesday called for direct talks with Iran and criticized President George W. Bush’s recent allusion to a military option against Tehran, Reuters reported (see GSN, Aug. 15). “You’ve got a new president [Ahmadinejad], a new opportunity to do something bold here. Why not take that opportunity and do something bold?” he said. “Quite frankly, what is the military option, what are we talking about here? We lose credibility in the face of the world when we say things like, ‘Well just don’t forget what happened to Iraq could happen to you Iran. We could invade you, we could bomb you,’” Hagel said. Hagel said the U.S. policy of supporting European Union negotiations with Iran but not engaging directly with Tehran did not make sense. “I don’t understand how we think we’re going to make progress by staying on the outside using surrogates, our allies France, Britain and Germany, to go to the table and work with them while [we] stand back and don’t want to get our hands dirty,” he said (Alan Elsner, Reuters, Aug. 19). Back to top       Russia to Offer Nuclear-Capable Jets to India Russia plans to offer its nuclear-capable MiG-35 fighter jet for sale to India, Press Trust of India reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 17). The Indian air force could buy up to 125 jets to replace its aging fleet of Mig-21 warplanes, a Russian official said. “We will offer our MiG-35 multirole fighters with thrust vectoring control along with transfer of technology for indigenous production in India,” said Russian Aircraft Corp. head Alexei Fedorov (Press Trust of India, Aug. 21). Meanwhile, a U.S. Defense Department official is expected to visit New Delhi in September to make a classified technical presentation on the Lockheed Martin F-16 Falcon and McDonnell-Douglas F-18 Hornet fighter jets, along with the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 antimissile system, according to Agence France-Presse. Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that New Delhi plans to independently develop an antimissile system. However, Indian expertise in this area is limited and the PAC-3 would serve as a stopgap measure until the indigenous system is ready, according to the Indian Express (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 18). Back to top       U.S. Ships Weapon-Grade Plutonium to Waste Dump The Los Alamos National Laboratory in late July shipped 14 steel drums of weapon-grade plutonium to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M., the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 1, 2003). This was Los Alamos’ first permanent reduction of sealed source materials in more than two years, according to AP. Roughly 100 containers of plutonium 239 sources collected over the last two years have been stored at Los Alamos. An additional 2,800 grams of plutonium in more than 100 sources remain to be collected, mainly from universities using the material for physics experiments. A small nuclear weapon would require 4 kilograms of plutonium, the AP reported (Associated Press/Albuquerque Journal, Aug. 19). Back to top

Report Finds Soviet “Antiplague” Labs Pose Threat A draft report by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies found that the Soviet military used civilian research institutes to build its biological weapons program, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, March 1). Each of the “antiplague” laboratories contains information and materials that could be useful to bioterrorists, according to the Post. The Post reported that when the Iron Curtain fell, the Soviets employed 14,000 people at 88 facilities, including six antiplague centers, 26 regional stations and 53 field stations. Today, the laboratories are meeting the medical needs of underserved populations in Russia. However, concerns remain on securing biological samples and knowledge housed at the facilities, the Post reported. “They often have culture collections of pathogens that lack biosecurity, and they employ people who are well-versed in investigating and handling deadly pathogens,” said report co-author Raymond Zilinskas. “Some are located at sites accessible to terrorist groups and criminal groups. The potential is that terrorists and criminals would have little problem acquiring the resources that reside in these facilities.” The report found that managers know the laboratories are vulnerable, but lack the resources to make needed changes. Laboratory budgets have shrunk since the fall of the Soviet Union, making even minor security enhancements unaffordable. The Post reported one laboratory could not afford a telephone.  Researchers also found that because the laboratories were not officially part of the Soviet bioweapons program, they have not yet been eligible for nonproliferation aid from the United States and other Western governments. These nations were not aware that the Soviet Union were using these laboratories for biological weapons purposes until Soviet scientist Vladimir Pasechnik defected to the United Kingdom in 1989. Zilinskas said the laboratories provided “ready-to-use information, biomaterial and expertise.” Russia has refused to officially acknowledge the existence of its former biological weapons program and will not allow the release of any classified information from before 1992. However, scientists outside of Russia have told researchers that many of the laboratories were under military control. These laboratories were also used to conduct research of especially lethal pathogens, including plague, anthrax and tularemia, according to the report. “There was a secret law that enjoined all antiplague institutes to send the government any kind of virulent strain that might be used for defensive purposes,” Zilinskas said. (Joby Warrick, Washington Post, Aug. 20). Back to top       U.S. Explores Health Effects of Multiple Vaccines The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases is conducting the first study the effects on military personnel who received multiple applications of the anthrax vaccine and other inoculations, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 4). Soldiers and employees at Fort Detrick in Maryland who received immunizations between 1970 and 2002 could participate in the study, according to AP. There are 1,150 participants in the study, which began in April. Col. Phillip Pittman, the study’s principal investigator, said he expects results to be published as soon as January. Previous studies by Pittman have shown that the Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed causes a higher number of adverse reactions in women than in men. Researchers also found that fewer doses of the vaccine could be given, limiting reactions while providing the same protection against the biological agent. The Army is waiting for word from the Food and Drug Administration on whether it can reduce the number of doses, AP reported. “We've been using it here for over 30 years — in fact, before it was actually licensed in 1970. We think that it is safe.  There have actually been more studies of this vaccine than any other in terms of evaluating safety,” Pittman said (Associated Press/Herald-Mail, Aug. 21). Back to top

Tokyo Chemical Attack Mastermind to Undergo Court-Ordered Psychiatric Evaluation The Tokyo High Court has ordered Shoko Asahara, founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult that carried out the sarin attack on Tokyo’s subway system in 1995, to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness to be tried on appeal, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, March 21). The court rejected a defense motion to suspend the case until Asahara’s mental condition improves, the Kyodo news agency reported (Associated Press/Ottawa Sun, Aug. 19). Back to top

Pakistan Tells India it Will Test Ballistic Missile Pakistan told India that it plans to test a ballistic missile this week, the Times of India reported (see GSN, Aug. 15). This is the first notification since the two countries recently agreed to inform each other in advance of ballistic missile tests. However, specifics of the test are unknown, as the agreement does not require either country to disclose details of the missile to be launched, according to the Times. Pakistan in March conducted a successful test launch of a nuclear-capable Shaheen 2 missile. The Shaheen has a range of 1,250 miles, the Times reported (Indrani Bagchi, Times of India, Aug. 21).     Back to top

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