Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, pictured above at a June press conference, confirmed this week that North Korea received uranium enrichment centrifuges through the A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network (Getty Images/Torsten Blackwood). Khan Nuclear Network Provided Centrifuge Technology To North Korea, Pakistani Leader Says Former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan provided North Korea with uranium enrichment centrifuges, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf publicly confirmed for the first time this week (see GSN, Aug. 23)...Full Story

Latest Nunn-Lugar Scorecard Shows Continued Progress Nearly 7,000 nuclear warheads and almost 600 ICBMs have been destroyed under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program since its inception in 1991, according to a release issued yesterday by Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) (see GSN, July 22)...Full Story

U.S. Plum Island Facility Upgrade Again Considered By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States is again considering upgrading the capabilities of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center for work on some of the deadliest diseases to humans, after retreating several times in recent years in the face of local and congressional opposition (see GSN, July 19, 2004)...Full Story

	Wednesday, August 24, 2005

New York Awards Contract to Boost Transit Security New York City yesterday awarded a group of contractors led by Lockheed Martin a three-year, $212 million contract to improve security in city subways, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Aug. 5). Lockheed and its subcontractors are expected to install 1,000 video cameras and 3,000 motion sensors in the transit system. Cell phone coverage is also expected to be available at 277 stations but not on trains, according to the Times. “We will try everything, and deploy all technologies possible, to prevent an attack from happening,” said Katherine Lapp, executive director of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The system is expected to be placed in the subway, two commuter railroads, nine bridges and tunnels and in Grand Central Terminal, Pennsylvania Station and Times Square, the Times reported. Cameras that can focus on vulnerable areas while transmitting and recording would be the center of the security effort. Each camera costs $1,200 and can capture images up to 300 feet away. Trains and buses would not have cameras, according to the Times. “Obviously, this system, we hope, will detect a terrorist before an incident happens — not just be able, for forensic purposes after an incident happens, to identify who the terrorist is,” Lapp said. Details are expected by the end of the year on a second contract for equipment that can detect WMD agents (Sewell Chan, New York Times, Aug. 24). Back to top       Iraq Draft Constitution Addresses WMD Proliferation Iraq’s draft constitution contains provisions on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 22). “The Iraqi government respects and implements Iraq’s international commitments preventing the spread, development, production and use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons,” the draft says. “The state will combat terrorism in all its forms and act to protect its borders from being used for terrorist activity,” it says (Reuters, Aug. 23). Back to top       Terrorist WMD Attacks Might Not Cause Mass Casualties, British Scientists Say A terrorist attack using chemical, biological, or radiological weapons would be unlikely to result in mass casualties, the London Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 12). Scientists at the British Health Protection Agency’s Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response at Porton Down — the control center for the response to any chemical, biological or radiological attack — have been coordinating planning for such incidents since April 2003. “We shouldn’t be complacent, but it is important for the public to realize that while there would be deaths, as there would be in [a] conventional attack using explosives, there would not be the kind of widespread catastrophe that they might imagine,” said Nigel Lightfoot, director of Emergency Response Capability. “In the event of a biological release, we’d begin to see a picture emerge in the same way as we would monitor, say, a flu outbreak,” said Gordon MacDonald, head of Emergency Strategic Planning. General practitioners are ready to report patients showing particular symptoms, and health authorities are prepared to quickly respond to an apparent outbreak, according to the Times. “We then initiate a program of tracing people with whom victims have come into contact and what we call ‘ring vaccination.’ People most closely exposed are treated with the relevant medicines, while we give prophylactic vaccines to stop the disease spreading. That is how smallpox was eradicated in the 1970s. We are not saying that there might not be fatalities, but we could prevent any widespread disaster,” MacDonald said. A radiological “dirty” bomb is also unlikely to produce mass casualties, said Michael Clark of the agency’s Radiation Protection Division. “Those closest to the release would be worst affected, but the most serious damage would be caused by the actual explosion,” Clark said. “There might be areas that would have to be evacuated for a time and decontaminated, but the worst-affected area would be relatively small.” In addition, preparation of a dirty bomb, which would involve gathering industrial or medical radioactive substances, would pose a lethal danger to those involved in the process, Clark said. “They’d try to get hold of cesium 137, cobalt 60, strontium 90 or iridium 192 in small amounts over time,” he said. “But being exposed to that would make them very sick very quickly. Within days they wouldn’t be able to function and would die. Even with people prepared to commit suicide … [it] would require a large team. … They could survive longer with small amounts but that would make a dirty bomb less effective.” Release of a chemical agent would be equally unlikely to kill large numbers of people, Lightfoot said. “The most likely release would have to be in an enclosed space, such as the Tube system, because these agents disperse and become harmless very quickly in open spaces,” Lightfoot said. “Once an assessment is made, victims would be taken away from the incident as soon as possible. In the event of a nerve-agent attack they would be given atropine, an antidote that can save lives if administered quickly,” Lightfoot said. “Again, let us not pretend that there would not be fatalities, but they could be limited by swift action. Twelve people died in the Tokyo incident [see GSN, Aug. 22], which was a tragedy, but you might argue that more would have died in a conventional explosion. So the main effect here would be psychological, and would not necessarily result in more deaths than a conventional attack,” he said. Independent experts agreed with the government scientists’ assessments. “Historically, the use of chemical or biological weapons has been regarded as unreliable and indiscriminate by armed forces. That might not deter terrorists because their aim is not efficient killing,” said Professor Christopher Bellamy, director of the Security Studies Institute at Cranfield University. “The terrorists might achieve their aim — to terrify people — but the casualties would probably not be high,” Bellamy said (Steve Boggan, The Times, Aug. 24). Back to top

Khan Nuclear Network Provided Centrifuge Technology To North Korea, Pakistani Leader Says Former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan provided North Korea with uranium enrichment centrifuges, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf publicly confirmed for the first time this week (see GSN, Aug. 23). “Yes, he passed centrifuges — parts and complete. I do not exactly remember the number,” Musharraf told Kyodo News when asked about reports that Khan provided about 20 centrifuges to Pyongyang. However, Musharraf said the assistance provided by Khan would not have been the key to North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons technology. “So if North Korea has made a bomb ... Dr. A.Q. Khan’s part is only enriching the uranium to weapons grade,” he said. “He does not know about making the bomb, he does not know about the trigger mechanism, he does not know about the delivery system” (Agence France-Presse I/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 24). Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top U.S. envoy to North Korea nuclear disarmament talks, said yesterday that the nations involved in the multilateral talks on resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis were divided over whether Pyongyang should be allowed to keep a nuclear energy program.  “In our view, the North Koreans have got to get out of this business and stop it,” Hill said. However, he said the issue would not undermine the negotiations, the Associated Press reported. “It is not a show-stopper,” Hill said. Hill held a dinner meeting yesterday with a senior Chinese official, while South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon did likewise with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A Chinese delegation is scheduled to travel to Pyongyang this week to confirm a date for the next round of talks, and Hill is scheduled to meet with a senior Japanese official tomorrow in Washington, according to AP. U.S. and North Korean diplomats are expected to meet again in New York later this week, according to Hill (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 23).). Some analysts said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has made a strategic calculation to return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in exchange for keeping a nuclear energy program, the Los Angeles Times reported today. “Legalistically, they are making a valid argument. The North Koreans have been quite smart in the way they’ve done this,” said Daniel Pinkston, an analyst with the Monterey Institute’s Center for Nonproliferation Studies. One solution might be to have North and South Korea build a joint nuclear energy program, said Peter Hayes, director of the Nautilus Institute (Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 24). China, Japan and South Korea said Pyongyang should accept the disarmament proposal presented by Beijing at the last round of talks, AFP reported. “They agreed to make efforts to reach an agreement on the basis of the draft handed out by China in the previous meeting,” said a Japanese official. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, and Japan’s chief delegate to the talks, Kenichiro Sasae, confirmed that the talks would resume next week as planned, the official said (Agence France-Presse II/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 24). Back to top       Latest Nunn-Lugar Scorecard Shows Continued Progress Nearly 7,000 nuclear warheads and almost 600 ICBMs have been destroyed under the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program since its inception in 1991, according to a release issued yesterday by Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) (see GSN, July 22). The project has supplied U.S. funding and expertise for disposal and security of WMD materials, primarily in former Soviet states. Destroyed or deactivated under the program are: 6,760 nuclear warheads, 587 ICBMs, 483 ICBM silos, 32 ICBM mobile launchers, 150 bombers, 789 surface-to-air missiles, 436 submarine missile launchers, 549 submarine-launched missiles, 28 nuclear submarines and 194 nuclear test tunnels. The Nunn-Lugar program is also working to destroy chemical weapons. The International Science and Technology Centers, sponsored largely by the United States, has helped 58,000 former Soviet weapons scientists find work. The International Proliferation Prevention Program has provided funding for 750 projects that involve 14,000 former Soviet scientists and created 580 new jobs, according to the release. The nonproliferation program has also helped Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan to free themselves of nuclear weapons, the release said. Lugar and Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are expected to travel to Russia Saturday to meet with Russian military officials and visit a nuclear warhead storage facility and a missile destruction plant. They will also tour the Central Epidemiological Station in Ukraine, a Nunn-Lugar site. Finally, they will observe a mock interception of a ship carrying a weapon of mass destruction, the release said (Senator Richard Lugar release, Aug. 23). [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Nunn is chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and Richard Lugar serves on the NTI board.  NTI is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.] Back to top       IAEA Findings Offer Vindication, Iran Says An International Atomic Energy Agency determination that highly enriched uranium particles found on Iranian centrifuges came from an outside source has vindicated Iran, an official in Tehran said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 23). “Accurate scientific investigation by the IAEA has proved that U.S. accusations were unfounded,” said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. “Given the fact that Iran has been cleared of the accusations and that its statements have been approved, there is no justification for Western countries not to trust Iran,” he said (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Aug. 23). The State Department, however, said yesterday that the contamination issue was only “one part of this overall set of questions” about Iran’s nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported. “We believe that they are developing, they are pursuing a nuclear weapon,” said spokesman Sean McCormack. McCormack listed several “unresolved concerns,” including Tehran’s P-1 and P-2 centrifuge program, an alleged plutonium-based nuclear weapons effort and investigations of the Parchin military facility. “These are all big questions that are still unresolved,” he said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 23). Iran today accused the European Union of undermining the diplomatic effort to resolve the nuclear crisis, AFP reported. “The Europeans are to blame for unilaterally interpreting and violating the Paris Agreement,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. “Isfahan has nothing to do with the enrichment,” he said, referring to the uranium conversion facility Iran restarted earlier this month. “Activities in Isfahan are not a breach to the agreement” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 24). Despite calling off next week’s planned meeting with Iran, the European Union remains hopeful about nuclear negotiations, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said today. “We are suspending the negotiations,” Douste-Blazy told France Inter radio. “But at the same time, we think it is still possible to talk to them. ... There is no reason to close the door on Iran.” “Until the last minute, we hope to be able to talk to them,” he said (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Aug. 24). Back to top

U.S. Plum Island Facility Upgrade Again Considered By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The United States is again considering upgrading the capabilities of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center for work on some of the deadliest diseases to humans, after retreating several times in recent years in the face of local and congressional opposition (see GSN, July 19, 2004). The Homeland Security Department announced in a press release Monday that it plans to replace the center, which for 50 years has focused on diseases dangerous to livestock, with a new facility with increased capabilities at the same location near Long Island, N.Y. The department told Congress in February that it would like to build a new, massive center for biological and agricultural defense called the “National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility,” which could include the highest laboratory security level, Biosafety Level 4. It has requested $23 million for fiscal 2006 to begin design studies. If approved by Congress, the total project is projected by the department to cost $451 million through fiscal 2010. The department’s annual budget justification document delivered to Congress earlier this year did not say it was looking to replace the Plum Island center with the new facility. Rather, it also requested funding for operation of facilities and security improvements at Plum Island. The department announced Monday that the new facility would “replace” the “important but aging” more than 50-year-old center. As a Biosafety Level 3 facility, Plum Island researches highly contagious foreign animal diseases, including foot-and-mouth disease.  The release says Plum Island needs to be replaced because it “is becoming increasingly more costly to maintain,” lacks sufficient laboratory and test space to “support the increased levels of research and development needed to meet the growing concerns about accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal diseases,” and is “completely inadequate to address zoonotic diseases.” Zoonotic diseases are those that can be transmitted between animals and humans, such as anthrax, West Nile virus and spongiform encephalopathy, also known as “mad cow disease.”  “There is no BSL-4 livestock-capable laboratory in the U.S. to work on high consequence zoonotic diseases in host livestock species,” the congressional justification document says. A presidential directive issued last year, HSPD-9, called for a plan to develop “safe, secure and state-of-the-art agriculture biocontainment laboratories that research and develop diagnostic capabilities for foreign animal and zoonotic diseases,” the Homeland Security press release notes. Proposed Alternatives Located about 1.5 miles off the northeastern tip of Long Island, Plum Island diagnoses and studies foreign animal diseases, and it is the only government facility in the United States that studies foot-and-mouth disease. The executive branch has proposed increasing the biosafety level at Plum Island over the past decade, but has faced local protests and opposition from New York lawmakers. Opponents have argued that operating a Biosafety Level 4 facility at Plum Island could endanger the local population, which includes the occupants of multimillion-dollar homes in the nearby Hamptons, and that the facility could be subject to a terrorist attack (see GSN, June 24, 2002). Plum Island has had well-publicized security lapses in the past, and it has recently been upgrading its security capabilities. The release Monday says the conceptual design study beginning next year would evaluate giving Plum Island additional Biosafety Level 3 agricultural facilities and “possibly Biosafety Level 4 for foreign animal and zoonotic diseases as called for in HSPD-9.” The study, scheduled for completion by the end of 2006, would alternatively consider maintaining the current scope of work at Plum Island and building additional, higher-security facilities elsewhere, it says. “The options for a location, or locations, for the biocontainment facilities have not been identified at this time, but will be considered during the conceptual design study,” the release says. The money requested for the design study in fiscal 2006 was included in respective fiscal 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations bills approved by the Senate and House this year, which have not yet gone to conference. Threat Assessment As part of the plan, the department is considering including a threat assessment capability at the proposed facility, which could be cause for concern “from an arms control perspective,” says Alan Pearson, director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Control Program at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation in Washington, D.C. The congressional justification document this year says, “There is currently inadequate national capability to perform required biothreat characterization research in a highly secure environment.” “Modern, safe, secure biocontainment laboratories of sufficient capacity to work on high-consequence foreign animal diseases in livestock are a gap in our national strategy,” it says. “Recent natural incursions of SARS, West Nile, and Monkey Pox demonstrate the increasing threat posed by zoonotic agents,” the document adds. Pearson said that doing threat assessment work at a test and evaluation facility could reduce public transparency of test and evaluation activities and noted that a center at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., already is being built for threat assessment work. “There might be some small amount of threat assessment that can’t be done [at Fort Detrick] because it involves large animal studies, but that’s not a lot,” he said. Back to top       Camp Pendleton Personnel Take Anthrax Vaccine at Higher Rate than Rest of U.S. Military U.S. Marines and Navy personnel at Camp Pendleton in California are receiving the anthrax vaccine at a higher rate than the rest of the military, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 2). Navy Capt. Eric McDonald said 85 percent of troops at the base are volunteering to receive the inoculation. Just more than 50 percent of all service members are receiving the vaccinations under the voluntary program initiated in May, said Army Col. John Grabenstein, director of the Military Vaccine Agency. Roughly 1.3 million people in the United States have been vaccinated with more than 5.3 million shots since 1998. Severe adverse reactions are reported in one out of 100,000 shots, according to the Union-Tribune. More than 20,000 service people have been offered the vaccine since this spring. Vaccinations at Camp Pendleton began in July, with approximately 2,000 Marines and sailors taking the inoculations. People who began receiving the treatment under the mandatory program are more likely to continue receiving the shots, Grabenstein said. He offered no explanation for the higher vaccination rate at Camp Pendleton.  McDonald, however, attributed the higher percentage to the perception of the anthrax risk posed to Marines. Tens of thousands of Marines from the base are scheduled to deploy in Iraq early next year, the Union-Tribune reported. “I think we have a higher percentage because of our understanding of the threat,” McDonald said. “(Infantrymen) perceive the threat from anthrax to be higher. Also, the culture of the Marines is to be willing to accept the shots.” Personnel at Camp Pendleton are told that refusing the shot could cause “a military operational problem,” but McDonald said that each person’s decision is respected.  “We would like 100 percent (of Camp Pendleton troops) to get the shots,” he said. “But when you are doing immunizations, if you can hit 90 percent, you are doing really, really well. So we are at 85 percent and we think we are doing pretty well” (Rick Rogers, San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 23). Back to top       Scientist Resigns Over Anthrax Claims University of Texas Medical Branch microbiologist John Heggers, who admitted to overstating research on an anti-anthrax product, resigned Monday, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 13). Heggers is facing a university investigation for scientific misconduct for touting Bio-Germ Protection lotion as effective against anthrax, the plague and smallpox. The Dallas Morning News first reported on the matter last month, according to AP.  A scientific integrity panel at the university found “egregious” misconduct and “excessive and false claims” by Heggers, who had been at the university for 17 years, AP reported. Heggers countered that the panel was misled by anthrax experts who were intimidated by questions from reporters. “There isn't anything shaky about my science,” Heggers wrote in a response to the panel. “I have devoted my whole career to saving lives not taking them” (Associated Press/Houston Chronicle, Aug. 23). Back to top

Bhutan Joins Chemical Weapons Convention Bhutan has joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Xinhua News Agency reported today (see GSN, July 26). “The Kingdom of Bhutan deposited its instrument of ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) with the secretary general of the United Nations on Aug. 18, 2005,” the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a release. Under treaty rules, Bhutan will become an official member state 30 days after submitting the instrument of ratification (Xinhua, Aug. 24). Bhutan will become the 171st party to the pact, leaving 10 nations that have not signed or acceded to the treaty: Anglola, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Vanuatu (OPCW release, Aug. 23). Back to top

Japan, U.S. to Collaborate on Missile Defense Effort Japan and the United States plan to work together on a joint missile defense project, the Xinhua News Agency reported today (see GSN, July 25). The United States is expected to make the warhead for an enhanced Standard Missile 3 interceptor while Japan would build the rocket, Xinhua reported, referencing reports from Kyodo News. Japan is expected to endorse an agreement by year’s end to develop the missile, which would be deployed on an Aegis ship. The Standard Missile 3 intercepts targets outside the earth’s atmosphere, Xinhua reported (Xinhua News Agency, Aug. 24). Back to top       Australia to Get Access to U.S. SBIRS Data The United States has granted Australia access to information about the development of its Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), a satellite network intended to provide advanced warning of ballistic missile launches worldwide, the Australian Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 20). SBIRS is expected to become part of the fledgling U.S. antiballistic missile system, AAP reported. It would provide warning of a missile attack on Australia, along with information regarding nearby missile proliferation. “Since 1996-97 DSTO (Australia’s Defense Science and Technology Organization) has assisted in maintaining full knowledge of SBIRS as a capability for detecting Australian targets of interest,” said Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill. Due to delays and cost overruns, the first of the satellites is not expected to enter service until 2007, according to AAP. Hill said Australia has contributed an average of more than $200,000 annually since 1996-97 for research and development of the system (Australian Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 23).   Back to top

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