Chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill at the six-party North Korean nuclear talks in Beijing last week. North Korea said today it would not meet U.S. demands to fully abandon its nuclear programs (Getty Images/Guang Niu). North Korea Won’t Agree at Talks to End All Nuclear Work North Korea said today it would not abandon all its nuclear programs as demanded by the United States, leaving the six-party nuclear talks in Beijing deadlocked once again, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 3). In the 10th day of talks, the North Korean, South Korean and U.S. delegations met this afternoon for about an hour to discuss the latest draft of principles the parties want to guide future negotiations, said Seoul’s top envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon...Full Story

EU to Deliver Nuclear Proposal to Iran This Week France, Germany and the United Kingdom are preparing this week to deliver a proposal to Iran that they hope will end the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 3)...Full Story

MDA to Divert Four Missile Interceptors for Testing Four U.S. missile interceptors that were to be deployed this year at Fort Greely, Alaska, will instead be used for pending flight and intercept tests, Inside Missile Defense reported yesterday (see GSN, July 22)...Full Story

	Thursday, August 4, 2005

North Korea Won’t Agree at Talks to End All Nuclear Work North Korea said today it would not abandon all its nuclear programs as demanded by the United States, leaving the six-party nuclear talks in Beijing deadlocked once again, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 3). In the 10th day of talks, the North Korean, South Korean and U.S. delegations met this afternoon for about an hour to discuss the latest draft of principles the parties want to guide future negotiations, said Seoul’s top envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon. Pyongyang wants the document to mention only its “nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons program,” leaving out civilian nuclear activity, a South Korean official told the Yonhap news agency. The issue remains the central disagreement, the official said. A plenary session of top envoys was scheduled for later today, and the talks are expected to continue tomorrow, according host country China. “I’m neither overly optimistic or pessimistic, it’s a process,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said of the negotiations. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said his delegation to the six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear effort has done all it can to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programs. “I don’t want to pressure them. But they’ve got to be able to do it,” he said. “We cannot have a situation where the D.P.R.K. pretends to abandon their nuclear program and we pretend to believe them” (Alexa Olesen, Associated Press/ABCNews.com, Aug. 4). U.S. and Chinese officials met late yesterday at a Beijing state guesthouse, the New York Times reported. Additional Chinese officials met with the North Korean delegation in a separate area of the facility in an attempt to persuade the North to accept the latest draft of principles. “Everyone has signed on, but as I understand it, the Chinese are still working” to persuade North Korea, Hill said (Jim Yardley, New York Times, Aug. 4). Hill seemingly acknowledged that yet another round of talks could end without progress, reinforcing the position of those in the Bush administration who have long insisted North Korea’s case should be referred to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions, the Washington Post reported. China, meanwhile, continued to push for a consensus list of “agreed principles” as a launching point for further talks. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing reportedly called Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, providing her with details of the events in Beijing and seeking additional concessions from Washington, according to the Xinhua news agency (Edward Cody, Washington Post, Aug. 4). Back to top       EU to Deliver Nuclear Proposal to Iran This Week France, Germany and the United Kingdom are preparing this week to deliver a proposal to Iran that they hope will end the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 3). “The EU has informed us that their plan is to put forth the proposals over the weekend,” said a U.S. State Department official. The offer could come as early as tomorrow, the official said. The European powers have been crafting new economic and security incentives for Tehran and are reportedly planning to offer guaranteed fuel for its nuclear energy program, according to AFP. Trade incentives, such as the provision of civilian aircraft and parts, assistance with Iran’s application to join the World Trade Organization, and a promise to include Tehran in regional security discussions are also to be included in the package, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 3). German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he was optimistic about the proposal’s reception in Tehran, the Associated Press reported yesterday. “I hope very much that the recommendations of the European negotiators will lead to an amicable solution,” Schroeder said. “I hope very much that in the end reason will prevail.” British U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said the proposal would offer Iran civilian nuclear energy and a new economic and political relationship with Europe. “That’s what’s on offer,” Jones Parry said. “That’s not on offer if they embark on a path which takes us towards enrichment and the prospect of proliferation of nuclear weapon capacity” (Susanna Loof, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 3). Washington, meanwhile, welcomed Iran’s decision to delay resuming uranium conversion activities, AFP reported. The United States joined a chorus of international protest of Iran’s plan to restart work at the Isfahan nuclear facility. “If they’ve heeded those calls, that’s a good thing,” said acting State Department spokesman Tom Casey (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 3). Back to top       SS-18 ICBMs to Remain in Russian Arsenal Soviet-manufactured SS-18 ICBMs, the heaviest missiles in the Russian nuclear arsenal, are expected to remain in service for another 10 to 15 years, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, July 29). Most of the missiles have already served more than twice their designated lifetime, according to AP. However, Moscow maintains that the missile remains reliable. “Although more than 80 percent of missile systems have exhausted their designated lifetime, the existing maintenance and operation system of the Strategic Missile Forces allow reliability and technical readiness of missile systems to remain on the necessary level,” said Strategic Missile Forces chief Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov. He added that missiles that have been stored empty of fuel would gradually replace SS-19 nuclear missiles, deployed since 1980. The replacement missiles would then remain in service through the 2020s. Solovtsov denied criticism that the upgrades were moving too slowly. “Russia doesn’t need to compete with anyone in building up numbers of missiles and their nuclear warheads,” he said. “We have a sufficient nuclear potential to protect ourselves and our allies” (Associated Press/Pravda, Aug. 2). Meanwhile, the last of Russia’s SS-24 rail-mounted missile launchers is set to be removed from service this month, Solovtsov told Interfax. “It is unacceptable to deploy missile systems whose overhaul life has expired. One should not play with nuclear weapons as this could cause trouble,” he said (Interfax/BBC Monitoring, Aug. 2). Four SS-24 launchers and 18 SS-25 missile launchers are scheduled to be destroyed before the end of the year, Solovtsov said. “Five rail-based missile launchers have been scrapped in Bryansk this year and four others are to be scrapped before the end of the year. Nine [SS-25] missile launchers have been destroyed in Pibanshur and 18 others will have been destroyed by year’s end,” Solovtsov told Interfax. “Rail-based missile launchers and [SS-25] mobile missile complexes have been drawing increased attention from the USA,” because of the terms of the Soviet-U.S. START Treaty, he said. He added that SS-19 and SS-18 silo-based liquid fuel missiles are being eliminated without U.S. supervision (Interfax/BBC Monitoring, Aug. 3). Back to top       Chinese General’s Nuke Threat Reverberates in U.S. U.S. concern over China’s nuclear arsenal is growing in light of the recent warning by Gen. Zhu Chenghu of a potential nuclear attack on the United States if Washington interferes militarily in China’s dispute with Taiwan, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, July 29). Zhu made “a serious point which needs to be taken seriously by planners on both sides,” said Chas Freeman, a former senior U.S. Defense Department official who helped revive defense dialogue with Beijing. “I don’t think it was a threat of any kind or represents policy. I think it represented an analytical point,” Freeman said. “What it shows is that there has not been enough thinking on both sides about the implications of an escalation in a Taiwan crisis,” he said. China has deployed a new fixed and a new mobile nuclear ICBM system, and is preparing to deploy a longer-range mobile ICBM and a new long-range submarine-launched ballistic missile within five years, said Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center. Three of these may contain multiple warheads, he added. Beijing is also preparing to acquire 50 to 60 attack submarines, some of them nuclear, Fisher said. “There is little doubt that China’s military leadership wants the U.S. to believe that it will use nuclear weapons against the U.S. should it rise to defend democratic Taiwan from Chinese attack,” Fisher said. Despite Beijing’s comments to the contrary, China could launch a nuclear weapon before it is attacked, said Eric McVadon, a former defense attach‚ at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. “It is not a simple straightforward question as to whether, under all circumstances, China would never under any situation use nuclear weapons first,” he told AFP. “So, we probably shouldn’t completely ignore General Zhu’s words and remember in that context,” said McVadon, a part-time director of Asia-Pacific studies at the U.S. Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 3). Back to top       Longsworth Leaves NNSA Paul Longsworth resigned July 31 from his position as U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation, the agency announced last week (see GSN, July 28). Longsworth has been on the job for two years, supervising NNSA nonproliferation programs and devising strategies to reduce surplus fissile materials stocks and curb the spread of WMD materials, technology and expertise, according to an agency press release. He left to work in the private sector.  “It has been an honor to serve this administration as head of NNSA’s nonproliferation programs,” Longsworth said in the press release. “The Bush administration has accomplished much during the past several years for nonproliferation to make our nation and the world a safer place.” Longsworth cited cooperation with Russia, establishment of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative to reduce supplies of weapon-usable material, and improvements in nuclear smuggling defenses as examples of advances made during his term (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, July 26). Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has asked the White House to designate NNSA principal deputy administrator Jerald Paul as the agency’s acting nonproliferation chief, according to Inside Missile Defense (Keith Costa/Inside Missile Defense, Aug. 3). Back to top

Greater Coordination Called for at Biological Labs The U.S. Energy Department’s inspector general this week urged greater coordination between five planned infectious disease laboratories to avoid duplicating their work and to ensure security needs are met, the Albuquerque Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 17, 2003). In a review released Tuesday, Inspector General Gregory Friedman said coordination efforts have faded and must be restarted. “More need to be done,” said Friedman, to coordinate laboratory work and integrate the facilities with other federal agencies. “Bio labs could be tempting targets (for terrorists),” said Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch of New Mexico. “You would think there would be a national effort to coordinate security and make them more secure.” None of the Level-3 biological safety laboratories are open yet. They will be the first Energy Department laboratories capable of dealing with live biological agents, according to the Journal. The facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico was completed in 2003 at a cost of $4.1 million. Scheduled to open the spring 2004, lawsuits and an environmental review have delayed operations for more than two years. The laboratory is expected to open in 2006, according to the DOE review. “This is a very long list of (researchers) who are interested in using the facility, and they are very eager for the facility to come online as quickly as possible, said Los Alamos acting Deputy Director for Biological Sciences Nathan Schwade (Adam Rankin, Albuquerque Journal, Aug. 3). Back to top       U.S. Awards Grant to Develop Faster Anthrax Test The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded $1.2 million to a Massachusetts company to develop a faster anthrax detection test, the Bedford Minuteman reported today (see GSN, Nov. 11, 2004). The grant will allow Genomic Profiling Systems to “develop products to fulfill the need for rapid analysis in industrial microbiology and health care. These new technologies allow more accurate testing in the event of a bioterrorist attack,” according to a press release from Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.). “Genomic Profiling Systems fulfills an essential role in improving the nation's preparedness against bioterrorism,” Kennedy said. “This grant will clearly enhance the nation's safety by facilitating earlier detection and treatment if an attack occurs. This cutting-edge technology is urgently needed in light of the obvious terrorist threat.” Money from the multiyear grant will be focused on developing a faster anthrax detector said Brian Musselman, a Genomic marketing consultant. “We can do other things, but we try to narrow these things down. The key thing is it’s rapid.” Genomic plans to use “Multipath” technology that can detect anthrax with only 60 cells, which is “thousands of times lower than current conventional strip tests,” according to the company. “Those are things that people like to hear, a small number of cells,” Musselman said (Paul Furfari, Bedford Minuteman, Aug. 4). Meanwhile, Avecia Biotechnology is looking for 400 people in the United Kingdom to test an updated version of the Biothrax anthrax vaccine (Nick Capehorn, icBerkshire, Aug. 4). Back to top

Utah Lawmakers Push to Keep Deseret Open Once Chemical Weapons Destruction is Complete In an effort to keep the Deseret Chemical Depot from closing, congressional Republicans from Utah are pushing for the facility to destroy conventional weapons once all the chemical weapons stored there are destroyed, the Salt Lake Tribune reported today (see GSN, May 16). “You could transform what's already there,” said Representative Rob Bishop. “Rather than just tearing down the facility that you spent a billion dollars to put up, making it useful would keep jobs there and keep it (running).” Deseret is slated for closure once weapons destruction is complete, according to the Tribune. That had been scheduled to occur in 2008, but the Utah lawmakers said a senior Defense Department official told them that work is now not expected to finish before 2012. The Utah Republicans have asked the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to consider using the depot to destroy conventional shells, missile components and rockets.  “This large investment should not be abandoned,” they wrote in a letter to the commission chairman. “It would be a more responsible use of taxpayer funds, as well as more environmentally friendly, to consider converting the chemical destruction plant to a conventional munitions disposal operation rather than completely dismantling and tearing down this facility.” For the Republicans’ plan to move forward, a change would be needed to existing law requiring the base to be destroyed once work is complete, and an agreement between Utah’s governor and the Army would have to be renegotiated (Robert Gehrke, Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 4).  Back to top       Cuba to Cooperate with Chemical Weapons Inspectors Cuba has pledged to cooperate with the United Nations and Caribbean and Latin American countries to prevent the use of chemical weapons, the Vietnam News Agency reported today (see GSN, Sept. 24, 2004). Cuban Science, Technology and Environment Deputy Minister Wenceslao Carrera said that Cuba has welcomed two Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons inspections and has sent experts around the world, according to the News Agency. However, the United States has continued to accuse Cuba of producing chemical weapons, Carrera said. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said there is no evidence that Cuba or other Latin American and Caribbean countries are producing chemical weapons and that all toxic chemicals in the region are being used properly, the News Agency reported (Vietnam News Agency, Aug. 4). Back to top

MDA to Divert Four Missile Interceptors for Testing Four U.S. missile interceptors that were to be deployed this year at Fort Greely, Alaska, will instead be used for pending flight and intercept tests, Inside Missile Defense reported yesterday (see GSN, July 22). The next flight test is scheduled for September at the Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific, Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Henry Obering said July 28. The agency will then use Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for another three tests planned through fall 2006. A production version of the kinetic kill vehicle that is perched atop the interceptor will be tested for the first time during the first two trials, Obering said. The third test calls for a radar characterization, in which a target is launched and the kill vehicle attempts to obtain information sufficient for an intercept. If the initial flight tests are successful, the agency plans to try to intercept target warheads during tests beginning no sooner that September 2006, Obering said (Thomas Duffy, Inside Missile Defense, Aug. 3).   Back to top

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