Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna Mohamed Mahdi Akhondzadeh answers questions last week. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board on Saturday found Iran to be in violation of its nuclear nonproliferation commitments (Getty Images/Dieter Nagl). Iran Found in Noncompliance With Nuclear Treaty Rules By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — In a divisive vote Saturday in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board charged Iran with violating its nuclear nonproliferation obligations and set the stage for sending the matter to the U.N. Security Council (see GSN, Sept. 22)...Full Story

Congressman Questions Threat Reduction Accounting By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A prominent congressional supporter of U.S.-funded nuclear, chemical and biological weapons threat-reduction efforts in Russia last week questioned whether much of the funding provided to Moscow is being used for its intended purpose (see GSN, Sept. 7)...Full Story

Impoverished Setting Threatens Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility, Environmental Group Says By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — An impoverished rural population that is seeing its plight worsened by construction of a Russian chemical weapons destruction facility could end up acting to disrupt the internationally funded project, an environmental group warned Friday (see GSN, Sept. 12)...Full Story

	Monday, September 26, 2005

France Detains Nine Terrorism Suspects Nine men detained today in France are “suspected of having planned attacks” in the country, sources told Agence France-Presse (see GSN, Jan. 24, 2003). A police unit equipped to deal with nuclear, biological and chemical materials was sent to the home of one suspect in the town of Trappes, according to AFP. The suspects are members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an Algerian group that has threatened to carry out attacks in France. The organization maintains ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, according to authorities (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 26). Back to top

Congressman Questions Threat Reduction Accounting By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A prominent congressional supporter of U.S.-funded nuclear, chemical and biological weapons threat-reduction efforts in Russia last week questioned whether much of the funding provided to Moscow is being used for its intended purpose (see GSN, Sept. 7). Experts noted that most of the $1 billion the United States spends annually on threat reduction is provided to U.S. entities, not to Russian authorities. On two occasions last week, Representative Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) said he believes there is no good accounting of how the money, intended mostly to secure and eliminate former Soviet weapons and materials, is spent and suspects that a good deal of it is being used by Russia for other purposes. “I think the Russians don’t spend half the money we give them. And … they don’t quantify what they do,” he said at a hearing Thursday. Shays noted a January 2003 visit he made to a nuclear submarine disposal site in Murmansk where he said Russia was billing the United States for thousands of working-people. “It’s a huge site. I counted less than 30 people.  I started to raise questions about the thousands of people they are billing us for. They would not show me any more than the 30, and I think I saw the major site,” he said. He added that he continues to support program funding: “I’m willing to spend even bad money on this.” He made similar comments Tuesday during a panel discussion at Georgetown University.  Shays this year co-authored legislation intended to strengthen threat reduction, including by creating a White House office to coordinate and oversee the multiagency activities. The legislation has not yet been subject to a committee vote. Too Much Accounting Asserted Shays’ conclusions were challenged in part by two nuclear terrorism experts who testified at the hearing, Raymond Juzaitis, associate director for nonproliferation, arms control and international security at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Glenn Schweitzer, director for Central Europe and Eurasia at the National Academy of Sciences. “If I have any criticism of the [Energy Department] program it’s that they’re spending too much time auditing the money,” Juzaitis said, speaking of the agency’s programs to secure fissile materials. “Most of the money goes to the United States. It doesn’t go to Russia.  And I’ll bet we have 150 visitors in the [Energy Department’s Material Protection, Control and Accounting Program] in Russia today. We get the reports every week of how many Americans are over there auditing what’s going on. And it’s enormous,” he said. “So I think it’s a bad rap for DOE to say that their money is being ripped off. It’s certainly not, at least in my view,” he said. Schweitzer said Russia may not always be spending the money well, but he added, “I don’t think it’s going into the director’s pocket.   I don’t think it’s going into a new Mercedes, which was the worry 15 years ago.  I don’t think that is happening with the DOE program for protecting fissile material.” Shays challenged him. “Why? You just don’t think it? …  On what basis can you come to that conclusion? Schweitzer responded, “We’ve seen the expenditure records. And we’ve seen the actual upgrades.” Of the $1 billion the United States spends annually, most is divided between Energy Department and Defense Department programs. The rest, about $70 million, is spent by the State Department. Shay’s anecdote appeared to reference threat-reduction activities funded by the Defense Department’s “Nunn-Lugar” program (see GSN, Aug. 24). Andy Fisher, spokesman for Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), said by e-mail that U.S. Nunn-Lugar money does not go to Russian authorities. “More than 80 percent of Nunn-Lugar funds go to U.S. contractors.  The remainder is paid directly to scientists or [ex-weapons program workers] and in a few [instances] to Russia after work is completed,” he said. Back to top       Moscow to Install Chemical, Biological Weapons Detection Equipment in Subway System Russian authorities plan to install a chemical and biological agent detector at a Moscow subway station following a foiled bombing attempt in the system, the Moscow Times reported Friday (see GSN, July 27). Subway passengers provided information that enabled authorities prevent two large explosions, Moscow metro chief Dmitry Gayev told RIA Novosti yesterday. “Thanks to the timely information provided by passengers, the explosives were successfully removed before they went off,” Gayev said. He said a chemical and biological weapons detection device would soon be installed in the Belorusskaya metro station. “We will soon open this experimental site to learn how this equipment to detect chemical and biological weapons works,” Gayev said (Moscow Times, Sept. 23). Back to top       Former Danish Intelligence Agent’s Sentence for Leaking Iraq WMD Report Reduced A Dutch appeals court on Friday reduced to four months the sentence of a former Danish intelligence agent Frank Grevil who provided a newspaper with a report on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 1, 2004). Grevil leaked the report, which said there was “no reliable information on operational weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion, to the conservative Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende. He was subsequently fired from his job and sentenced to six months in prison, according to AFP. Grevil claims he was performing a public service by leaking the document to the press, AFP reported. The appeals court, however, argued that Grevil’s actions “risked weakening the intelligence service’s ability to complete its missions” (Agence France-Presse, Sept. 23). Back to top

Iran Found in Noncompliance With Nuclear Treaty Rules By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — In a divisive vote Saturday in Vienna, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board charged Iran with violating its nuclear nonproliferation obligations and set the stage for sending the matter to the U.N. Security Council (see GSN, Sept. 22). A resolution of the 35-nation board formally “finds that Iran’s many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply with its [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] safeguards agreement … constitute noncompliance … of the agency’s statute.” IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei outlined several areas last week in which he said Iran has failed to provide adequate information about its nuclear activities, including efforts to develop uranium enrichment technology. The United States has accused Iran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons, while Tehran has insisted its programs are peaceful. This was only the second time the board has made such a finding of “noncompliance” during a nuclear dispute — North Korea being the other case — and the determination appears to require the board the report Iran to the U.N. Security Council at some point in the future. When that would occur remains a major point of contention that will probably be the focus of the board’s next meeting in late November. For the first time ever, the board failed to find consensus when approving a resolution on nuclear safeguards. Twenty-two mostly Western nations voted to pass the measure. Venezuela alone opposed the resolution, while Russia, China and 10 other nations abstained. “Of course, it would have been better to have a united board to send an absolute, unanimous message to Iran, but I still think the message is quite clear,” ElBaradei told reporters Saturday. “It is still a valid decision, adopted in accordance with due process.” “The international community sent a message to Iran that it is not satisfied with the pace and level of cooperation with the IAEA,” ElBaradei said. “The international community is also not satisfied with the level of confidence-building measures Iran has taken so far. I think the overall focus of the resolution … calls on Iran to accelerate its cooperation in resolving the outstanding issues [and to] accelerate the measures they can take to build confidence.” Iran objected strongly to the board’s decision and renewed its threat not to ratify the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement. The protocol, which Iran has signed and adhered to so far, permits international nuclear inspectors to conduct more intrusive monitoring of Iran’s nuclear activities than allowed by standard rules. “The resolution is illegal, illogical and politically motivated,” said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Iranian state television, according to the Associated Press. “Iran has no legal commitment to continue implementation of the Additional Protocol.” The Security Council Option The resolution’s use of the term “noncompliance” would appear to force the agency board to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. Article 7 of the agency’s statute says that after finding a case of noncompliance, the board “shall report the noncompliance to all members and to the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations.” The timing and content of the report, however, would remain at the discretion of the Board of Governors.  Only one other country, North Korea, has been reported to the council for noncompliance as a result of an existing disagreement with the agency. Three other nations, Iraq, Libya and Romania, have also been reported to the council, but not in the midst of a crisis. Iraq was reported after being vanquished in the 1991 Gulf War and the other two were reported after they voluntarily disclosed past violations to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The resolution also refers specifically to another section of the statute that says, “If in connection with the activities of the agency there should arise questions that are within the competence of the Security Council, the agency shall notify the Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” The board has never before invoked this section of the statute, warning the council of a situation that potentially threatens international peace and stability. Resolution backers hope that Iran will heed the board and improve its cooperation with the agency. Specifically, the resolution “urges Iran to implement transparency measures” requested by ElBaradei, to restore the suspension of all uranium enrichment activities, to end construction of a heavy-water research reactor, and to ratify Tehran’s Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement. Many officials in Vienna said last week that beginning the process of Security Council referral was pointless without the support of Russia and China, both of which hold veto power on the council. Other officials, however, said the United States hoped that those nations would have a difficult time rejecting calls for increased Iranian cooperation in such a public forum. The Negotiation Last week, three European Nation nations circulated a draft resolution that explicitly called for reporting Iran to the council, which would have the authority to impose a wide variety of penalties, including economic sanctions, against Tehran. The document passed Saturday is less direct in moving the matter to the Security Council. The decision by the three — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — to introduce the later version of the resolution Friday night followed two days of haggling among the 35 board members. The mood in the boardroom Friday was extremely contentious, the worst in several years, said one diplomat close to the agency. Many countries — including Russia, China, and the nonaligned nations — complained that they were being given insufficient time to review the proposed resolution. “They all pleaded for more time. Many said there would be no one in their capitals to give them instructions,” said the diplomat. European officials replied that the resolution’s language had been informally “in circulation for some time and that they saw no further reason for delay,” added the diplomat. Part of the difficulty facing EU officials in persuading the rest of the 35-member board came from disagreements among themselves. They were “in a state of disarray” late last week, said one Western diplomat familiar with the situation. The three EU leaders were for two days unable to agree on how to address the crisis, the diplomat said. British diplomats, backed strongly by the United States, had pushed for the first draft resolution that called for reporting Iran immediately to the Security Council.  The United States has been pushing for such a move since ElBaradei first said in late 2003 that Iran had not provided a complete account of its nuclear activities. The EU nations did not join the push until their talks with Iran collapsed last month. France tried late last week to find a formulation that would “include the concept of noncompliance but not the word,” said the Western diplomat. Excluding the exact term would remove the implied requirement to report Iran to the council.  That effort failed to find the support of British diplomats. They required that any resolution language contain the concept of “definite automaticity,” that is, certain reporting to the Security Council, said a European diplomat involved in the negotiations. Germany, meanwhile, has been the least aggressive of the three, with the Western diplomat suggesting that Berlin would prefer to avoid the situation altogether.       Back to top       Nuclear Test Ban Conference Ends With Treaty’s Entry Into Force Still a Distant Goal By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — The parties to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ended their conference Friday pledging to continue to press for the pact’s entry into force.  However, that remains a distant goal because a small group of countries have not dropped their opposition to the treaty (see GSN, Sept. 22). In a declaration on Friday, treaty states said they “will spare no efforts and use all avenues” to encourage further ratifications and to “sustain the momentum generated by this conference” to keep it on the national agendas “at the highest political level.”  Many speakers pointed out that even without an operating treaty, wide support for the prohibition and the continuing moratoria on nuclear testing is making a test ban a “norm” of international relations. If this were a traditional arms control treaty, it would have entered into force years ago. In nine years, the treaty has garnered 176 signatories, of which 125 have ratified the document. The test ban treaty, though, contains a unique provision that blocks its entry into force unless ratified by a specific list of 44 countries. The 44 nations have nuclear research or nuclear power reactors; the list includes all the nuclear-weapon states both inside and outside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, along with those considered most capable of developing a nuclear arms capability. Eleven of the 44 have not ratified the treaty, most notably the United States. The Bush administration has consistently said it would never support the pact, has worked to delete references to the treaty in other international documents and did not send any representatives to the conference. Three other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — France, Russia and the United Kingdom — have ratified the treaty. China has signed but not ratified. Deputy Ambassador Zhand Yishan said ratification is before the relevant legislative committee and work “is under way in a serious and orderly fashion.”  He added that “relevant work is progressing smoothly” in preparation of 12 monitoring stations needed for treaty verification that are to be built in China. While most of the attention is on the refusal of the United States to support the treaty, others among the 11 holdouts are also not rushing to ratify the treaty. Three — India, Pakistan, and North Korea — have not even signed the agreement. “Regional security issues” are complicating efforts to persuade the 11 nations to ratify the treaty, said Ambassador Jaap Ramaker of the Netherlands, the special representative charged with promoting ratification. He said Pakistani officials told him the test ban was not a priority and that “its relations to India, not the least in its strategic nuclear relationship, is paramount.”  Ramaker said he was also “given to understand [that] I was not welcome in India.” Egypt, Iran and Israel have signed but not ratified the treaty, and security concerns are likely to keep them from promoting its entry into force. Egypt’s representative to the conference said his nation supported the objectives of the treaty but could not “regard it as a secluded legal instrument apart from the common objectives” of nuclear disarmament and universal nonproliferation.  Israel also said it backed the treaty but that long-standing concerns needed to be addressed before ratification, including questions of “immunity to abuse.” Iran did not address the conference. Iraq, which is not one of the 44 “Annex A” nations, announced on Friday that it planned to sign the treaty. Several other nations signed or ratified the treaty just prior to the opening of the conference. “Despite such progress and widespread public support for the treaty, inaction and opposition by a few states have delayed its full implementation,” Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said Friday. “There remains much to be done at this conference and beyond to ensure that the CTBT is not tossed aside at the whim of a few states.” Addressing the conference on behalf of some 20 nongovernmental organizations, Kimball said the treaty “is a critical building block in the architecture of the global nuclear nonproliferation system” and “an essential step towards nuclear disarmament because it helps to discourage dangerous nuclear competition and block new nuclear threats from emerging.”  “The CTBT also reduces uncertainties in an increasingly uncertain world” because its monitoring system “has already and will continue to build confidence that no state can defy the nontesting norm and escape detection,” Kimball said. He added: “We urge states to consider how the CTBT might contribute to nuclear risk reduction in regions of tension,” such as South Asia and the Korean Peninsula. Progress has also been made on the technical side of the treaty regime. The treaty has an operating verification system even while the pact itself is not in force. A network of 321 stations for the monitoring of seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide events is planned to cover the entire planet – from the surface to the air and beneath the earth and seas. Ambassador Tibor Toth, chief of the Preparatory Commission for the test ban organization, said Wednesday that 217 of the 321 stations have been installed — 115 over the last two years. At a news conference Friday, he said most of the geographic gaps in system were in South Asia and Africa. Back to top       Moscow to Accept Less U.S. Nuclear Security Assistance, Top Russian Nuclear Official Says Russia plans to decrease the amount of U.S. financial assistance it accepts for securing its nuclear materials, the head of Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday (see GSN, Sept. 15). “We are going to diminish U.S. participation for such programs,” Alexander Rumyantsev told RIA Novosti. “The ideology [of] U.S. assistance to Russia has changed. We are now working together at the devices that will allow [us] to locate the fissile materials,” he said. Rumyantsev added that terrorists could not access Russian nuclear materials. “The way they are guarded, I cannot imagine such a thing. The nuclear materials could only be conquered in a full-scale battle,” he said (MosNews.com, Sept. 22). Back to top       Los Alamos Late on Nuclear Stewardship Testing A federal review released Wednesday found that the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico fell far behind schedule for conducting tests that help to ensure nuclear weapon reliability, the Albuquerque Journal reported (see GSN, July 15). “Los Alamos did not complete hydrotests as scheduled in support of NNSA’s (National Nuclear Safety Administration) Stockpile Stewardship Program,” DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman stated in the report. Los Alamos’ Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility was supposed to conduct the tests. The facility studies aging nuclear triggers, using non-nuclear explosions and computer models to test the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, according the Journal. Los Alamos budgets more than $20 million annually for testing of W76, B61 and W88 weapons. However, it finished only six of 15 tests scheduled from 2002 through 2004. Six tests had been delayed for up to two years, and the final three remained undone through April of this year, Friedman found. The report found that testing is likely to fall further behind schedule in coming years as Los Alamos cannot keep up with the number of planned tests. Laboratory spokesman Kevin Roark said that recommendations made by the inspector general have been implemented over the past two years. NNSA managers said that while testing fell behind in 2002 and 2003, all tests scheduled in 2004 were conducted until former director Peter Nanos ordered laboratory work halted due to safety and security concerns. The “report understates the extent to which progress had been made by the laboratory in improving management prior to the laboratory stand-down,” Michael Kane, NNSA associate administrator for management and administration, in a response to the audit (Adam Rankin, Albuquerque Journal, Sept. 22). Back to top       U.S Envoy Won’t Commit to North Korea Visit U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Washington’s top envoy to six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, said he may visit Pyongyang in the coming weeks but stopped short of committing to such a trip, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday (see GSN, Sept. 22). “I’m sure I’ll be doing some traveling in the future but we have not made any decisions as to where,” Hill told the Japanese network ANN. Hill also said it was too early for a visit to North Korea by U.S. President George W. Bush (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 24). Pyongyang had on Thursday welcomed a potential visit by Hill, AFP reported. “If Christopher Hill is willing to visit my country with an intention of resolving the nuclear issue, then we would always welcome him,” said North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon. The South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo reported Thursday that Hill proposed to visit Pyongyang before the next round of multilateral talks in November. Choe added that Pyongyang had detected a shift in Washington’s attitude toward it, particularly in light of a U.S. pledge in the Beijing agreement (see GSN, Sept. 19) to recognize North Korea’s sovereignty. “This is different from what the United States has been saying (in past years),” he said (Agence France-Presse I/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 23). Choe urged Washington to supply Pyongyang with light-water nuclear reactors for electricity “as soon as possible,” but did not demand their delivery as a precondition for the elimination of the North’s nuclear arms program, the Washington Post reported Friday. He told the U.N. General Assembly that North Korea intended to “simultaneously” seek a nuclear energy program and allow the return of international inspectors. Choe said North Korea has “committed itself to dismantling the existing nuclear weapons program, returning to the [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] and allowing inspections of the [International Atomic Energy Agency]” (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, Sept. 23). North Korea yesterday denounced a draft U.S. policy on pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons, AFP reported (see GSN, Sept. 19). “The U.S. new doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons is of an increasingly belligerent and offensive nature,” announced the official Minju Joson daily. If Washington were to use nuclear weapons against North Korea, its people “will exercise their legitimate right to self-defense as a powerful means of retaliation,” the newspaper added (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Sept. 25). Meanwhile, South Korea denied a newspaper report that its Defense Ministry suspected North Korea of constructing a uranium-enrichment nuclear weapons program, Yonhap reported Saturday. “The report is a far cry from the government’s judgment,” said a ministry statement. “The government has suspected the North of promoting a uranium enrichment program but believes that it has yet to reach the level of building a uranium enrichment plant,” the statement says (Yonhap, Sept. 24). Elsewhere, a South Korean ruling party lawmaker claimed yesterday that the United States deployed nuclear weapons in South Korea until 1992, when Pyongyang and Seoul signed the joint declaration on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Choi Sung said U.S. forces kept nuclear weapons at Camp Page in Chuncheon, 80 kilometers east of Seoul, Yonhap reported. A 1987 document outlines standard operating procedures of the alleged nuclear weapons unit, Choi said. “Although there have been many rumors that the U.S. forces in South Korea maintained nuclear weapons (here) in the past, this is the first time (the rumor) has been confirmed by a document,” he said (Xinhua/People’s Daily online, Sept. 25). Back to top       ElBaradei Reappointed as IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei was officially appointed today to his third term as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 13).  Diplomats agreed unanimously to the appointment at the agency’s annual general conference in Vienna. The United States had opposed ElBaradei’s appointment, but lacked support for its position from other IAEA member nations, AP reported (George Jahn, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Sept. 26). Much of the general conference’s agenda is noncontroversial, but divisive issues, including Israel’s nuclear weapons program, are likely to arise, according to an AP report. Arab nations are expected to renew their push for a resolution on “Israel’s nuclear capabilities and threat” but are likely to accept a compromise statement, according to AP. Oman has formally asked the conference to consider censuring Israel. “Israel's possession of nuclear weapons is likely to lead to a destructive nuclear arms race in the region, especially if Israel's nuclear installations remain outside any international control,” Oman said in a letter to the agency. The agenda item “Implementation of IAEA (nuclear) safeguards in the Middle East” also is expected to be contentious. It is expected to be resolved through a president’s statement calling on all Middle East countries to declare their nuclear weapons capabilities. Diplomats also expect a resolution praising North Korea’s announcement that it would scrap its weapon program. This resolution is likely to include language calling on Pyongyang to honor Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty commitments, they said (George Jahn, Associated Press II/Miami Herald, Sept. 25). Back to top       International Inspectors Discover No Evidence of Diverted Nuclear Materials in Iraq There is no indication that nuclear material in Iraq is being diverted for undeclared activities, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday following a two-day inspection by agency officials, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 6, 2004). “The material — natural or low-enriched uranium — is consolidated at a storage facility near the Tuwaitha complex, south of Baghdad,” according to an agency statement. “The inspectors found no diversion of nuclear material,” the statement says (Agence France-Presse/INQ7.net, Sept. 23). Back to top       Technical Difficulties Impede Bushehr Reactor Russia’s construction of the Bushehr light-water nuclear reactor for electricity generation in Iran continues to be plagued by technical problems, Middle East Newsline reported last week (see GSN, Aug. 5). Russian officials said adapting the nuclear reactor core to Iranian specifications has been the primary hurdle. “The Iranians have changed their specifications several times and this has been a key challenge in completing the reactor on schedule,” one official said. Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency chief Alexander Rumyantsev has acknowledged the difficulties but said they would not delay completion of the project (Middle East Newsline, Sept. 19). Rumyantsev said Bushehr was on schedule for completion next year and that Tehran would receive its first fuel shipment from Moscow by early in the year, IRNA reported. “At present, the preparatory measures for supply and shipment of the atomic fuel for Bushehr nuclear power station are under way under the supervision of [International Atomic Energy Agency] experts,” Rumyantsev said (IRNA/Payvand.com, Sept. 21). Back to top       Russia Says 121 Nuclear Subs Destroyed as of July The head of Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday that his country has dismantled 121 nuclear submarines as of July, RIA Novosti reported (see GSN, Sept. 15). “So far, 195 nuclear submarines have been decommissioned, and by the middle of 2005, 121 nuclear submarines had been dismantled and 34 remained operational,” said Alexander Rumyantsev.  Rumyantsev added that the submarine dismantling process is nearing completion. Russia takes apart 20 submarines each year. Rumyantsev said that his country contributes $70 million each year to the process, matching foreign contributions (RIA Novosti, Sept. 22). Back to top       IAEA Experts Visit Abkhazia International Atomic Energy Agency experts earlier this month inspected sites in the breakaway Abkhazia region of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, July 11). The experts were in Abkhazia from Sept. 7 to 11. They were expected to examine storage of radioactive substances at the Sukhumi Institute of Physical Engineering and the Research Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy. A meeting with Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh was also scheduled.  This was the agency’s third visit to Abkhazia and its first since 2002, according to ITAR-Tass.  “All radioactive substances are stored properly, as the IAEA commission could see in 2002, and the terms of storage have not changes since then,” said Sukhumi Director Anatoly Markoly.  “The level of radiation at the institute and in Abkhazia does not exceed the norm” (ITAR-Tass, Sept. 9). Back to top       German Man Investigated for Nuclear Smuggling A German businessman identified as Rainer V. is being investigated for shipping uranium enrichment equipment to Pakistan, Agence France-Press reported Saturday (see GSN, May 31). The weekly magazine Focus revealed the investigation. The man allegedly bought vacuum pumps, special ventilators and spare parts for mass spectrometers from the German company Pfeiffer Vacuum and then shipped the equipment to Pakistan between 2002 and 2004, according to AFP. The equipment ultimately made its way to former Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who has admitted to exporting nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea, and Libya, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 24). Back to top

U.S. Looks to Buy Bulk Quantities of Anthrax The United States has issued contracts to purchase large amounts of a nonvirulent strain of anthrax and equipment to produce other biological agents, New Scientist reported Saturday (see GSN, July 15). The contracts, which are related to the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, were issued earlier this year and uncovered by Edward Hammond of the Sunshine Project. One of the contracts states, “The company must have the ability and be willing to grow Bacillus anthracis Sterne strain at 1500-liter quantities.” Other contracts call for sheep carcasses to test an incinerator and fermentation equipment to produce an unspecified biological agent.  The contracts have raised concerns with arms control experts. “It raises a serious question over how the U.S. is going to demonstrate its compliance with obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention if it brings these tanks online,” said Alan Pearson, director of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Program at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. “If one can grow the Sterne strain in these units, one could also grow the Ames strain, which is quite lethal.” While the United States renounced biological weapons in 1969, it was producing small amounts of anthrax through 1998, according to New Scientist. The purpose for the biological agents requested in the contracts is not yet known, but the strains could be used to test decontamination techniques or in the development of an “agent defeat” warhead that could destroy biological and chemical weapons stockpiles. The agent could also be used to test dispersal patterns. “I can definitely see them testing biological weapons delivery systems for threat assessment,” Hammond said. Hammond warned that the contracts might be perceived as a threat by other countries. “What would happen to the Biological Weapons Convention if other countries followed suit and built large biological production facilities at secretive military bases known for weapons testing?” he asked. A Dugway spokesperson said the anthrax contract was in the presolicitation phase and that no anthrax has arrived at the base. The spokesperson would not comment on the agent’s use (David Hambling, New Scientist, Sept. 24). Back to top

Impoverished Setting Threatens Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility, Environmental Group Says By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — An impoverished rural population that is seeing its plight worsened by construction of a Russian chemical weapons destruction facility could end up acting to disrupt the internationally funded project, an environmental group warned Friday (see GSN, Sept. 12). Construction activities have reportedly blown out water lines and damaged roads in the Shchuchye region, and local schools have seen teachers lured away to work at the chemical weapons disposal site, leaving one school nearly inoperative, Global Green USA said in a report on the project. “The [Global Green] Legacy Program has become increasingly concerned that the area’s destitute conditions, in combination with the presence of a dangerous weapons stockpile and an expensive destruction facility, will create a ‘perfect storm’ of problems that could ultimately derail the project,” the group said in the report. “Impoverished residents might be driven to compromise the security of the nerve agent stockpile or the nerve agent destruction facility — for the right price — through collusion with terrorist groups,” said Global Green, the U.S. affiliate of former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev’s Green Cross International. “Disgruntled residents could slow or stop the pace of construction through sabotage or demonstrations. Cash-strapped regional authorities could use their oversight of the permitting process to deny construction permits and disrupt the project.” The facility is about five miles from the town of Shchuchye, the administrative and population center of the 26,000-resident region of the same name. More than 5,000 tons of nerve agent, or about 13 percent of Russia’s chemical weapon stockpile, is stored near the construction site. Russia, the United States and other countries are spending $2 billion to build the destruction facility, which is to begin operations by 2009. Global Green portrayed investments in the facility and its housing camp as contrasting starkly with living conditions for Shchuchye residents. Italy financed a new gas pipeline to the weapons destruction site, but the gas is not available to local homes “where the average inside temperature is well below acceptable Russian standards,” according to the report. Melting snow each spring leaves much of Shchuchye mired in mud, but the chemical weapons site has an “excellent drainage system,” the group said. Global Green estimated at $110 million the “minimum investment required to rebuild Shchuchye’s engineering and social infrastructure” in hopes of heading off any disruption of the weapons destruction project. The group also raised the alternative possibility of a future voluntary relocation of the local population. The U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program and the Global Partnership against WMD proliferation do not typically fund “outside-the-fence” projects such as socioeconomic improvements, Global Green said, but “several GP countries have expressed a willingness to help address pressing socioeconomic needs” in Shchuchye. “Russia’s federal and local governments fully intend to address pressing socioeconomic needs, but budgetary constraints, ambiguous jurisdictional responsibilities and competing needs for resources are making this difficult. Indeed, Russia has been unable to provide the most basic necessities — for example, a viable emergency evacuation plan — for the chemical weapons stockpile community of Shchuchye,” Global Green said. The study was released in conjunction with a Global Green conference here on chemical weapons destruction. Asked by Legacy Program Director Paul Walker at the conference about the top obstacles to destroying chemical weapons, Russian Embassy Senior Counselor Vladimir Yermakov named constraints of time, public outreach and international assistance. The latter factor has been a bone of contention between Moscow and Washington, which differ over how to count U.S. assistance provided for weapons destruction in Russia. U.S. officials say the United States has provided $700 million for the Shchuchye project, but Russia estimates the figure at $300 million, refusing to count funds Washington spends on startup and administrative costs and which are not available for contracts in Shchuchye. Yermakov said the ambiguity about assistance figures creates budgeting difficulties for Russia. “When we do not receive that assistance, it creates havoc,” he said. “We have to know beforehand if we get assistance or if we don’t get assistance.” U.S. State Department chemical- and biological-weapons specialist David Weekman expressed confidence that the two countries would come to some agreement about how to address the funding and budgeting dispute. Back to top       Fiji Passes Chemical Weapons Convention Law Fiji is expected to establish a terrorism-monitoring unit as part of the Chemical Weapons Convention Act it passed last week, the Fiji Times reported (see GSN, April 27). Fijian Home Affairs Minister Josefa Vosanibola said that the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, bombings in Bali and terrorist threats against Australia helped to bring about the new law. He said now that the legislation has passed, Fiji plans to hold an international conference on chemical weapons. The Fijian government promised the United Nations in 1993 that it would bring chemical weapons legislation to parliament when it ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. The United Nations last year passed a resolution calling for all countries that have ratified the convention to pass domestic legislation by November 2005 (Fiji Times, Sept. 22).  Back to top       Report on CW Depot Fires Due in November A report on the cause of fires that ignited at the Umatilla and Pine Bluff chemical weapons disposal sites this year during disassembly of M55 rockets is expected to be released in late November, the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency announced last week (see GSN, Aug. 15). Testing at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey of nine rocket motor assemblies from the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas is scheduled to continue through October. Motor assemblies from the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon have already been tested. A preliminary report is due in early November, followed by the final report later that month, the agency said in a press release. “While previous testing has led to inconclusive evidence, testing on this new batch of rocket motor assemblies will help provide a more well-rounded approach to this issue,” Gregory St. Pierre, CMA risk management director, said in the release. “Every effort is being made to ensure a comprehensive and impartial look into what is causing these fires,” he said. A preliminary report on the Umatilla rocket tests indicates that there are no long-term safety effects in storing the munitions. All fires have been associated with the disposal process of rockets that have been drained of chemical agent, according to the agency (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Sept. 22). Back to top