U.S. Gen. Burwell Bell, speaking today in Seoul, said he expects North Korea to conduct a second nuclear test (Jung Yeon-je/Getty Images). Activity Seen at D.P.R.K. Nuclear Site Activity detected at a suspect North Korean site could be signs of preparations for another atomic explosion, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 27). South Korea and the United States are tracking the activity at Punggye-ri, which includes construction of a new building. “We are closely monitoring to see if these are preparations for a second nuclear test,” a South Korean official told the Yonhap News Agency.  Another official said that a follow-up to the Oct. 9 detonation was “not believed to be imminent” (Bo-Mi Lim, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Oct. 28)...Full Story

Ground Broken on Kentucky CW Disposal Site A groundbreaking ceremony Saturday marked the beginning of construction of a $2 billion chemical weapons disposal facility at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, The Richmond Register reported (see GSN, Oct. 10)...Full Story

Espionage Fears “Ludicrous” in Los Alamos Data Scandal, Busted Drug Dealer Says A 20-year-old drug dealer said he has no knowledge of the information stored on computer memory devices from a nuclear weapons laboratory that were discovered when he was recently arrested in New Mexico, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 26)...Full Story

	Monday, October 30, 2006

PSI Exercise Under Way in Persian Gulf Ships from six nations yesterday began a naval exercise in the Persian Gulf as part of the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative to intercept illicit WMD cargo, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 27). The two-day maneuvers included vessels from Australia, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.  In addition, Bahrain was participating with three ships, the first time an Arab nation has joined a PSI exercise, according to AP. South Korea, which has chosen not to participate in PSI activities, sent officials to observe the Gulf exercises, AP reported (see GSN, Oct. 18). Plans called for the ships today to intercept a mock vessel ship loaded with weapons components, said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown. Iran criticized the exercises, which were taking place near major Iranian shipping lanes. “We do not consider this exercise appropriate,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini.  “We are watching their movements very carefully” (Nasser Karimi, Associated Press/San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 29). Back to top       WMD Response Team Hurt by Funding Freeze, Chief Says A temporary suspension of federal funding has undermined the ability of a Denver-based medical team to respond to a WMD incident, the team’s director said in a Denver Post article published Saturday (see GSN, Sept. 27, 2005). Doctors, nurses and paramedics make up one of three elite medical units within the 107-team National Disaster Medical System.  The Denver team is supposed to be able to prepare within hours to be flown to the site of an attack in the United States involving unconventional weapons. However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency in September froze funding to teams within the system due to overspending, the Post reported.  The units this month began receiving limited money. Charles Goldstein, who leads the Denver team, said the funding freeze damaged the unit’s equipment maintenance, paid training and response time. It would take team members eight hours to mobilize because they lack a working pager system, Goldstein said.  The FEMA standard for mobilization is six hours. “If getting there early is going to save lives, we are not going to save as many lives,” Goldstein said. The funding freeze occurred because “a number of teams had overspent their budgets,” said Glenn Cannon, FEMA response division chief. Unit chiefs “got in trouble because they tried to make it like there were full-time positions when in fact there weren’t,” he said.  The system designates team members as “intermittent federal employees” who receive hourly pay based on their skill level. “Now we will watch, much more closely, the spending rates of the teams,” Cannon added. Goldstein said spending on the Denver team this year was not above the $800,000 budget from 2005.  “They’ve never told me how much money I’m allowed to spend,” he said (Bruce Finley, Denver Post, Oct. 30). Back to top

Activity Seen at D.P.R.K. Nuclear Site Activity detected at a suspect North Korean site could be signs of preparations for another atomic explosion, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 27). South Korea and the United States are tracking the activity at Punggye-ri, which includes construction of a new building. “We are closely monitoring to see if these are preparations for a second nuclear test,” a South Korean official told the Yonhap News Agency.  Another official said that a follow-up to the Oct. 9 detonation was “not believed to be imminent” (Bo-Mi Lim, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Oct. 28). Additional nuclear tests by Pyongyang should be no surprise, said U.S. Gen. Burwell Bell, commander of U.S. Forces Korea. “I can only surmise that since they tested one, we would see at some time in the future yet another test of a nuclear device,” he said today.  North Korea might also conduct further tests on missiles or other weapons. “I wish that North Korea would not only stop testing these devices, but stop making them and come back to the bargaining table,” Bell said (Burt Herman, Associated Press/ABC News, Oct. 30). Washington is willing to install radiation sensors for free at the South Korean port of Busan in order to help prevent Pyongyang from transferring nuclear material to other countries, Agence France-Presse reported today. Busan is South Korea’s largest port.  A weekly shipping service travels between the port and the North Korean port at Rajin. “The U.S. side has called for Busan to have a system to check if any cargo contains any radioactive materials.  It is still under review,” a South Korean official told AFP. Seoul is concerned that accepting the technology would anger Pyongyang, the Hankook Ilbo newspaper reported (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 30). Back to top       Espionage Fears “Ludicrous” in Los Alamos Data Scandal, Busted Drug Dealer Says A 20-year-old drug dealer said he has no knowledge of the information stored on computer memory devices from a nuclear weapons laboratory that were discovered when he was recently arrested in New Mexico, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 26). Authorities seized three USB flash drives during a search of the mobile home where Justin Stone was arrested Oct. 20 on drug and parole violation charges.  At least some of the drives contained classified information from the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, facility Director Michael Anastasio confirmed Thursday. “I don’t know who to sell that kind of information to,” Stone, who remains jailed, told AP.  “I don’t know who would be interested in that kind of stuff.” The mobile home belongs to 22-year-old Jessica Quintana, a former employee of a laboratory contractor.  So far, she has faced no charges as the investigation continues, AP reported. “I’m pretty sure she had nothing to do with this,” said Stone, who rented a room in the home. One of the three flash drives was his, Stone said, adding that he received it as part of a $20 drug deal within the past few weeks.  The man who gave the drive to Stone had “no relationship to the lab whatsoever,” Stone said.  He said that he had not checked what was on the drive before the raid. Stone said he knew nothing about the other two drives, although he said Quintana used to have a flash drive on her key chain. Stone, an admitted methamphetamine addict and drug dealer, said the people in Quintana’s trailer were “just worried about their next fix.” “For somebody that is addicted to meth to even think about stealing lab secrets and selling them is just totally ludicrous,” he said.  “You won’t find any addicted methamphetamine user out there that could spell plutonium.” “People are making this out to be a big Wen Ho Lee conspiracy, when it’s really not,” Stone said, referring to the former Los Alamos scientist who was the focus of a major espionage investigation in the late 1990s before all major charges against him were dropped (see GSN, Jan. 4, 2002). “I was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Stone said (Deborah Baker, Associated Press, Oct. 28). Back to top       Khan Stable After Post-Surgery Complication Former chief Pakistani nuclear scientist and atomic proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan suffered a blood clot in a leg vein following surgery for prostate cancer, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 16). Doctors treated Khan after he reported pain in his leg Wednesday. “He is being treated by his doctors, who are satisfied and say there is no need to worry,” said Khan’s wife, Henny. Deep vein thrombosis is known to occur after surgery, AP reported.  Pakistani media indicated Friday that Khan has suffered from poor health since his surgery.  Henny Khan said her husband’s health had been affected by the deep vein thrombosis, but that he was now stable (Munir Ahmad, Associated Press, Oct. 28). Back to top       Congress Halts Pentagon Plan to Cut ICBM Force A Defense Department plan to reduce the force of U.S. land-based strategic missiles was set back by the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill, signed into law this month by President George W. Bush, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 12, 2005). The Pentagon had recommended removing 50 Minuteman 3 ICBMs from the current U.S. force of 500 long-range missiles deployed in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming, according to AP. New legislation promoted by senators from those states, however, prohibits any reductions until the Pentagon issues a detailed report studying the effects of eliminating missile systems and an assessment of how many test missiles are required in the force. Maintaining the current force aids U.S. security, said one senator. “It’s insurance, it’s deterrence,” said Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.).  “From a military perspective and also from a psychological perspective.” The Pentagon reduction plan called for cutting the 50 missiles based at Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force Base because the site uses a different operating system than the rest of the Minuteman force, AP reported. Baucus’s fellow Montana senator, Conrad Burns (R), also opposed any cuts. “In light of a nuclear North Korea, Senator Burns feels this is the wrong thing to do,” said spokesman James Pendleton. One strategic forces expert, however, said U.S. forces greatly exceed the number needed to address the North Korean threat. “If you had 50 missiles, you’d still have more missiles than there are targets,” said John Pike, head of GlobalSecurity.org.  “There’s just nothing there” (Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press/Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, Oct. 29). Back to top       Three Groups Bid to Run Livermore Nuclear Lab The U.S. Energy Department has received three bids to manage the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory after the University of California’s current contract expires in September 2007, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Sept. 21). Two of the bidding groups consist of mainstream defense contractors, while the third is led by nuclear laboratory watchdog groups that pledged in their bid to end nuclear weapons research at the laboratory. The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration is expected to select the winner by March 31, 2007. “I expect that NNSA will be reluctant to consider genuine change,” said Marylia Kelley, executive director of Tri-Valley CAREs, one of the watchdog organizations leading the Livermore Lab Green bidding group.  “However, in our view, that is exactly what is required.” The group was the only one of the three to release details of its bid. The two other bidders currently operate other Energy Department facilities. The University of California-Bechtel group last year won the contract to run the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico (see GSN, June 1), and earlier this year the Northrop Grumman-led group was awarded the contract to operate the Nevada Test Site (see GSN, March 30; Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 28). The UC-Bechtel group is expected to promote itself as the experienced contractor capable of improving itself and ensuring good cooperation with the Los Alamos sister laboratory, Inside Bay Area reported Saturday.  The Northrop Grumman group would probably sell itself as an innovative industry leader that can manage a leaner, more efficient nuclear research operation, according to Inside Bay Area (Ian Hoffman, Inside Bay Area, Oct. 28). Back to top

Ground Broken on Kentucky CW Disposal Site A groundbreaking ceremony Saturday marked the beginning of construction of a $2 billion chemical weapons disposal facility at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, The Richmond Register reported (see GSN, Oct. 10). The neutralization facility will be used to eliminate mustard, sarin and VX agents stored at the depot for 62 years. “This is the day we break ground on the disposal of heinous chemical weapons that have threatened this community for as long as they have been stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot,” U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said during the ceremony.  “It has been a hard road to get where we are today.  We have had to push the Pentagon every step of the way.” The U.S. Defense Department in recent years has halted chemical weapons disposal funding or redirected money to other sectors, the Register reported. Site preparation for the new facility, including installation of a security fence and guard station, is expected to last into next year (Ronica Shannon, The Richmond Register, Oct. 28). The design of the neutralization facility is expected to be finished in 2007, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.  With adequate and continued funding, weapons disposal could begin in 2012.  That year is the final deadline under the Chemical Weapons Convention for the United States and other member nations to completely eliminate their chemical arsenals.  U.S. officials have acknowledged that the U.S. disposal process would not be finished before 2017 (see GSN, April 18; Beth Musgrave, Lexington Herald-Leader, Oct. 29). Back to top

North Korea Still Selling Missiles, Report Finds North Korea is believed to have delivered roughly 40 ballistic missiles to other nations over a four-year period that ended in 2005, the New York Times reported yesterday (see GSN, June 23, 2004). The U.S. Congressional Research Service included the figure in a report released Friday on the international weapons market.  The report does not identify the missile-dealing nation by name, but Bush administration officials confirmed that it is North Korea. International agreements outlaw the transfer of ballistic missiles to other nations.  North Korea is the only country to conduct such sales from 2001 to 2005, according to the report (Thom Shanker, New York Times, Oct. 29). The number of sales for that period is the same as that reported for 2001 to 2004, indicating that there were no North Korean missile transfers last year, the Yonhap News Agency reported today.  A report covering the years 2000 to 2003 documented 20 deliveries of surface-to-surface missiles to the Near East, suggesting continued sales from 2003 to 2004 (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2002; Yonhap News Agency, Oct. 30). Russia was the leading weapons dealer last year to the developing world, with $7 billion in sales, the Times reported.  That included $700 million worth of surface-to-air missiles sold to Iran, which could increase the danger to U.S. military pilots if air strikes are ordered on Tehran’s nuclear complex, which Washington believes is developing atomic weapons (Shanker, New York Times). Back to top

U.S. Might Deploy Missile Interceptors Near Tokyo U.S. officials have told Japan that the United States is considering deploying missile interceptors at two U.S. military bases near Tokyo, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported yesterday (see GSN, June 26). The U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability 3 interceptors would be stationed at Yokota Air Base and at Yokosuka Naval Base, Nihon Keizai reported. The deployment would complement Japanese plans to field its own force of PAC-3 interceptors purchased from the United States (see GSN, Oct. 12; Hans Greimel, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Oct. 29). Back to top       U.S. Unveils Airborne Laser Plane The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is ready to begin preliminary flight testing of some systems on a new Airborne Laser aircraft, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, June 28). The agency unveiled the revamped Boeing 747-400F during a ceremony at the company’s Integrated Defense Systems facility in Wichita, Kan. The airplane would carry a system for detecting, tracking and eliminating enemy missiles in their boost phase of flight. “I believe we are building the forces of good to beat the forces of evil. … We are taking a major step in giving the American people their first light saber,” agency chief Lt. Gen. Henry Obering said during the ceremony, making clear reference to the Star Wars movies which provided a nickname for 1980s U.S. missile defense efforts. While test firing of the Airborne Laser in flight is not expected until 2008, testing of select low-power systems could soon commence, AP reported (Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Oct. 27).   Back to top

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