International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei speaks to reporters in the Netherlands yesterday. His agency has reportedly found new traces of highly enriched uranium in Iran, fueling fears that Tehran has nuclear weapons ambitions (Robin van Lonkhuijsen/Getty Images). New HEU Traces Found in Iran International inspectors have discovered new traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment from an Iranian nuclear site that Tehran later razed to the ground, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 7). The International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed in a report last month to the U.N. Security Council that samples from vacuum pumps acquired by a former research center at Lavizan-Shian, which was razed in 2004 before agency inspectors could examine it, yielded trace amounts of HEU...Full Story

U.S. Lawmaker Offers Compromise on Indian Deal U.S. Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) yesterday put forward a compromise on a pending U.S.-Indian nuclear trade agreement, saying the relevant legislation would not be approved by Congress in its current form, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 10)...Full Story

South Korea Plays Down Aid Offer to North U.S. and South Korean officials yesterday tried to play down recent comments by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun that Seoul would grant unconditional aid to North Korea to help resolve the nuclear crisis (see GSN, May 11)...Full Story

	Friday, May 12, 2006

Nuclear Plant Plotters Pose as Girlish Chatters Nine men suspected of plotting to bomb a nuclear research reactor in Sydney, Australia, tried to evade detection by posing as women when they communicated by text messages on their cell phones, an Australian prosecutor told a court today (see GSN, Nov. 14, 2005). “Hi babes, I’m missing you,” said one message. “How you going love, did Sue want to meet me,” said another. The messages were disclosed by a prosecutor during a bail hearing for one of the suspects, 32-year-old Khaled Cheikho. In another message, Cheikho tried to learn whether one of his fellow suspects had some adhesive tape intended for bomb-making, the prosecutor charged. “Hello darling, could you let me know if you still have rolls of the silver tape,” the message said. Eighteen Muslim men were arrested in connection with the suspected plot late last year, and Cheikho was the first to have a bail hearing (Reuters, May 12). Back to top       Romania Conducts Nuclear Terror Exercise Romania conducted a drill Wednesday to test authorities’ response to a potential terrorist attack against a shipment of radioactive materials. The exercise was led by the National Commission for Control of Nuclear Activities and the national intelligence service (see GSN, Jan. 31). Commission head Vilmos Zsombori said high safety measures were in place at Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear power plant and transportation details of radioactive details are kept classified. Representatives from Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the United States and other nations observed the exercise (Rompres, May 11). Back to top

New HEU Traces Found in Iran International inspectors have discovered new traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment from an Iranian nuclear site that Tehran later razed to the ground, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 7). The International Atomic Energy Agency disclosed in a report last month to the U.N. Security Council that samples from vacuum pumps acquired by a former research center at Lavizan-Shian, which was razed in 2004 before agency inspectors could examine it, yielded trace amounts of HEU. “Preliminary analysis by the IAEA showed traces of highly enriched uranium in the (pump) samples,” a Western diplomat told Reuters. A diplomat in Vienna confirmed the finding but said the implications were ambiguous. “It’s no smoking gun. There could be many explanations.  But it increases pressure on Iran to come clean about Lavizan,” the diplomat said. The agency three years ago found traces of HEU at several sites in Iran, most 0f which is believed to have come from equipment sold to Iran by the international black market network once led by former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. “Even if it is the same contamination, this is a significant finding because it indicates something was going on at Lavizan,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security. Albright said the traces indicated a possible second parallel enrichment program in Iran in addition to its declared one, though no concrete proof of such a site has been discovered. Western diplomats said that even during Iran’s 2 1/2 year suspension of uranium enrichment, its scientists have made significant improvements their mastery of centrifuges. “Our (intelligence) assessment is that you cannot explain Iran’s progress without secret (enrichment) sites being involved,” said one diplomat. Another diplomat from the same country said he believed small quantities of uranium hexafluoride were being diverted from Iran’s uranium conversion plant in Isfahan to undisclosed enrichment sites elsewhere in the country. A European Union diplomat, said the international inspectors also had such suspicions but no proof (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters/Washington Post, May 12). Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today dismissed the possibility of military action against his country in connection with its nuclear standoff with the West, Reuters reported. “This whole thing is just psychological propaganda, but they know the Islamic republic nation of Iran is a strong nation. I think they have better sense than to have a war with Iran,” said Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad also accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of double standards and being unduly influenced by Western powers. “The IAEA has acted against its original mission because of pressures from the powerful countries,” he said. He said he would respect any U.N. Security Council decisions that conform to international law. “If their decision is not in line with the international regulations then we will not pay attention to it,” he said. Meanwhile, agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei praised the U.N. Security Council for holding off on sanctions against Iran while European powers formulate a new incentives package (Tomi Soetjipto, Reuters, May 12). U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the United States to participate in any future talks with Iran, the Washington Post reported. “I have asked all sides to lower the rhetoric and intensify diplomatic efforts to find a solution,” Annan said. “Everyone, every important stakeholder should be at a table,” he said. “I urge all parties to be open, Iran included, and come back to the table and find a solution.” “I have insisted very clearly both in private in my contacts with the American administration and publicly that I think it’s important that the United States come to the table, and that they should join the European countries and Iran to find a solution,” Annan said (Associated Press/Washington Post, May 12). At a meeting in Moscow yesterday, Iranian officials pressed Russia to complete construction of the Bushehr nuclear reactor, Agence France-Presse reported. “During our discussions with the Russians we told them that since 92 percent of the Bushehr plant has already been completed, they can speed up building the equipment and also they can work in three shifts, so the plant could be completed soon,” said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency. Saeedi said he also urged Russia to deliver fuel for the plant. “We also complained to the Russians, since they have not lived up to their commitment to deliver the needed fuel for the Bushehr reactor. We asked them to do it as soon as possible,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Interactive Investor, May 12). Back to top       U.S. Lawmaker Offers Compromise on Indian Deal U.S. Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) yesterday put forward a compromise on a pending U.S.-Indian nuclear trade agreement, saying the relevant legislation would not be approved by Congress in its current form, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 10). Lantos’ proposal would delay making necessary changes in U.S. law until a formal nuclear cooperation agreement is forged and until India negotiates a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. “The administration’s suggested legislation to implement this bold nuclear deal — which I fully support — does not have the wide and bipartisan backing it needs,” Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, told a hearing by that panel yesterday. While there is insufficient time left on the legislative calendar to resolve Congress’s concerns with the deal, “we need to come up with a compromise that will keep the momentum for this important agreement moving forward,” he said. Meanwhile, State Department counselor Philip Zelikow said the Bush administration would push for adoption of legislation it has already put forward. While Zelikow said he was optimistic about the chances of Congress approving the nuclear deal, he acknowledged uncertainty about the timing (Carol Giacomo, Reuters, May 11). One nonproliferation expert told the committee yesterday that the agreement as written would undermine the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Leonard Weiss, a former senior congressional staffer with extensive nonproliferation experience, said in prepared testimony that the pending deal “carries considerable risks and is virtually devoid of significant nonproliferation benefits.” “If India wants to be treated as a nuclear-weapon state, it should be willing to do what all the other recognized weapon states have agreed to do — stop the production of new fissile material for weapons and sign a comprehensive test ban,” said Weiss. He added that the agreement as written “devalues the commitments made by the 183 non-weapon state-parties to the NPT, some of whom are sure to question whether it was necessary for them to forgo the acquisition of nuclear weapons in order to receive nuclear technology assistance.” “There is no question that the proposed deal is a boost to India’s prestige and gives India de facto recognition as a nuclear-weapon state but without status as an NPT party,” he said. “In return for this, the international community and the United States ought to receive more from India than a continuation of policies adopted prior to the Joint Statement of 2005 along with a separation agreement that is a fig leaf covering an expanded Indian nuclear weapons production capacity” (HIRC release, May 11) Back to top       South Korea Plays Down Aid Offer to North U.S. and South Korean officials yesterday tried to play down recent comments by South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun that Seoul would grant unconditional aid to North Korea to help resolve the nuclear crisis (see GSN, May 11). “I’m going to make a lot of concessions (to North Korea). … I’m going to provide institutional and material aid without conditions,” Roh said during a visit this week to Mongolia. His comments, however, were “not a special declaration of change of policy,” a South Korean official said yesterday. “Our understanding is that there is no change in South Korea’s policy toward the North,” added State Department spokesman Sean McCormack (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, May 12). Meanwhile, the U.N. World Food Program announced plans yesterday to resume food aid to North Korea after the program stopped all work there in December (see GSN, Jan. 17). The program would seek to feed 1.9 million people, a reduction from the 6 million it targeted last year, and the staff would be reduced to 10, down from 48 last year, said Tony Banbury, the agency’s regional director for Asia. The reduced staff would still be able to ensure that the food was being delivered to needy mouths and not North Korean soldiers or officials, Banbury said (Edward Cody, Washington Post, May 12). U.S. officials have expressed concern about aid not reaching its intended target in the past (see GSN, Sept. 16, 2003), and McCormack said yesterday that Washington would not contribute to the effort announced yesterday (Kralev, Washington Times). Spitball Machine U.S.-North Korean relations have deteriorated to such a point that Bush administration officials are primarily seeking to oust North Korea’s leadership instead of finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis, a U.S. nonproliferation expert said yesterday in Seoul. “The regime-change crew is in charge now, and they are looking for any new ideas that can effect regime change,” said Jon Wolfsthal, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “If you were advising them, you could suggest anything to effect regime change — calling North Korea bad names, throwing spitballs, anything — and the administration would go out today and buy a spitball machine.” The outlook for continuing multilateral talks to address the crisis is grim, Wolfsthal said, calling their prospect “a long drawn-out death that we are all obliged to watch” (Philip Dorsey Iglauer, Korea Times, May 12). Back to top       U.S. House, Senate Slow Administration Effort to Deploy Conventionally Armed Ballistic Missiles A Bush administration effort to arm submarine-launched ballistic missiles with conventional warheads has met significant opposition in the U.S. Congress, Inside the Pentagon reported yesterday (see GSN, March 8). In its fiscal 2007 budget request, the administration asked to pursue the Conventional Trident Modification program, a $503 million effort to place four conventional warheads atop a total of 24 missiles deployed across 12 Trident submarines. The submarines, capable of carrying 24 missile each, would continue to carry nuclear-armed missiles in their remaining launch tubes, according to Inside the Pentagon. The missiles would enable the United States to strike anywhere in the world within 60 minutes against such targets as terrorists on the move or stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Russian officials have expressed concern that other nations would have trouble distinguishing a conventionally armed missile from a nuclear-armed one following a launch (Elaine Grossman, Inside the Pentagon, May 11). “You can imagine, a rocket is fired, especially from a submarine, and no one knows what kind of warhead it is carrying,” said one Kremlin official. “It is not written on the rocket whether it has a conventional or nuclear warhead” (Buckley/Sevastopulo, Financial Times, May 12). Any confusion could have lethal consequences, said Russian President Vladimir in his annual state of the nation address this week. “The launch of one such missile may trigger an inadequate response from nuclear powers, including a full-scale retaliatory strike with the use of strategic nuclear forces,” he said. U.S. House and Senate lawmakers have expressed similar concerns. The U.S. House Armed Services Committee cut the administration’s entire $50 million request for two procurement accounts for the program and more than half of a $77 million research and development account. “The committee is concerned that the development of this conventional ballistic missile capability for a submarine that has historically carried nuclear-armed ballistic missiles could cause a missile launch misinterpretation regarding which type of warhead a ballistic missile may be carrying,” the committee report on the fiscal defense authorization bill says. Similarly, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved the Pentagon request in full, but “fenced in” nearly all of it until the administration submits a report “addressing nuclear ambiguity issues,” according to a committee statement. In late March, two Pentagon officials testified to the Senate that they are consulting international military officials to find ways to reduce any confusion following a missile launch. Such measures could include prelaunch notifications or identifying differences in how the missile trajectories might differ, Inside the Pentagon reported (Grossman, Inside the Pentagon). Back to top       House Trims Funding for Reprocessing Plan A House Appropriations subcommittee yesterday cut the Bush administration’s $250 million budget request for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership by nearly $100 million, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 3). Representative David Hobson (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy, said he supports recycling used reactor fuel but that he has “serious policy, technical and financial reservations” about the initiative. The plan provides for the United States and other countries to lease reactor fuel to other counties and retrieve spent fuel for reprocessing, according to AP. Critics of the plan believe that resuming reprocessing would make weapon-grade plutonium too readily available. Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists said the House subcommittee “is sending a clear message to the administration that it has failed to demonstrate that (GNEP) is ready for prime time.” The Bush administration said it would continue to press for full funding of the plan. “We will continue to explain the importance and need for full funding of the president's priorities,” Energy Department spokesman Craig Stevens told AP (Josef Hebert, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 11). Back to top       Australia to Keep Nuclear Ban on Non-NPT Nations Australia has no intention of changing its nuclear trade policies to allow the sale of uranium to nations that are not party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a top official said yesterday (see GSN, May 11). Responding to a news report that Australia was exploring the possibility of selling uranium to India, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer denied that such a move was under consideration. “I’ve checked that out with the officials, because the newspaper report surprised me, and the officials have assured me that’s not correct,” he said. “Our policy has always been that we’d be prepared to negotiate nuclear safeguards agreements with countries that have signed up to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” Downer said. “We’ve not indicated to the Indians any planned change to that position” (Australian Associated Press/SiliconIndia.com, May 11). Back to top

New Delays Possible for CW Destruction at Newport U.S. Army plans for completing the destruction of chemical weapons at its Newport, Ind., storage site were threatened with new delays yesterday (see GSN, April 26).  The U.S. House version of the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill, passed yesterday by a vote of 396-31, prohibits the Army from shipping a byproduct of the destruction process to New Jersey for treatment until a study is completed by the Government Accountability Office. The Army began destroying tons of VX nerve agent at the site last year in a neutralization process that produces large amounts of a liquid byproduct called hydrolysate. Plans called for shipping the hydrolysate to New Jersey for final treatment before it would be released into a river. New Jersey residents and lawmakers have fought that plan and the bill passed yesterday would require another study before the Army could proceed. The study would delay treating the hydrolysate until at least February 2007, the Associated Press reported. “I think anything of this level of importance requires an independent review,” said Representative Robert Andrews (D-N.J.). “I want someone who has no vested interest in the outcome of this issue to look at it thoroughly.” The House legislation must still be reconciled with a pending Senate bill before it can become law (Associated Press/Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, May 11).   Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

© Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.