Iranian nuclear envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh warned last week that Tehran could reduce its cooperation with nuclear inspectors if the U.N. Security Council approves new economic sanctions (Behrouz Mehri/Getty Images). Iran-IAEA Nuclear Work Plan Remains on Schedule, ElBaradei Says By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — International efforts to understand Iran’s past nuclear activities are “proceeding according to schedule,” top U.N. official Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday, but he pressed Tehran to answer all remaining questions about its nuclear history within the next five weeks (see GSN, Nov. 21). His remarks triggered both Iranian claims that the agency has closed its investigation into several technical programs as well as Western calls for setting a deadline for Iran to comply with U.N. Security Council demands for a freeze to Tehran’s most important nuclear activities...Full Story

Pakistani Nuclear Sites Vulnerable, Report Says Pakistani nuclear weapons are becoming more vulnerable to theft by tribal militants in the country’s northwestern territories, according to a British think tank report released this month (see GSN, Nov. 20)...Full Story

U.S. Revises Rules for Controlled Chemicals The U.S. Homeland Security Department published updated regulations Tuesday for facilities that produce, use, store or distribute substances that could be used in chemical weapons, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported (see GSN, Nov. 2)...Full Story

	Monday, November 26, 2007

NATO Opens WMD Response Center in Czech Republic NATO opened an operations center in the Czech Republic on Thursday to analyze WMD-related threats and to train soldiers to respond to emergencies involving weapons of mass destruction, the Xinhua News Agency reported (see GSN, Nov. 2) The Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Center of Excellence would be staffed by 50 international military experts to formulate security strategy, train soldiers, carry out disaster response drills and provide consulting services, said center director Radomir Mikes. The Czech News Agency said that NATO runs 16 similar centers focusing on different areas.  Personnel at the new center originated in NATO countries including Germany, Italy, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Czech Chief of Staff Vlastimil Picek said the Czech Republic was selected to host the center because of its history of deploying CW response teams (see GSN, July 31). “Germany and Canada were our big competitors.  The Czech Republic was mainly selected over the long-term tradition of chemical units in our territory and their successes during the deployment, for instance, in the Persian Gulf” (Xinhua News Agency/China View, Nov. 22). Back to top

Iran-IAEA Nuclear Work Plan Remains on Schedule, ElBaradei Says By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — International efforts to understand Iran’s past nuclear activities are “proceeding according to schedule,” top U.N. official Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday, but he pressed Tehran to answer all remaining questions about its nuclear history within the next five weeks (see GSN, Nov. 21). His remarks triggered both Iranian claims that the agency has closed its investigation into several technical programs as well as Western calls for setting a deadline for Iran to comply with U.N. Security Council demands for a freeze to Tehran’s most important nuclear activities. ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reached an August agreement with Iran to set a loose schedule for resolving uncertainties about several issues, including how Iran acquired centrifuge technology during the 1980s and 1990s.  Iran has acknowledged purchasing equipment and technology from the nuclear smuggling network once led by former top Pakistani nuclear chief Abdul Qadeer Khan, but Tehran has maintained that is only seeking nuclear power, not nuclear weapons. The August accord, known as the “work plan,” has drawn criticism from Western nations for allowing Iran to address the nuclear issues sequentially, creating the potential for a drawn out process. In a report two weeks ago to the agency board, ElBaradei appeared to say that the work plan had indeed fallen behind schedule, but Thursday he delivered a softer view in remarks to the agency’s governing board at the start of a two-day meeting here (see GSN, Nov. 16). “The work plan agreed by the secretariat and Iran in August, in which Iran has finally committed itself to address the outstanding issues relevant to its nuclear activities, is proceeding according to schedule,” he told the board. He did not, however, paint an entirely rosy picture, as he noted areas where Iran has failed to answer questions to the agency’s satisfaction. “The agency has so far not been able to verify some important aspects of Iran’s nuclear program: those relevant to the scope and nature of Iran’s centrifuge enrichment activities,” ElBaradei said.  “I would urge Iran to be more proactive in providing information, and in accelerating the pace of this cooperation, in order for the agency to be able to clarify al major remaining outstanding issues by the end of the year.” Diplomats here came to no firm conclusion as to whether ElBaradei’s mention of the year’s end constituted a formal deadline.  France, Germany, and the United Kingdom delivered a joint statement to the board calling for such a time limit. “It is necessary to fix a deadline for this process and that it should be brought to completion, as the director general has proposed, in a few weeks,” the statement said.  “Procrastination is not an option.” ElBaradei’s call for more “proactive” assistance echoed language from his earlier, formal report to the board, in which he complained that Iran has only grudgingly provided information. Iran’s “cooperation has been reactive rather than proactive,” his report says. Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh, however, seized upon ElBaradei’s omission of the word “reactive” yesterday, saying that the director general’s call for “more proactive” cooperation meant that Iran had already acted proactively and the agency simply wanted additional proactive assistance.  His semantic argument drew little support from other nations. Soltanieh also argued that the agency had formally “concluded and resolved” its examination of Iran’s centrifuge acquisition history, an assertion also countered by Western officials who noted that ElBaradei’s report contained no such language. Other officials with knowledge of agency affairs, however, concurred that the agency has learned essentially all it could about Iran’s past centrifuge efforts but would find it difficult to “close” the case in an official way. Looking forward, ElBaradei urged Iran to implement the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement with the agency.  Such a move would serve as confidence-building measure to assuage concerns about Iran’s current nuclear activities and to counter Western worries that Iran might have a covert, parallel centrifuge program. One agency-knowledgeable official said ElBaradei was frustrated by Iran’s refusal to allow inspectors into the nation’s centrifuge-production facility.  Such access would enable the agency to feel more comfortable that all manufactured equipment was ending up in declared facilities and not headed for still-secret sites, the official said. Soltanieh, however, said Iran would not allow that access or implement the Additional Protocol.  Tehran had activated protocol-type access three years ago but cancelled it after the U.N. Security Council became the lead forum for addressing the Iranian nuclear crisis last year. “It is not possible to go back to the Additional Protocol soon and implement it,” he said Thursday.  “However, I draw your attention again to the fact that we have already taken steps beyond our legal obligation and safeguard agreement.” U.S. Position For its part, the United States indicated that it would push the Security Council to adopt a third round of economic sanctions against Iran.   Two earlier sanctions packages, starting about one year ago, have so far failed to spur Iran to freeze its enrichment program. Washington was waiting for a report on ElBaradei’s work plan, as well as an update from European Union nuclear envoy Javier Solana, before pressing forward for new sanctions, U.S. Ambassador Gregory Schulte said Thursday.  The five permanent Security Council members and Germany have been coordinating a common strategy, he said. “Unless both [ElBaradei] and Solana report a ‘positive outcome’ of their efforts, the P5+1 foreign ministers agreed on Sept. 28 to bring a third sanctions resolution to a vote in the Security Council,” he said in his statement to the board Thursday (see GSN, Oct. 1). ElBaradei’s latest report, he said, “is deeply troubling.  This is not a positive report.” Russia, however, took a different view, suggesting that Moscow would not support a new round of penalties in New York. “The efforts of the secretariat of the agency in carrying through the work plan … deserve a positive assessment,” said Ambassador Grigory Berdennikov in his board statement. If the council were somehow to agree to new sanctions, Iran would not buckle, Soltanieh said Friday. “Any gesture [or] resolution in the United Nations Security Council would have negative impact on our collaboration and full cooperation with the agency,” he told reporters. Technical Cooperation One year ago, the agency board conducted a divisive debate over whether Iran should receive agency technical assistance for some its nuclear activities (see GSN, Nov. 27, 2006). This year, that debate evaporated after Iran did not request any controversial assistance.  Tehran asked for about $600,000 of technical support, including aid for developing a low- and mid-level radioactive waste facility. Back to top       Pakistani Nuclear Sites Vulnerable, Report Says Pakistani nuclear weapons are becoming more vulnerable to theft by tribal militants in the country’s northwestern territories, according to a British think tank report released this month (see GSN, Nov. 20). Pakistan has located much of its nuclear stockpile in the nation’s northwest region in an effort to secure the weapons against an attack by India, said Shaun Gregory, the chief professor of the Pakistan Security Research Unit, in a new report, The Security of Nuclear Weapons in Pakistan. “This had the unintended consequence of placing them close to areas which are presently dominated by Taliban and tribal militants groups,” the report says. The think tank based at the University of Bradford said that pro-Taliban and tribal militants could launch an attack against Pakistan’s nuclear weapons complex. “They may seek to take possession of nuclear weapons or components, but they could also seek to create a radiological hazard by using explosives or fire to try to destroy the weapons,” the report says. The report says that even the extensive security measures currently in place cannot guarantee the safety of Pakistan’s estimated 120 nuclear weapons in the current political climate. “In the present context of political instability President Pervez Musharraf’s control may be weakening and Pakistan may become even more porous in leaking nuclear secrets,” it says. The report also found that growing enmity toward the West in Pakistan’s army and intelligence agencies has increased the likelihood of tribal militants acquiring nuclear materials through Pakistani personnel. “This may mean that one in 25 of those in Pakistan with nuclear duties are unreliable at any one time, though not all these will constitute a threat to nuclear weapons security,” says the report, drawing from U.S. figures (Press Trust of India I/Rediff India Abroad, Nov. 22). Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons remain safe, PTI reported. “We feel pretty comfortable at this moment of time.  And of course we'll pay attention to, to any, country that has got nuclear weapons,” Bush said in an interview with ABC News when asked about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. “I've been asked previously about the security of the nuclear weapons. I see no indication that's a problem,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a press briefing (Press Trust of India II/Hindustan Times, Nov. 21). Back to top       North Korea to Withhold Data on Plutonium Sites North Korea might disclose information about the quantity of its weapon-grade plutonium stocks, but is not expected to identify where the material is stored, Kyodo News reported yesterday.  Pyongyang is expected to declare the information as part of its obligations under a six-nation agreement to work toward denuclearizing the nation (see GSN, Nov. 21). U.S. officials have pushed Pyongyang to disclose how much plutonium of about 115 pounds in North Korea’s possession has been used in the country’s nuclear weapons program. U.S. officials first notified North Korea of their expectations for the nuclear declaration in an unofficial paper delivered when the sides met in Shenyang, China earlier this year, said the official. The United States could remove North Korea from a list of state sponsors of terrorism before the end of 2008 if Pyongyang gives credible details on the plutonium-based component of its nuclear program. Because North Korea has ruled out including the locations of storage sites of nuclear weapons in the declaration, the statement is most likely to focus on details about its holdings of plutonium and other nuclear materials. The United States would postpone removing North Korea from its list of terrorism-sponsoring nations if Pyongyang does not offer enough detail on the plutonium in its nuclear program, the source said (Kyodo News/News Perch, Nov. 26). Nuclear experts from China, Japan, Russia and South Korea are expected to travel to North Korea this week to oversee the progress of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, RIA Novosti reported. “Russian specialists are preparing to fly to North Korea to monitor the progress on closing down their nuclear facilities,” said one diplomat. U.S. experts are currently leading a team disabling North Korea’s Yongbyon reactor (RIA Novosti, Nov. 23). Back to top       U.S. Voices Optimism Over U.S.-Indian Nuclear Deal The U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed optimism Thursday that a pending nuclear trade deal between the United States and India will be put into effect, the Press Trust of India reported (see GSN, Nov. 21). Before the start of the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s governing board meeting last week, Gregory Schulte said that several new countries are expected to announce their support of the trade agreement if IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei first backs the deal. “Once the India-specific safeguards [agreement] is approved by the IAEA board then it goes to the Nuclear Suppliers Group for getting exemptions for India for civilian nuclear program,” Schultz said. An Indian delegation planned to remain at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna this last week following the departure of Indian Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar.  “The safeguards issues are a serious business involving complex issues.  We have to work out all these,” Kakodar said before leaving Vienna, PTI reported (Lalitha Vaidynathan, Press Trust of India I, Nov. 22). Shulte said the team would continue safeguards negotiations with the nuclear agency and a special meeting of the agency’s board can be convened to approve the finished agreement, PTI reported. After a safeguards deal is approved by the board’s consensus, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group would decide whether to grant an exception for India to import nuclear fuel and equipment although it has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  The international organization of nuclear exporters has said it would convene a special meeting before March to review India’s case if needed (Lalitha Vaidynathan, Press Trust of India II/Hindustan Times, Nov. 22). Back to top       Israel Targeted Syrian Bomb Plant, Expert Suggests A Syrian facility attacked by Israel in early September could have been a plutonium processing plant for assembling nuclear bombs and not a North Korean-designed nuclear reactor as other experts have speculated, an Israeli nuclear analyst suggested Thursday (see GSN, Nov. 14). Uzi Even, a chemistry professor at Tel Aviv University, said satellite images of the facility before the Sept. 6 strike do not show the chimneys and cooling towers typical of nuclear reactors.  Even worked in the past at Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor site. He added that Syria’s rush to raze and bury the remains of the site after the attack suggests an attempt to hide the high-levels of radiation that would leak from a plutonium processing plant. “I have no information, only an assessment, but I suspect that it was a plant for processing plutonium, namely a factory for assembling the bomb,” he told Haaretz (Steve Weizman, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Nov. 22). Back to top

U.S. Revises Rules for Controlled Chemicals The U.S. Homeland Security Department published updated regulations Tuesday for facilities that produce, use, store or distribute substances that could be used in chemical weapons, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported (see GSN, Nov. 2). The first draft of the Chemical Facility Antiterrorism Standards, or CFATS, came under criticism from universities and other organizations when the rules were released in April.  The regulations call on groups and companies holding specified quantities of any of “chemicals of interest” on a list of 300 substances to report the types and quantities of the chemicals held within 60 days. “The goal is to strengthen security at chemical facilities across the country,” said Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa. Federal agents can request risk assessments and security plans for facilities they deem to be insufficiently secure. Failing to meet the 60-day deadline would lead to first to a written reprimand, then fines of $25,000 a day and finally to closure of the facility in question. “I understand the reasoning,” said Madelyn Miller, Carnegie Mellon University’s environmental health and safety director.  “They think that someone could walk around with a bucket and collect enough chemicals to sabotage some target.” “I think realistically that's pretty difficult, given the rarity of these chemicals at this university, (but) all universities are open, so there's a possibility of someone walking in” (Chris Togneri, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Nov. 21). Back to top       Iraq Nears Chemical Weapons Treaty Accession Iraqi leaders have approved legislation to enable the nation to accede to an international treaty banning the possession of chemical weapons, Agence France-Presse reported today.  The plan has been endorsed by the country’s parliament and three-member presidency council (see GSN, July 10, 2006) Iraq is one of just seven countries that have so far refused to join the Chemical Weapons Convention.  Other nonsignatories include Syria and North Korea. Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, Iraq became known for its use of chemical weapons in killing more than 180,000 people during the 1988 Anfal campaign. The decision to join the pact “will present a new civilized face of Iraq when it deals with the international community,” said a statement by Surud Najeeb, foreign relations head for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. “The advantage of Iraq signing this agreement is that the international community will assist it in getting rid of the environmental problems caused by the use of such weapons in the past,” Najeeb said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 26). Back to top       Umatilla Facility Begins Destroying VX Spray Tanks Workers at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Oregon began destroying spray tanks filled with VX nerve agent Friday, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 31). The 15-foot-long tanks, designed for mounting on military aircraft, each hold 160 gallons of the substance. Destruction of all VX stockpiles at the Umatilla Chemical Depot is expected to take about 18 months (Associated Press/Washington Examiner, Nov. 24). Back to top

Newly Elected Polish Government to Consult Neighbors Before Resuming U.S. Talks on Missile Defense Poland’s new political leadership plans to hold off on talks with Washington over the Bush administration’s goal of deploying missile interceptors in Poland, RIA Novosti reported Friday.  Warsaw would first discuss the issue with NATO and nearby nations, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk (see GSN, Nov. 20). “We will be ready to conduct further negotiations on the issue after a series of consultations with NATO and some of our neighbors,” Tusk told a Friday session of parliament.  “We are aware of the political and military weight of the U.S. missile defense initiative. He did not identify specific nations he wished to confer with, but Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday that Poland would consult with Russia before accepting U.S. plans (RIA Novosti, Nov. 23).   Back to top

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