Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant has received its first shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia (Behrouz Mehri/Getty Images). Iran Gets First Nuclear Fuel Russia has completed its first shipment of low-enriched uranium fuel to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Dec. 14). “On Dec. 16 the delivery of fuel began from Russia to the Iranian atomic power station in Bushehr,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement...Full Story

North Korean Nuclear Disablement Proceeds North Korea continues to move forward with the disablement of three key facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, but has shown more reservations about releasing a full description of its atomic activities, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, Dec. 14)...Full Story

Experts Warn of South Asian Missile Race India’s plans to deploy effective missile defenses within three years could spur a regional arms race, analysts told the London Guardian last week (see GSN, Dec. 6)...Full Story

	Monday, December 17, 2007

Iran Gets First Nuclear Fuel Russia has completed its first shipment of low-enriched uranium fuel to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Dec. 14). “On Dec. 16 the delivery of fuel began from Russia to the Iranian atomic power station in Bushehr,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Responding to potential diplomatic protests from Western powers over the shipment, the foreign ministry said that Iran vowed use the uranium fuel only for power production. “The Iranian side has supplied additional written assurances regarding the fact that the fuel will be used exclusively for the atomic power station at Bushehr,” the statement said. Iran is now storing the first several fuel rods at its Bushehr facility, which remains under construction.  The remaining fuel is expected to be delivered within two months and the plant is expected to begin operation six months after the shipments are complete (Christian Lowe, Reuters I/Yahoo!News, Dec. 17). The countries have not set a deadline for completing the facility, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said yesterday. “Talks between [Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr] Mottaki and his Russian counterpart were comprehensive. … We believe the Russians are serious about completing Bushehr power plant but no date has been fixed for the completion,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters (Reuters II/International Herald Tribune, Dec. 16). Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, said the plant’s construction is being overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that its nuclear equipment or fuel is not diverted to the Iranian military, United Press International reported. “[The] IAEA controls all nuclear activities in Iran,” RIA Novosti quoted Kislyak as saying Saturday.  “Iran will never obtain high enriched uranium … while IAEA is there (United Press International, Dec. 15). “We believe that qualitatively new conditions have been created which will allow Iran to take the steps which are demanded of it … for the restoration of trust in the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program,” the ministry statement said. However, a high-level Iranian official said Iran has no intention of suspending its indigenous uranium enrichment program despite Moscow’s urgings to do so. “There is no talk of halting enrichment. Nothing is related to freezing enrichment.  The delivery (of fuel) is not in the framework of the (U.N.) resolutions or the framework of talks,” the official told Reuters (Christian Lowe, Reuters I, Dec. 17). Iran would need dozens of tons of nuclear fuel to operate the Bushehr plant in its first year, Agence France-Presse reported “The fuel for the first stage is 82 tons," the Iranian Student News Agency quoted the official (Agence France-Presse/Space War, Dec. 17). Meanwhile, 27 EU nations said in a statement Friday that they would push for new sanctions against Iran if it does not suspend its uranium enrichment program, Reuters reported. The statement said the council of EU member nations “reiterates its full support to the work in the U.N. Security Council to adopt further measures,” noting that the EU will make a final decision on whether to support sanctions at a meeting of its foreign ministers scheduled for Jan. 28. The statement also called on Tehran to provide the U.N. nuclear watchdog with “full, clear and credible answers” to questions about its nuclear activities. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Iran had provided the EU with “no assurances about uranium enrichment and the purpose of it in Iran.” “There is no evidence of a civil nuclear program and therefore the Iranian enrichment that has been part of the work of Iran is a problem for the international community,” Brown said (Reuters III, Dec. 14) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that the U.N. Security Council lacks a basis for imposing new sanctions against Iran, the Associated Press reported. “In my opinion, there is no justification,” he said in a live television interview.  “I think it is very unlikely that they, the West, is ready to pressure the agency, once again” (Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Dec. 16). The Iranian president added that new sanctions were unlikely, Reuters reported. “It was in fact a declaration of surrender,” he said.  “It was a positive action by the U.S. administration to change their attitude and it was a correct move.” In a Dec. 3 address, Ahmadinejad said a recent U.S. National Intelligence Estimate’s assertion that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 was a “victory” for Iran (Reuters IV, Dec. 16). Germany Boots Iranian Diplomat In Germany, officials expelled an Iranian envoy in July for attempting to secure equipment for Iran’s nuclear program, Der Spiegel reported Saturday. The weekly magazine said the diplomat, referred to as “Mahraramail D,” asked a company in Germany’s southern state of Bavaria about buying a systems control component needed for uranium enrichment, Reuters said. The report, which did not refer to sources, did not specify whether the equipment was needed to produce highly enriched uranium for weapons or low-enriched uranium for nuclear power plant fuel (Reuters V/Khaleej Times, Dec. 15). Israel Seeks U.S. Backing A delegation of Israeli intelligence officials is visiting the United States to make the case to their U.S. counterparts that Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons, AP reported yesterday. The delegation arrived in the United States last week and is expected to complete its work this week, according to security officials.  It remained unclear what material the delegation is presenting to make its case. U.S. and Israeli officials also plan to hold formal talks in future weeks where Israel would present classified intelligence to prove that Iran is still working on nuclear weapons, the Israeli officials said.  Avi Dichter, Israel’s public security minister, said a regional military conflict could erupt as a result of the intelligence. “The American misconception concerning Iran’s nuclear weapons is liable to lead to a regional Yom Kippur[-style war] where Israel will be among the countries that are threatened,” Dichter said.  “Something went wrong in the American blueprint for analyzing the severity of the Iranian nuclear threat” (Amy Teibel, Associated Press II/Google News, Dec. 16). Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked members of his cabinet yesterday to restrain their criticism of the U.S. intelligence assessment after Dichter’s warning that the report could lead to a war (see GSN, Dec. 14). Olmert ordered ministers not to disclose their personal opinions on the report, his office said. “These utterances don't advance the campaign against the Iranian nuclear program and don't improve relations with the U.S.," Olmert said (Mark Lavie, Associated Press III/Google News, Dec. 16). Back to top       North Korean Nuclear Disablement Proceeds North Korea continues to move forward with the disablement of three key facilities at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, but has shown more reservations about releasing a full description of its atomic activities, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, Dec. 14). Both moves are components of a plan developed through six-nation talks under which North Korea would eliminate its nuclear sector in exchange for energy aid and diplomatic and security benefits.  Pyongyang had pledged to disable the facilities and issue the nuclear declaration by the end of 2007, but U.S. officials said the Stalinist state was no longer expected to meet either deadline. Four of 11 crucial disablement jobs have been finished at a five-megawatt nuclear reactor and two other facilities at Yongbyon, U.S. officials said.  Work is nearly finished on another three tasks.  Removal of irradiated fuel rods from the reactor began Friday.  Technicians have taken additional steps at all three sites to ensure that it would take at least a year for North Korea to resume operations at the facilities. One hurdle in meeting the Dec. 31 deadline was the U.S. insistence that contaminated water in a cooling pond for spent fuel rods be filtered during the fuel-removal process. Pyongyang remains reluctant to release the full accounting of its nuclear activities sought by Washington, the Post reported.  “You are dealing with a country that is not instinctively given to handing out information,” one official told the Post. The Bush administration wants details of North Korean nuclear proliferation activities, particularly with regards to Syria (see GSN, Nov. 14).  Pyongyang said it is not now conducting any such activities and prefers to focus on the present. While Pyongyang wants only to provide amounts of plutonium production, Washington wants to know how much of the material has been weaponized.  The White House seeks information North Korea’s suspected uranium enrichment efforts beyond what the regime is willing to discuss.  U.S. officials also believe that North Korea will not provide a full list of its nuclear facilities (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Dec. 15). U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday pressed Pyongyang again to provide a complete nuclear declaration, after the White House acknowledged that North Korea had responded to Bush’s personal letter to Kim Jong Il, Agence France-Presse reported. “There’s a way forward for Kim Jong Il, and an important step is a full declaration of programs, materials that may have been developed to create weapons, as well as the proliferation activities of the regime,” Bush said. “I got his attention with a letter, and he can get my attention by fully disclosing his programs, including any plutonium he may have processed and converted.  Whatever he’s used it for, we just need to know” (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Dec. 14). Back to top       British Raid Home of Nuclear Smuggling Investigator British authorities last week raided the home of customs agent who has accused U.S. and British officials of allowing an international nuclear smuggling network to operate instead of shutting it down, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, May 9). The customs agent, Atif Amin, was featured in a recent book that charged that the network once led by top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan distributed nuclear technology to rogue nations as Western intelligence agencies stood by and watched. Amin said he was investigating the Khan network in 2000, but was ordered to stand down because intelligence officials feared he would upend their own investigations. “They knew exactly what was going on all the time,” Amin said in the book, America and the Islamic Bomb by David Armstrong and Joseph Trento of the Washington-based National Security News Service.  “If they'd wanted to, they could have blown the whistle on this long ago,” Amin added. Last week, officials searched Amin’s home seeking evidence that he had violated the British Official Secrets Act, the Post reported. The book authors said the raid was intended to deflect attention from the question of whether intelligence agencies allowed the Khan network to operate. “It's a story Washington and London do not want out,” said Armstrong.  “If Amin can be discredited, it would distract the public from the fact that the U.S. and Britain prevented the most dangerous nuclear smuggling operation in history from being shut down when the opportunity existed” (Joby Warrick, Washington Post, Dec. 16). Back to top       Singapore to Scan U.S.-Bound Cargo Singapore has agreed to scan U.S.-bound shipping containers for nuclear and radiological materials for a six-month trial period, according to a joint statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Singapore and Singapore’s transportation department (see GSN, Sept. 11, 2006). Singapore, one of the world’s busiest port nations, co-signed a declaration with the United States stating it would conduct the cargo scanning under the U.S. Secure Freight Initiative, Agence France-Presse reported. Under the program, data obtained by cargo radiation scanners is sent nearly instantly to the United States, where security officials determine if a cargo container holds material that could be used in a nuclear weapon of radiological “dirty bomb,” the statement says. The statement adds that the data would help the United States determine the potential feasibility and effectiveness of scanning all U.S.-bound cargo. The agreement has made Singapore the seventh nation to participate in the scanning trials.  Honduras began the first trial this April, and ports Hong Kong, Oman, Pakistan and the United Kingdom have also entered the program (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Dec. 17). Back to top       Egypt, Russia to Sign Nuclear Energy Pact Russia hopes to soon finalize an agreement under which it would provide assistance to Egypt’s civilian nuclear energy program, RIA Novosti reported Friday (see GSN, Dec. 12). “As for cooperation with Egypt in developing its civilian nuclear power industry, we confirm that we are interested.  The drafting of relevant documents is being completed, and I hope they will be signed soon,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday following discussions with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, his Egyptian counterpart. Lavrov said the nuclear assistance would be provided under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Egypt plans to construct several energy-producing nuclear plants, said Cairo’s top foreign official.  “We are working on our legislation, which will be submitted soon for .parliament’s consideration,” he said. “Egypt is bound by around 15 agreements on nuclear cooperation with Asian and European countries and we want to sign a similar agreement with Russia,” Gheit said (RIA Novosti, Dec. 12). Back to top       Russia Deploys Additional ICBMs Russia has deployed three new Topol-M ICBMs designed to defeat missile defense systems, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, May 9). The missiles, each with a range of more than 6,000 miles, were placed on an off-road vehicle operating near a town roughly 150 miles northeast of Moscow, according to Russian press reports.  Until December 2006, Russia installed all its Topol-M missiles in silos. Russian leaders have said their nation’s security would be threatened by U.S. plans to place missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic (see GSN, Dec. 14). By separating its rocket boosters in flight earlier than older designs, the Topol-M increases its chances of evading detection by early warning systems, according to head designer Yuri Solomonov.  The resemblance in flight of the missile’s warhead to its decoys also increases the likelihood that the weapon would reach its target, he said (Associated Press/USA Today, Dec. 16). Russia today conducted a test launch of an ICBM from a submarine operating in the Barents Sea, the Xinhua News Agency reported.  The missile hit the intended target on the Kamchatka Peninsula, according to ITAR-Tass. “The launch has been carried out under the combat training schedule for checking the combat readiness of the Naval Strategic Nuclear Forces,” said naval spokesman Igor Dygalo (Xinhua News Agency, Dec. 17). Back to top       Study Finds Ongoing Security Problems at Los Alamos Security lapses have continued under new management at a U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory, while worker safety appears to have improved, the Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday (see GSN, Nov. 7). An internal review of incidents at Los Alamos National Laboratory indicated that the security breaches which spurred a change of management have not dropped off.  The contractor Los Alamos National Security assumed control of the facility in June 2006, and one year later there had been 13 incidents of serious security problems over the following year, the review found. A Washington-based watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, acquired presentation slides from a September briefing by investigators. “These incidents cause doubt of our ability to protect national secrets, potentially cost millions in fines, and bring in additional external oversight,” says one slide. POGO leaders criticized the lack of progress. “The impact of poor work force management and the government turning oversight of safety and security to the contractor leads inexorably to personnel upheaval, congressional oversight and, most importantly, national security breaches that affect the entire nation,” said a POGO statement. Laboratory spokesman Kevin Roark argued that the number of incidents was the same or decreasing since the new contractor took over.  The facility has moved to consolidate the number of sites where classified information is stored, he said (see GSN, Nov. 5; Raam Wong, Albuquerque Journal, Dec. 15). Back to top

Biological Weapons Convention Meeting Ends The latest meeting of states parties to the Biological Weapons Convention ended Friday following five days of talks on strengthening implementation of the pact, according to the United Nations (see GSN, Dec. 12). Discussions in Geneva were intended to “promote common understandings and effective action” on executing the convention at the national, subregional and regional levels, according to a U.N. press release. That included “ways and means to enhance national implementation, including enforcement of national legislation, strengthening of national institutions and coordination among national law enforcement institutions,” the release said. “We have had a very productive meeting, and have made a good start on our goal of moving from adjacency to synergy in our efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of the convention,” the meeting’s chairman, Masood Khan of Pakistan, said in the release. Delegates heard a report from the Implementation Support Unit on its efforts since being established last year to help member nations carry out the convention.  They also discussed ongoing efforts to boost membership in the pact beyond the present 159 nations. The next states parties session is scheduled for Dec. 1 to 5, 2008.  Participants are expected to consider biosafety and biosecurity measures, including laboratory safety and security of disease agents, along with education, scientific codes of conduct or other means of preventing misuse of biological science or biotechnology (United Nations release, Dec. 14). Back to top

Republic of the Congo Ratifies CWC The Republic of the Congo has ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, making it the 183rd nation to fully join the pact, the treaty’s implementing organization announced Friday (see GSN, Dec. 12). The African nation’s ratification of the treaty, filed on Dec. 4 with the U.N. Secretary General, has brought the Chemical Weapons Convention a step closer to worldwide acceptance, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said. Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, the head of the organization, said the ratification would strengthen the convention’s regulations while promoting international peace and security. Pfirter also urged the 12 nations that have not joined the convention to move forward on the process. 28 countries have ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention since October 2003, when the organization moved forward on an “action plan” to encourage non-member nations to join (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Dec. 14). Back to top

India to Boost Missile Production India plans to speed construction of long-range nuclear missiles capable of reaching sites within China and Pakistan, the head of New Delhi’s missile development project said Friday (see GSN, Dec. 12). V.K. Saraswat said India has prepared its assembly lines to boost manufacturing of the missiles, Agence France-Presse reported. “India is now capable of delivering missiles much earlier than the earlier period of three to seven years as basic building blocks for production and deployment of long-range missile are now in place,” Saraswat said, adding that New Delhi would increase manufacturing speed by partially privatizing the process. “We will develop the next levels of missile in a much shorter time,” Saraswat told reporters. According to Indian military sources, the planned production boost is a response to a border dispute with China that has led to increased reports of Chinese military incursions into India (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Dec. 14). Back to top

Experts Warn of South Asian Missile Race India’s plans to deploy effective missile defenses within three years could spur a regional arms race, analysts told the London Guardian last week (see GSN, Dec. 6). Indian officials announced plans last week to protect major cities from ballistic missile attack by 2010. “If I keep quiet and wait for [a missile] to fall on my city and then start sending my own deterrent missile ... a lot of damage is done. It is essential you have a system which will first take on that kind of a threat,” said V.K. Saraswat of the nation’s Defense Research and Development Organization.  “Because we have a ballistic missile defense system ... a country which has a small arsenal will think twice before it ventures.” One defense analyst concurred with the strategy. “Pakistan is acquiring advanced missile technology from China. No missile defense system is perfect, but if we can knock out three out of every five warheads, it means our adversary has to fire more rockets,” said defense writer K. Subrahmanyan.  “It is a means of deterrence.” Other analysts, however, feared the policy would spur an arms race. Nuclear-rival Pakistan would probably “increase the number of [its] missiles to make sure it has enough to evade the shield,” said defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa. Another expert, Bharat Karnad of the Center for Policy Research, agreed that it was cheaper for a nation to build more missiles to defeat potential defenses than to seek security by building its own missile defenses (Randeep Ramesh, London Guardian, Dec. 14).   Back to top

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