U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, shown last month in Beijing, and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Gwan met in Germany today to discuss the resumption of nuclear talks (Frederic Brown/Getty Images). U.S., North Korean Nuclear Negotiators Meet The lead negotiators from North Korea and the United States met today to discuss the next round of negotiations on Pyongyang’s nuclear program (see GSN, Jan. 12). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and North Korean envoy Kim Kye Gwan were seeking at their meeting in Berlin “to set the groundwork for the next round of six-party talks, to ensure those talks will be productive,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey (Associated Press/New York Times, Jan. 16)...Full Story

Iran Says Enrichment Program Moving Forward; Ahmadinejad Possibly in Political Trouble Iran yesterday dismissed reports that its uranium enrichment program has stalled, although it acknowledged that its efforts to build 3,000 centrifuges have fallen behind schedule, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 9)...Full Story

Indian-U.S. Nuclear Talks Could Resume Soon U.S.-Indian negotiations are expected to resume “very shortly” to finalize the details of a nuclear trade agreement approved in principle by the U.S. Congress last month, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 11)...Full Story

	Tuesday, January 16, 2007

U.K. to Boost Security at Central Asian Nuclear Sites The United Kingdom plans to add nearly $4 million to its contribution to an international effort to secure WMD materials in the former Soviet Union, Foreign Office Minister Geoff Hoon announced yesterday (see GSN, July 17, 2006). Hoon released an annual report describing British support for the Group of Eight’s Global Partnership to reduce the threat of WMD proliferation in former Soviet states. “The U.K. has made significant progress in fulfilling the commitments that were made at the G-8 Kananaskis summit in 2002,” Hoon said, announcing that the United Kingdom would contribute almost $4 million to improve security over nuclear materials in Central Asia. “Addressing Cold War nuclear legacies will remain a major international challenge for the next few years,” said Trade and Industry Minister Lord Truscott.  The new funds were “just another example of our continued commitment and will provide important enhancements to the physical security of nuclear facilities in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,” he added (British release, Jan. 15). Back to top       Bahamas Launches Container Security Initiative Bahamian and U.S. officials formally launched a program Thursday to screen all cargo headed for the United States from the Freeport Container Port, the Freeport News reported (see GSN, Aug. 8, 2006). The Bahamas announced last year that it would participate in the Container Security Initiative, an effort to scan U.S.-bound shipping containers. “International trade drives our economy, whether it is this container port or tourism,” Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie said at the ceremony.  “For us to have the slightest threat on our own country’s ability to export our services whether in tourism or to attract investments to our country, we must make doubly sure that we are doing the right thing all the time.” A mobile cargo scanner worth nearly $3 million was unveiled at the ceremony (Lisa King, Freeport News, Jan. 12). Back to top

U.S., North Korean Nuclear Negotiators Meet The lead negotiators from North Korea and the United States met today to discuss the next round of negotiations on Pyongyang’s nuclear program (see GSN, Jan. 12). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and North Korean envoy Kim Kye Gwan were seeking at their meeting in Berlin “to set the groundwork for the next round of six-party talks, to ensure those talks will be productive,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey (Associated Press/New York Times, Jan. 16). A North Korean official said recently that actions by the United States will determine whether Pyongyang carries out additional nuclear tests, Reuters reported Saturday Japanese lawmaker Taku Yamasaki visited Pyongyang last week.  He said he discussed the potential for a second nuclear test with Song Il Ho, the North Korean official leading normalization negotiations with Japan. Yamasaki said Song told him, “It’s up to U.S. actions in the future,” Kyodo News reported.  It did not provide additional details (Reuters/Khaleej Times, Jan. 13). China, Japan and South Korea on Sunday urged North Korea not to carry out additional nuclear tests, Agence France-Presse reported.  They also called for “concrete and effective steps” by Pyongyang to meet its September 2005 disarmament pledge, and backed complete implementation of U.N. sanctions approved following the North’s Oct. 9 nuclear blast. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Sunday also called on Pyongyang to “desist from conducting further nuclear tests,” rejoin the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and follow through on the 2005 agreement. The international community “must convey in clear terms to the D.P.R.K. that the latter must denuclearize in a verifiable manner,” the association said (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Jan. 14). Meanwhile, the international consortium that led the failed effort to build two nuclear power plants in North Korea is demanding $1.9 billion in restitution from Pyongyang, AFP reported. The reactors were part of the 1994 deal under which North Korea was to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for economic support from the United States.  Work stopped after the United States in 2002 said Pyongyang had acknowledged operating a secret uranium enrichment program. “Since May last year, [the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization] has sent five letters to North Korea, one following every meeting of its executive board of directors,” a South Korean official told AFP. “This move is in line with KEDO’s position that North Korea is wholly to blame for the liquidation of the light-water reactor project,” he said (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, Jan. 16). Back to top       Iran Says Enrichment Program Moving Forward; Ahmadinejad Possibly in Political Trouble Iran yesterday dismissed reports that its uranium enrichment program has stalled, although it acknowledged that its efforts to build 3,000 centrifuges have fallen behind schedule, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 9). “We are moving toward the production of nuclear fuel, which requires 3,000 centrifuges and more than this figure,” said government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham.  “This program is being carried out and moving toward completion.” Iranian officials had said they would complete the 3,000 centrifuges by the end of 2006, but the program has been slowed in part by accidents, according to Atomic Energy Organization chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh. “We had installed 50 centrifuges,” he told reporters earlier this month.  “One night, I was informed that all the 50 centrifuges had exploded. … [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad called me and said, ‘Build these machines even if they explode 10 times more’” (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Boston Globe, Jan. 15). Ahmadinejad’s persistent push for the nation’s nuclear program has contributed to unusual domestic political opposition, the London Guardian reported today. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has apparently approved recent criticisms by lawmakers and newspapers, according to the Guardian.  He is rumored to have refused meetings with Ahmadinejad because he blames the president for recent U.N. Security Council sanctions, the Guardian reported. “Ahmadinejad’s golden era is over and his honeymoon with the supreme leader is finished,” said political commentator Eesa Saharkhiz.  “The countdown to his dismissal has already begun.  There is a probability that he cannot even finish his current four-year period” (Robert Tait, The Guardian, Jan. 16). Back to top       Indian-U.S. Nuclear Talks Could Resume Soon U.S.-Indian negotiations are expected to resume “very shortly” to finalize the details of a nuclear trade agreement approved in principle by the U.S. Congress last month, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 11). U.S. President George W. Bush signed a law Dec. 18 exempting India from U.S. nuclear nonproliferation laws.  Details of the deal are to be addressed in the so-called “123” agreement that would specify what U.S. technology and materials would be sold to India. India has objected to some of the language of the exemption, and officials on both sides have said those concerns would be discussed during the next series of talks. “Some of these things will be addressed in the 123 (bilateral) agreement on which negotiations will be held very shortly,” Singh said. The “mindset on both sides is one of problem-solving and if this continues, there is room for optimism,” added lead Indian nuclear negotiator Shyam Saran (Press Trust of India, Jan. 15). Back to top       U.S. Warhead Funding Threatened Congressional displeasure with Bush administration plans for the U.S. nuclear weapons production complex could threaten funding for plans to develop a new nuclear warhead, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday (see GSN, Jan. 8). The Complex 2030 plan to update the U.S. nuclear complex calls for developing new warheads to replace aging weapons in the atomic arsenal. The National Nuclear Security Administration, under the plan, would keep nuclear production operations at several sites spread across the United States. Representative David Hobson (R-Ohio) helped develop the Reliable Replacement Warhead program and has been a leading supporter in Congress.  He also has favored consolidating nuclear weapons production in one plant in hopes of creating a smaller and more efficient nuclear complex. “Let me make my position clear,” Hobson wrote in a Nov. 16 letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman.  “If the department is not willing to conduct a thorough and objective analysis of all reform alternatives including the [Consolidated Nuclear Production Complex], and instead is determined to conduct an obviously prejudicial process aimed at ensuring the department’s preferred outcome, then I will not support funding for the Complex 2030 efforts, including the Reliable Replacement Warhead program.” At that time, Hobson led the House Appropriations subcommittee with authority over the nuclear weapons budget.  His replacement as subcommittee chairman under the Democratic-led Congress, Representative Pete Viclosky (D-Ind.), appears of a like mind on this issue, the Chronicle reported. “It is fair to say that every option is on the table regarding funding” of the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, said Viclosky spokesman Justin Kitsch. A recent study found that the plutonium cores of nuclear warheads could last for at least 85 years, rather than 45 to 60 years as previously believed (see GSN, Nov. 30, 2006).  That undermines the government’s credibility as it makes the case for the Reliable Replacement Warhead, Hobson said. “They’ve been running with RRW like you wouldn’t believe,” he said.  “They see this as a big pot of money to get into.  This shows we can take a breather for a while” (James Sterngold, San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 14). Back to top       Trial to Begin for Former Russian Nuclear Official Former Russian atomic energy chief Yevgeny Adamov pleaded not guilty yesterday to fraud and abuse of office charges as prosecutors prepared to start his postponed trial tomorrow, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 22, 2006). Adamov has been accused of pocketing millions of dollars of U.S. funds intended to improve security at Russian nuclear facilities. His trial was delayed last year, however, after a judicial review found procedural errors and other problems in the prosecution’s case, AP reported (Associated Press/Moscow Times, Jan. 16). Back to top       Doomsday Clock Ticks Toward Armageddon The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists plans to move its Doomsday Clock forward tomorrow, indicating its belief that the world is moving closer to nuclear Armageddon, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 27, 2002). This would be the first shift since February 2002.  The time now stands at seven minutes to midnight, the closest the clock has come to marking nuclear annihilation since the end of the Cold War. “The major new step reflects growing concerns about at ‘Second Nuclear Age’ marked by grave threats, including:  nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing ‘launch-ready’ status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks,” the Bulletin said in a press release. The new clock setting will be announced during simultaneous events in London and Washington, D.C.  Speakers are set to include physicist Stephen Hawking (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Jan. 13). Back to top

Hatfill Defamation Lawsuit Tossed Again A federal court last week again rejected a defamation lawsuit filed by a former government scientist linked to the 2001 anthrax attacks against the New York Times (see GSN, Oct. 24, 2006). Judge Claude Hilton has yet to explain the reasons for approving a dismissal motion from the newspaper, the Times reported.  A written opinion is anticipated within days. “We are gratified by the judge’s ruling today.  In making our summary judgment motion, we believed that the plaintiff had failed to come up with the evidence necessary to bring this case to trial, and we are pleased that the court agreed,” Times lawyer David McCraw said in a statement. Biological weapons expert Steven Hatfill has been identified as a “person of interest” in the anthrax mailings that killed five people.  No one has been charged in the case (see GSN, Nov. 3, 2006). Hatfill, a former scientist for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in Maryland, claimed he was defamed in pieces by Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.  The columnist first wrote that investigators were focusing on “Mr. Z,” a government scientist.  Kristof identified Hatfill in August 2002, saying he had acknowledged being Mr. Z and felt he was receiving unfair treatment from the press. In its motion, the Times argued that Hatfill had become a public figure and was involved in public discussion on biological terrorism preparedness.  The columns also did not identify Hatfill as the person behind the anthrax mailings, the newspaper claimed. Hilton had already once dismissed the case.  His decision was overturned by an appeals court panel of three judges.  The full appeals court came to a split decision and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the Times reported. The second dismissal could be less likely to be overturned as a more complete argument is expected.  Hilton is likely to address the case made by the Times, including whether Hatfill could be considered a public figure under defamation law, along with Hatfill’s response. Hatfill’s attorney, Mark Grannis, indicated he believed the case would continue. “It has always been our position that the evidence of defamation was extremely strong and Mr. Kristof fabricated parts of his column to falsely implicate Dr. Hatfill in the anthrax attacks,” Grannis said (Neil Lewis, New York Times, Jan. 13). Back to top       Promise of Bioshield Remains Unfulfilled The promise of the U.S. Project Bioshield program to develop countermeasures against terrorist attacks with unconventional weapons remains significantly unfulfilled four years after the program’s inception, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2006). Less than one-fourth of the program’s $5.6 billion budget has been spent and its priorities have not been fully defined.  The planned purchase of 75 million doses of a new anthrax vaccine collapsed last month amidst disputes between the government and contracted manufacturer VaxGen Inc.  There has been limited movement on treatments for acute radiation sickness, Ebola and plague, along with development of a new smallpox vaccine that could be given to people with suppressed immune systems. “Bioshield is still a young program,” said Gerald Parker, principal deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Health and Human Services Department. The initial part of the effort “was low-hanging fruit, taking things that were already in development” and moving them into the U.S. stockpile.  “Now we’re getting into the harder phase of this.” Congress in December approved legislation aimed at augmenting Project Bioshield and further encouraging private development of needed drugs (see GSN, Dec. 12, 2006). Development and stockpiling of biological and other agents identified as major terrorist threats stands as follows, according to the Post: — The United States has sufficient antibiotics to treat 40 million people exposed to anthrax for more than two months.  There are 9 million doses of anthrax vaccine stockpiled, with another 1 million to be delivered in early 2007.  Two companies beginning this year are to provide 30,000 doses of an anthrax antitoxin. — A Canadian company has begun delivery of 200,000 doses of a botulism antitoxin.  No plans exist for development of a vaccine. — Efforts that began before Bioshield produced 300 million doses of smallpox vaccine, enough to treat all U.S. residents.  A contract could be awarded this year for development of a vaccine for the estimated 10 million people with suppressed immune systems. — There is enough potassium iodide to treat 1 million people exposed to radiation through a nuclear or radiological “dirty bomb” attack.  The drug would help protect the thyroid gland from cancer.  The government has also received 1.9 million of 4.8 million bottles of liquid potassium iodide for children, which were ordered under Bioshield.  Delivery has also begun on 450,000 doses of an antiradiation drug therapy. — Health and Human Services expects to issue a contract this year for delivery of 100,000 doses of a treatment for infection and uncontrolled bleeding caused by exposure to radiation. — The National Institutes of Health is researching plague and Ebola vaccines, but it could take year to place them into the U.S. stockpile.  No contracts have been issued for defenses against the diseases (Renae Merle, Washington Post, Jan. 16). Back to top

Missile Defense Radar on the Move Again The U.S. floating X-band missile defense radar is again on its way to its new home in Alaska, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, Nov. 16, 2006). The radar was forced to turn back to Hawaii twice last year while being shipped to its final port in Adak. It could be weeks before the radar arrives, according to Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner.  It will not be able to dock until mooring work is completed on the island. When operational, the sea-based radar should be able to detect objects as small as a pingpong ball at a distance of 3,000 miles. The radar is expected to participate in three missile launch drills in coming months, AP reported.  The first will involve a test missile scheduled to be launched in March from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  “The SBX will be out in the Pacific somewhere to track that launch,” Lehner said. The radar is also scheduled to track missiles during an intercept test scheduled for April or May, Lehner said.  The X-band would also be the primary source radar for a fall 2007 test (Associated Press/North County Times, Jan. 12). Back to top

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