Fears of nuclear smuggling have led the United States to fund the use of radiation detectors in the former Soviet Union, such as this one being used by an Uzbek guard at an Uzbek-Kazakhstani border crossing (Scott Peterson/Getty Images). Russian Smuggler Busted With Weapon-Grade Uranium Georgian authorities thwarted a significant nuclear smuggling effort about one year ago, arresting a man who tried to sell undercover agents 100 grams of weapon-grade uranium, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Jan. 3). The suspect, a Russian named Oleg Khinsagov, delivered the sample expecting to be paid $1 million.  He purported to be able to deliver two to three kilograms of similar uranium.  ..Full Story

Report on Iranian Test Lacks Evidence, Rice Says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested yesterday that there is little evidence supporting a report claiming that Iran is preparing an underground site to test a nuclear weapon as soon as this year, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 24)...Full Story

State Department Nonproliferation Official Resigns A senior Bush administration official has announced his resignation from the State Department’s top nonproliferation job, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 18, 2005)...Full Story

	Thursday, January 25, 2007

GAO Cites Antiterror Progress, Says Work Remains The U.S. Government Accountability Office in a report yesterday noted progress made in protecting the United States from terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but said additional measures are necessary to fill gaps that remain in security (see GSN, Jan. 10). “While the nation cannot expect to eliminate all risks of terrorist attacks upon commercial aviation agencies have made progress since 9/11 to reduce aviation-related vulnerabilities and enhance the layers of defense directly exploited by the terrorist hijackers,” the report states.  “In general, these efforts have resulted in better airline passenger screening procedures designed to identify and prevent known or suspected terrorists, weapons, and explosives from being allowed onto aircraft.” The reported plot to detonate liquid explosives on passenger airplanes flying between the United Kingdom and the United States proves that the aviation system remains an attractive target for terrorists, the report states (see GSN, Nov. 2, 2006). The Homeland Security Department “and others need to follow through on outstanding congressional requirements and recommendations by GAO and others to enhance security and coordination of passengers and checked bagging, and improve screening procedures for domestic flights, among other needed improvements,” it says. Homeland Security must continue to prepare a “risk-based framework” for allocating resources to protect U.S. critical assets such as power plants and passenger rail stations, according to the GAO report. The government must also address the issues of information sharing, risk management and transformation of the Homeland Security Department, the agency said (U.S. Government Accountability Office report, Jan. 24). Back to top       Dangers Increasing in 21st Century, Chertoff Says The world would face an irreversible change for the worse if terrorists are able to acquire weapons of mass destruction, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today (see GSN, Dec. 29, 2006). “What we face in the 21st century is the ability of even a single individual , and certainly a group, to leverage technology in a way to cause a type of destruction and a magnitude of destruction that would have been unthinkable a century ago,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  “And that is only going to get worse. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle once a weapon of mass destruction or a nuclear bomb gets into the hands of a terrorist,” Chertoff said.  “You are not going to be able to reclaim that and it is going to transform the way in which we live” (Associated Press/New York Times, Jan. 25). Back to top

Russian Smuggler Busted With Weapon-Grade Uranium Georgian authorities thwarted a significant nuclear smuggling effort about one year ago, arresting a man who tried to sell undercover agents 100 grams of weapon-grade uranium, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Jan. 3). The suspect, a Russian named Oleg Khinsagov, delivered the sample expecting to be paid $1 million.  He purported to be able to deliver two to three kilograms of similar uranium.  U.S. testing of the confiscated sample showed that it contained nearly 90 percent uranium 235, a weapon-grade concentration, according to the Times. Khinsagov was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after a secret trial that followed his arrest.  His smuggling efforts were detected after he came in contact with four Georgians who were under surveillance.  The four made arrangements to move the material from Russia to Georgia, and security services were able to set up a false buyer who said he was working for a Muslim man from “a serious organization.” Khinsagov and some of the other smugglers were arrested trying to close the deal Feb. 1, 2006, in a Tblisi apartment, the Times reported. The uranium probably came from a Russian facility, according to an analysis by a U.S. nuclear laboratory. The Khinsagov arrest follows a 2003 incident in which an Armenian man was found with 170 grams of highly enriched uranium in a village near the Georgia’s border with Armenia and Azerbaijan.  Georgian authorities said the smuggler admitted that the material had come from Russia (see GSN, Dec. 1, 2003). The two cases indicate that instability and corruption mean the region remains a prime location for nuclear smuggling, according to the Times. The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to release more information on the incident tomorrow (Sheets/Broad, New York Times, Jan. 25). Back to top       Report on Iranian Test Lacks Evidence, Rice Says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested yesterday that there is little evidence supporting a report claiming that Iran is preparing an underground site to test a nuclear weapon as soon as this year, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 24). In a London Telegraph article yesterday, a senior European defense official said, “All the indications are that the Iranians are working hard to prepare for their own underground nuclear test.” Rice, however, played down that possibility. “I don’t see what that it’s based on anything that I’ve seen,” she told reporters in Paris.  “I don’t see what it’s based on” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 24). Meanwhile, domestic opposition appears to be growing to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear policies, the London Guardian reported.  Critics have emerged since the U.N. Security Council imposed economic sanctions on Iran after Tehran refused to freeze its uranium enrichment program (see GSN, Jan. 16). Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who lost the 2005 presidential election to Ahmadinejad, has created a political committee to assess Iran’s nuclear strategy and has urged a policy of negotiating with the west, according to the Guardian. “Before the sanctions, Rafsanjani hoped Iran could obtain its enrichment objectives through mutual understanding with the west.  But now he thinks we have reached a dangerous point and that a step should be taken backwards in the hope that two forward can be taken later,” said Mohammad Atrianfar, a political commentator and Rafsanjani associate. “He doesn’t see negotiation as a sign of weakness,” he added.  “He wants to limit the impact of the sanctions and get [supreme leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei and the government to accept that if Iran faces mounting sanctions or a military attack or any crisis which damages the economic life of the people, then there is a possibility of the whole system collapsing.” “Things have changed since the early days of the Islamic revolution, when people would sacrifice their lives.  Now they will only defend the system if it provides them a safe life,” Atrianfar said (Robert Trait, The Guardian, Jan. 24). In Israel, political leaders have continued to suggest that they would not permit Iran to achieve the capability of producing nuclear weapons. “We can stand up against nuclear threats and even prevent them,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday in a speech. Israeli officials have said that action must be taken before Iran successfully installs enough uranium enrichment centrifuges to manufacture weapon-grade uranium, the London Independent reported. Some outside observers believe Israeli leaders are seriously contemplating a pre-emptive attack and are now working to build domestic political support for such action. “They’re watering the turf,” said a senior British military source. “The Iranians are not under enough pressure” (Anne Penketh, The Independent, Jan. 25). Back to top       North Korea Denies Diversion of U.N. Funds North Korea today denied a U.S. allegation that it had diverted funds from the U.N. Development Program to its nuclear weapons effort and other activities, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Jan. 22). “The United States is kicking up another anti-D.P.R.K. racket over not much aid funds of the UNDP from the outset of the year to meet its dirty political aims,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Mark Wallace, a U.S. official at the United Nations, said that North Korea since 1998 had “systematically perverted” aid funds “for the benefit of the Kim Jong Il regime, rather than for the people of North Korea.”  The United States claimed that millions of dollars had been misused. The spokesman said the claims were developed by hard-liners in the Bush administration to undermine meetings last week in Berlin between U.S. and North Korean nuclear negotiators.  U.S. hard-liners are also to blame for financial sanctions against Pyongyang that were instituted shortly after its September 2005 pledge to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, the spokesman said. Pyongyang used those sanctions as justification for abandoning the six-party talks on its nuclear program for 13 months.  Upon rejoining negotiations last month, North Korean negotiators demanded to address the sanctions before discussing the nuclear standoff.  The meetings ended without signs of progress in disarming the Stalinist state (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Jan. 25). Officials from the negotiating nations have expressed optimism that the next set of talks would produce more favorable results.  The United States has proposed that the six-party talks resume next week, and that separate meetings on the sanctions be conducted concurrently, Kyodo News reported.  North Korea reportedly prefers that the nuclear talks come the week after the sanctions session.  They agree that both sets of negotiations should be held in Beijing, sources said (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, Jan. 24). Back to top       India, Russia Agree to Reactor Deal Russia formally agreed today to sell India four nuclear power reactors, enhancing the two nations’ cooperation at a time when other countries, including the United States, are seeking to sell more nuclear technology to India, Reuters reported (see GSN, Jan. 24). During a summit in New Delhi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed a memorandum of intent to close the reactor deal. “Energy security is the most important of the emerging dimensions of our strategic partnership,” Singh said at the signing ceremony (Olesya Dmitracova, Reuters, Jan. 25). The four reactors would be built at an existing nuclear site at Kudankulam, where Russia is already constructing two reactors (see GSN, March 4, 2004). “The reactor facilities and nuclear fuel supplied by Russia shall remain under the [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguards during the entire period of their actual use,” the two leaders said in a joint statement (Indian Foreign Ministry release release, Jan. 25). Back to top

U.K. Increases Biological Security The United Kingdom is increasing the number of biological agents that must be secured to ensure they are not used in acts of terrorism, the London Times reported today (see GSN, Nov. 10, 2006). The government yesterday boosted the number of restricted agents listed in the 2001 Antiterrorism, Crime and Security Act from 47 to 103.  The list includes 45 viruses, 21 bacteria, 2 fungi, 13 toxins and 18 animal pathogens. Additions are largely related to animal diseases that could severely damage the economy in the event of an intentional outbreak.  Others, such as Rift Valley fever, are animal diseases that can spread to humans, the Times reported. “The terror threat is always changing and we must adapt to ensure it is combated effectively.  As terrorists look for new ways to endanger live, we have to take action to be one step ahead,” said Tony McNulty, Home Office minister in charge of policing.  “That is why we are extending the list of controlled substances to prevent terrorist groups using chemical or biological materials as terrorist weapons.” Police will conduct background checks on scientists and others who work with restricted materials at universities, hospitals and pharmaceutical firms.  Government officials will inspect their laboratories.  Regular audits are planned of agent inventories. It will be up to scientists to prove they have good reason for using the materials in their work, said John Wood, of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Controls. Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of the British MI5 intelligence service, in November warned that terrorist could use weapons of mass destruction against the United Kingdom.  “We know that the aspiration is there, we know attempts to gather materials are there, we know that attempts to gather technologies are there,” she said (Tendler/McGrory, The Times, Jan. 25). Back to top

More Evidence Presented of Iraqi CW Use Prosecutors yesterday presented additional evidence that the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq used chemical weapons in its campaign against the country’s Kurds, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 24). One document stated that warplanes bombed “some of the saboteurs’ headquarters in (Kurdish) Saway village and a chemical strike was launched that led to the killing and wounding of 30.” Six former regime officials are charged with orchestrating the Anfal campaign that killed up to 180,000 Kurds in the late 1980s.  The case against former leader Saddam Hussein was dropped following his execution. Defendant Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as “Chemical Ali,” yesterday argued again that the regime attacked Kurds who were working with Iran while the two countries were at war from 1980 to 1988. “I am not defending myself and it is not an apology because I have committed no mistake that I need to apologize for,” said al-Majid, who is charged with genocide (Sameer Yacoub, Associated Press/The Daily Comet, Jan. 24). Back to top       Chinese Chemical Warfare Victims Sue Japan Chinese citizens exposed to chemical agent abandoned by Japan following World War II today sued the Japanese government for $11.8 million, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 21, 2006). The plaintiffs are 43 people who were present in 2003 when construction workers ruptured a barrel containing toxic gas, along with five family members of a person who died following the accident. The lawsuit also seeks compensation for medical costs and loss of income caused by health problems that resulted from the incident in the city of Qiqihar. “Our ultimate goal is to get the Japanese government to set up a serious long-term relief fund,” said attorney Akira Ibori.  “We hope the lawsuit prompts the government to come to a realization about the seriousness of the damage from the abandoned chemical weapons.” Plaintiffs say they suffer from blisters, poor vision, coughs and fatigue, AP reported. Japan previously agreed to pay $2.7 million to the victims of the Qiqihar accident.  That is not enough to compensate for health care expenses and loss of income, according to the plaintiffs. “It’s been more than three years since the accident and the Japanese government has not provided a satisfactory response,” said former construction worker Ding Shuwen.  “That makes us angry” (Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press/The China Post, Jan. 25). Back to top       Anniston Suspends CW Disposal After Small Fire The Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Alabama yesterday suspended weapons destruction following a small fire, the U.S. Army said (see GSN, Jan. 12). “A small electrical component apparently overheated and started a small fire.  ANCDF workers acted quickly and correctly using a hand-held fire extinguisher,” government site project manager Timothy Garrett said in a press release.  “It appears this is nothing more than a piece of man-made equipment … [that] broke.” The facility at the time of the early morning fire was not conducting disposal of rockets carrying VX nerve agent.  Normal operations were expected to resume quickly, Garrett said (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release, Jan. 24). Back to top

Czech Republic Rejects Missile Defense Criticism Czech Republic leaders yesterday rejected suggestions that U.S. missile defense installations in Eastern Europe would pose a threat to Russia, the Czech Republic Business Newswire reported (see GSN, Jan. 24). “It is absolute nonsense,” said Gen. Pavel Stefka, chief of staff of the Czech armed forces, responding to statements by Russian officials. “It cannot be considered a threat to Russia,” said Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, saying the system is intended only for defense and could be expanded to cover Russia. The United States has proposed to place missile interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. “This radar monitors missiles that have already been launched and it cannot monitor what is going on on the ground … because of the terrain,” Stefka said. “It is a system of antimissile defense, which not does not have, and cannot have, other than defensive purposes,” said Czech Defense Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek.  “It fires (interceptor) missiles with no explosive warheads that destroy ballistic missiles only due to the power of impact, which is why it cannot be a threat for anyone” (Czech Republic Business Newswire, Jan. 24). Back to top

State Department Nonproliferation Official Resigns A senior Bush administration official has announced his resignation from the State Department’s top nonproliferation job, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 18, 2005). Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, submitted his resignation letter yesterday, during a period of intense diplomatic activity involving the North Korean and Iranian nuclear crises.  His resignation would take effect next month, according to Reuters. Joseph has a reputation for opposing a negotiated deal with North Korea, Reuters reported, raising the possibility that he was leaving his job because the prospects for a North Korean agreement appear to be improving (see related GSN story, today). “I don’t know,” one senior official said about that speculation.  “He just told me he just decided it’s time to go” (Carol Giacomo, Reuters/Washington Post, Jan. 24). Back to top       Yucca Plan May Need to Be Scrapped, NRC Member Says Efforts to build the Yucca Mountain underground nuclear waste site in Nevada might need to be replaced with a new plan for a new location, an outgoing member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday (see GSN, Nov. 27, 2006). “It may be time to stop digging,” Edward McGaffigan said of the project, which is years behind its original schedule for completion.  He said Yucca Mountain has been troubled by “bad law, bad regulatory policy, bad personnel policy … bad budget policy.” “Realistically, we should probably be starting to look at new sites,” McGaffigan said, according to Energy Daily. Experts have said that underground storage is the best option for dealing with spent nuclear fuel, he said.  McGaffigan pointed to a Finnish project and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for storage of transuranic waste in New Mexico as examples of success. However, regular changes in leadership at Yucca, inconsistent funding and unsuccessful attempts by lawmakers to solve problems have undermined the project, he said. When McGaffigan joined the commission in 1996, Yucca was scheduled to open in 2010.  Recent Energy Department estimates indicate it might not open until between 2025 and 2027, he said.  It would be designed to contain 77,000 tons of nuclear waste. “I arrived at the commission 14 years from the alleged opening date of Yucca, and I leave the commission 20 years from the alleged opening date,” McGaffigan said (Jeff Beattie, Energy Daily, Jan. 23). Back to top

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