Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio said yesterday that 24 workers were punished after hundreds of classified nuclear weapons documents were discovered outside the laboratory in October (U.S. Energy Department photo). Lawmakers Slam Los Alamos Security By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Members of a House oversight panel expressed intense frustration yesterday with continuing security lapses at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and suggested relieving a national nuclear agency of its security responsibilities or closing the facility itself (see GSN, Jan. 24). Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) leaned on an automobile analogy.  “For far too long we’ve essentially been giving parking tickets to Los Alamos,” he said.  “Now, I’m convinced we may need to just tow the car.” Members of the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee pointed to years of hearings on security issues at the New Mexico laboratory that seem to have had little to no effect...Full Story

Impasse Could Spark Second North Korean Nuclear Test Failure to resolve the dispute over U.S. financial sanctions could lead North Korea to announce its intention to conduct a second nuclear test, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Jan. 30)...Full Story

European Fears of U.S. Attacks on Iran Contribute to Western Rift Over Nuclear Crisis Strategy Growing fears among European leaders that the United States could initiate military strikes against Iran’s nuclear program have led to a widening disagreement between the Western nations over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear crisis, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, Jan. 30)...Full Story

	Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Major Security Effort Planned for Super Bowl Security against a possible terror strike Sunday on the Super Bowl will involve more than 24 local, state and federal agencies, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 18, 2006). Components of the major security plan for the National Football League championship game in Miami include 66 canine bomb-detection teams, fighter jets and helicopters, tactical weapons teams, mobile explosives laboratories and hundreds of police officers in uniform. Sophisticated sensors will be used for detection of biological or radioactive materials, while Customs and Border Protection X-ray equipment will scan shipping containers and truck trailers for dangerous substances. “We don’t have any specific threat to this event,” said Julie Torres, head of the Miami office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  “It is the biggest event in the nation as far as a sport event.  It is vulnerable as far as any terrorist activity.  We have to plan excessively so we can provide proper security” (Curt Anderson, Associated Press/ABC News, Jan. 26). Back to top

New Zealand Signs Antiterrorism Protocols New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today that the government has signed two international protocols against WMD proliferation and maritime terrorism, the New Zealand Press Association reported (see GSN, May 9, 2006). The protocols allow for boarding of ships suspected of involvement in terrorism or WMD smuggling, and create new offenses for those crimes.  They bolster the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation. Lawmakers must pass legislation ratifying the protocols, Peters said.  Australia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and seven other nations have already approved the measures (New Zealand Press Association/New Zealand Herald, Jan. 31). Back to top       DARPA Funds Protein Research for WMD Sensors A group of U.S. scientists has received federal funding for protein research that could have major WMD detection applications, Vanderbilt University announced Friday (see GSN, Jan. 11, 2005). The research aims to monitor and change the shape of single proteins. “In the area of chemical and biological agent sensors, the controllable protein is the equivalent of the transistor in microelectronics,” Vanderbilt professor John Wikswo said in a press release. “The single transistor was a technical breakthrough, but its true potential was not realized until millions of transistors were combined on individual microcircuits,” he said.  “Similarly, the true potential of controllable proteins will be realized when we can combine them into large arrays that can be dynamically tuned to respond to a wide variety of different agents.” Vanderbilt’s Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education is leading the team that also includes scientists from the University of Tennessee, University of Texas, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has provided $1.3 million for the first phase of the yearlong study (Vanderbilt University release, Jan. 26). Back to top

Lawmakers Slam Los Alamos Security By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Members of a House oversight panel expressed intense frustration yesterday with continuing security lapses at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and suggested relieving a national nuclear agency of its security responsibilities or closing the facility itself (see GSN, Jan. 24). Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) leaned on an automobile analogy.  “For far too long we’ve essentially been giving parking tickets to Los Alamos,” he said.  “Now, I’m convinced we may need to just tow the car.” Members of the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee pointed to years of hearings on security issues at the New Mexico laboratory that seem to have had little to no effect. “I will not tolerate continued security lapses and the thumbing of their nose at Congress,” said Stupak, subcommittee chairman. Lawmakers heaped withering criticism on the laboratory, which most recently allowed a contract employee to go home with hundreds of classified documents.  Local police found the documents during a drug raid at the woman’s mobile home (see GSN, Nov. 2, 2006). Los Alamos Director Michael Anastasio told the subcommittee that 24 laboratory workers have been disciplined for that incident.  Three were reassigned and others received lesser punishments, such as suspensions without pay and written reprimands, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported today. “My board and I personally find this incident totally unacceptable,” Anastasio said. Los Alamos was the birthplace of the U.S. nuclear bomb and remains integral to the nation’s nuclear production complex.  In addition to weapons research, the facility is the only place plutonium pits for U.S. nuclear warheads are produced. The laboratory has suffered black eyes over security in recent years.  In one case, a pair of missing hard drives containing sensitive information went missing only to be found behind a copy machine. Work at the laboratory was temporarily halted in 2004 while workers looked for two computer disks that were eventually determined to have never existed (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2005). The search was a product of faulty recordkeeping. “I feel a little bit like this is ‘Groundhog Day,’” said Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.).  “We seem to be waking up over and over to experience the same events with regard to security at the national laboratories.” Los Alamos has “proven itself incapable” of managing security, he said. Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas), along with Stupak, Dingell and others on the committee, introduced late Monday legislation that would remove from the National Nuclear Security Administration its security responsibilities and return them to the Energy Department. The agency, a semiautonomous arm of the Energy Department, has a number of responsibilities, including overseeing the “safety, reliability and performance” of the U.S. nuclear stockpile and promoting nuclear nonproliferation. “I believe this is the 10th hearing in the past four years,” Barton said.  “Enough is enough.  This is not a fast food restaurant on a corner somewhere.  This is the crown jewel of our weapons complex.” Barton lambasted the current laboratory management, which is led by the University of California and San Francisco-based engineering behemoth Bechtel.  “The current contractor at Los Alamos apparently doesn’t give a damn about this,” he said. The new management group took over in June 2006.  The change in leadership was a direct result of safety and security issues that arose when the university was the sole manager at Los Alamos. Barton called for withholding payment to the laboratory managers or possibly assessing financial penalties if the situation is not addressed.  He also suggested reducing the number of classified activities, materials and computers housed at Los Alamos. “We need to do something about this problem,” Barton said.  “If there were a way to start over, I would say shut down Los Alamos, fire everyone out there and start a new weapons laboratory somewhere else.” Barton acknowledged that his proposal might not be cost effective.  He said, though, that if security problems persist in a year he might suggest that the facility indeed be shuttered. Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell told the committee that despite years of attention and millions of dollars thrown at the problem, “we are confronted again with a security failure, the facts of which suggest we still have a much larger and deeper problem.” Progress has been made regarding security but the current conditions “remain unacceptable,” he said. The lack of results prompted the removal of NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks earlier this month, Sell said (see GSN, Jan. 5). When Representative Charlie Melancon (D-La.) suggested that “the problem is the tail’s wagging this dog,” Sell took the opportunity to address calls for Los Alamos’ closure. “It has been suggested that we shoot the dog and I have to reject that suggestion in the strongest possible terms,” Sell said. Acting NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino acknowledged that steps need to be taken to improve the “security culture” at Los Alamos. “Make no doubt about this,” he said.  “I will use every management tool available to me.” That could include possibly replacing the university and Bechtel as the laboratory managers, he said. Back to top       Impasse Could Spark Second North Korean Nuclear Test Failure to resolve the dispute over U.S. financial sanctions could lead North Korea to announce its intention to conduct a second nuclear test, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Jan. 30). Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser is meeting in Beijing this week with North Korean officials to discuss Washington’s allegations that Pyongyang is counterfeiting U.S. currency.  The meetings were making some progress and had “established a framework” for further talks, Glaser said. He said U.S. Secret Service officials had submitted their findings to North Korean negotiators. However, a source close to the government in Pyongyang said Washington had not proven wrongdoing, and that North Korea was likely to raise the issue at the next round of six-nation talks.  Negotiations are scheduled to resume Feb. 8 in Beijing. “If the United States does not resolve it, North Korea will have no choice but to announce at the six-party talks that it plans to conduct another test,” the source told Reuters. North Korea conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9. The sanctions situation will greatly determine the potential for success in the six-nation negotiations, said South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon. Song played down the likelihood for significant progress in the upcoming talks on disarming North Korea. “We hope to adopt a joint document,” he said.  “But the substance of the document is such that it’s a ridge we have not set foot on.  So, despite the strong will of the countries to get here, whether we can will depend on a lot of consultation and time” (Benjamin Kang Lim, Reuters/Washington Post, Jan. 31). U.S. and Asian officials expressed cautious optimism about the potential for a breakthrough at the talks, the Washington Post reported today. The White House appears to be giving the State Department more room to negotiate proposals and outcomes in the standoff, while North Korean officials now seem interested in discussing the meat of the matter rather than focusing on minor details, officials said. The United States and China want to see some sort of freeze placed on the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which in the last four years has produced enough plutonium for 10 weapons, the Post reported.  Pyongyang to date has offered only to allow international nuclear inspectors back into the country. Some resolution of the $24 million North Korean funds frozen at the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia is also likely to be part of a nuclear deal.  Washington has indicated recently that it might support releasing funds not linked to illicit North Korean financial activity (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Jan. 31). Financial sanctions against Pyongyang “can provide a bit of leverage” in the upcoming negotiations, former U.S. national intelligence chief John Negroponte said yesterday during his confirmation hearing to become deputy secretary at the State Department. The White House might want to reconsider the sanctions policy in order to achieve a Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons, said Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) argued that now, with the six-party talks set to resume, would not be the best time to press the case that North Korea used U.N. Development Program funds for its nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 25).  The matter should have been brought up in “July, August, September or October,” he said (George Gedda, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Jan. 30). Back to top       European Fears of U.S. Attacks on Iran Contribute to Western Rift Over Nuclear Crisis Strategy Growing fears among European leaders that the United States could initiate military strikes against Iran’s nuclear program have led to a widening disagreement between the Western nations over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear crisis, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, Jan. 30). Two other issues have also contributed to the rift:  the question of how quickly to impose economic sanctions against Iran following a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for such measures and the matter of coping with Russian reluctance to act in the Security Council, according to the Guardian. “The clock is ticking,” said one European diplomat.  “Military action has come back on to the table more seriously than before.  The language in the U.S. has changed” (Traynor/Steele, The Guardian, Jan. 31). U.S. President George W. Bush last week authorized U.S. forces in Iraq to fire on Iranian personnel deemed threatening. “We don’t believe that [Iran’s] behavior, such as supporting Shia extremists in Iraq, should go unchallenged,” Deputy Secretary of State-designate John Negroponte said yesterday in his Senate confirmation hearing (Helene Cooper, New York Times, Jan. 31). The tough U.S. talk has created fears among some critics that Washington will strike Iran for strategic reasons, but justify the move on local security concerns, the Guardian reported. In addition to concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Bush administration has expressed worries that Iran could be expanding its regional influence. “We don’t want a progressively more confident and bolder Iran,” a senior U.S. official said yesterday.  “The perception that Iran is ascendant in the region and that there are no limits to what Iran can do — that’s what is destabilizing” (Traynor/Steele, The Guardian). Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Department has ordered a freeze on all sales of spare F-14 fighter jet parts, equipment long sought by Iran to maintain its fleet of F-14s purchased from the United States before the 1979 revolution, the Associated Press reported today. The United States retired its F-14s last year and put thousands of now-unneeded spare parts up for sale.  After seeing evidence that Iran was purchasing some of those parts through third-party buyers, the Pentagon on Friday ordered a ban on all parts sales (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Jan. 31). Back to top       Seized Uranium in Georgia Could Be Untraceable Authorities might never determine the origin of weapon-grade uranium seized from a smuggler last year in Georgia, RIA Novosti reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 29). Russian Oleg Khinsagov was caught trying to sell a 100-gram sample for $1 million.  He purported to have access to up to 3 kilograms of the material.  Georgian officials have said they believe the material was stolen from Russian facilities, but a Russian nuclear expert said it could be difficult to be certain where the material was enriched. “If this uranium was produced in the 1940s to 1950s, it will be extremely difficult to identify the country of origin,” said the expert, a research associate with the Russian Scientific Research Institute of Nuclear Reactors. He asserted that it would be extremely difficult to steal such material today (RIA Novosti, Jan. 30.). Back to top       U.S. Funds GNEP Site Feasibility Studies The U.S. Energy Department said yesterday it has awarded more than $10 million for studies on whether 11 different sites around the country could house spent nuclear fuel recycling plants as part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (see GSN, Jan. 11). The partnership calls for nations with nuclear fuel cycle capabilities to provide fuel to other nations with the agreement that the material be used only for energy purposes.  The United States would recycle spent fuel so that it could be reused rather than stored at a waste site. Critics have questioned administration claims that new technology would prevent the separation during recycling of weaponizable plutonium (see GSN, May 3, 2006). Proposed sites for fuel recycling plants are in Atomic City, Idaho; the Idaho National Laboratory; Barnwell, S.C.; the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina; the Hanford Site in Washington state; Hobbs, N.M.; Roswell, N.M.; Morris, Ill.; the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee; the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky; and the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Ohio. Site studies will include consideration of area land uses, demographics, ecological and habitat assessments, threatened or endangered species, weather and climate and other issues (U.S. Energy Department release, Jan. 30). Back to top       Pakistan Aims to Join Nuclear Suppliers Group Pakistan plans to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 45-nation body that sets guidelines for trading nuclear materials and technology, the Pakistani Daily Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Mar. 21, 2006). The goal was described in a report of a government planning commission, which did not address a major possible stumbling block:  Pakistan’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  All NSG members are treaty parties and current export rules restrict the supply of nuclear materials to NPT nations (see GSN, Sept. 15, 2006). Still, Pakistan would seek membership, the commission said, in part to ensure its access to uranium to fuel a growing number of nuclear power reactors (Fida Hussain, Daily Times, Jan. 30). Back to top

U.S. Looks to Involve Ukraine in Missile Defense The United States is hoping that Ukraine will join its missile defense effort, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 26). Officials from Washington and Kiev have met on several occasions to discuss the matter, said U.S. Brig. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, deputy director of the Missile Defense Agency. “We are exploring how we can continue to work with them,” he said.  “They are a very adept country with a tremendous background in missile technology” (Associated Press I, Jan. 30). Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said there had been no offer from the United States regarding his country’s potential involvement in the U.S. missile shield, RIA Novosti reported. “I haven’t heard of such an issue.  As far as I know, it doesn’t exist,” he said (RIA Novosti, Jan. 30). Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko also denied reports that he was conducting negotiations on a possible deal, ITAR-Tass reported. “These reports are totally wrong,” the Defense Ministry press service said yesterday.  Gritsenko “did not put forward any initiatives concerning Ukrainian-U.S. cooperation in missile technologies and defense” (ITAR-Tass, Jan. 30). Meanwhile, legislators in Poland plan in coming days to begin consideration of the U.S. offer to place 10 missile interceptors in their country, AP reported. “This is certainly a topic which should be discussed by all parliamentary parties,” said Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Washington also hopes to place a radar system in the Czech Republic (Vanessa Gera, Associated Press II/Daily Comet, Jan. 30). 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.