The first fueling of Iran’s nuclear power reactor at Bushehr will be delayed, Russia announced today. Iran has argued that Moscow is bowing to U.S. pressure against the Bushehr facility (Getty Images). Russia Stalls Iranian Nuclear Reactor Startup Russia has decided to delay the first shipment of uranium fuel to the nuclear reactor it is completing in Iran, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 9). The decision follows a dispute that Russian officials say is about Iran’s failure to meet contractual payments, while Iranian officials have accused Russia of caving to U.S. pressure to halt the deal for the Bushehr reactor...Full Story

IAEA Chief Heads to North Korea International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei was heading for North Korea today for talks on instituting the Feb. 13 nuclear disarmament agreement, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 9)...Full Story

Anniston Incinerator Finishes Off VX Rockets The Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Alabama on Thursday completed elimination of 35,662 M55 rockets carrying VX nerve agent, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 25)...Full Story

	Monday, March 12, 2007

Blix Blasts Blair on Iraq WMD Intelligence British officials intentionally exaggerated intelligence assessments of Iraq’s prewar WMD capabilities, according to the former top U.N. weapons inspector (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2006). If U.S. and British leaders had allowed U.N. inspectors just “a couple of months more” to conduct work in Iraq, they would have concluded that the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had no active WMD programs, said Hans Blix in an interview to be broadcast today. Instead, officials chose to ignore concerns within the intelligence communities about the confidence of their assessments. “I do think they exercised spin,” Blix said.  “They put exclamation marks instead of question marks” (Associated Press/New York Times, March 12). Back to top

Russia Stalls Iranian Nuclear Reactor Startup Russia has decided to delay the first shipment of uranium fuel to the nuclear reactor it is completing in Iran, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 9). The decision follows a dispute that Russian officials say is about Iran’s failure to meet contractual payments, while Iranian officials have accused Russia of caving to U.S. pressure to halt the deal for the Bushehr reactor. “It will be impossible to launch the reactor in September, and there can be no talk about supplying fuel this month,” says a statement from Russia’s nuclear exporting firm. Talks in Russia last week failed to bridge the differences between the two nations, AP reported (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press I/Houston Chronicle, March 12). The Russian-built reactor project has frustrated U.S. officials who have argued the deal undermines international efforts to find a long-term solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. “The Americans and Russians will never admit to this, but [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does not want a crisis with the United States,” said a Western defense source.  “The Russians are using the economic issues to cause problems” (United Press International, March 11). Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad intends to address the U.N. Security Council to explain his country’s nuclear ambitions, an Iranian spokesman said yesterday. “The president of Iran plans to speak in a possible meeting of the Security Council on Iran’s nuclear program to defend the right of the nation to use peaceful nuclear technology,” said Gholamhossein Elham (Nazila Fathi, New York Times, March 12). Iran had not yet formally requested the appearance, said council president Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, but he expected the council would hear him. “I would be very surprised if they said they don’t want to hear him,” Kumalo said. Diplomats from the five permanent council members and Germany met again yesterday to discuss a possible new resolution that would strengthen economic sanctions imposed against Iran in December, AP reported. The 90-minute meeting at the British mission in New York bore little fruit, some of the diplomats said. The session was “a difficult one,” said acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff.  “We had a session today that showed that there were still some firm views on all sides. ... I am hopeful still that we can overcome these remaining differences.” China and Russia have opposed Western efforts for much more strenuous sanctions following Iran’s refusal to freeze its nuclear activities as the December resolution demanded. China, in particular, has resisted a proposal to limit loan guarantees for businesses with Iranian dealings, AP reported.  Beijing has, however, expressed more openness for a proposal to ban Iran from selling arms to other nations. In any case, China looked forward to hearing what Ahmadinejad had to say to the council. “It will be fun if he comes — especially in connection with the adoption of this resolution!” said Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya (Edith Lederer, Associated Press II/Yahoo!News, March 12). Back to top       IAEA Chief Heads to North Korea International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei was heading for North Korea today for talks on instituting the Feb. 13 nuclear disarmament agreement, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 9). Among the first steps in the deal reached during the six-party talks is resuming IAEA monitoring of atomic facilities in the Stalinist state.  North Korea expelled agency officials in 2002 and then announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. ElBaradei was meeting with Chinese officials today in Beijing, and was expected in Pyongyang tomorrow. “It is going to be a very incremental process,” he said.  “We need a lot of bridges to build, confidence to re-establish.” “I hope we can agree with the D.P.R.K. to get our inspectors back in time to implement the agreement of the six-party talks,” which also calls for closing the Yongbyon nuclear reactor within 60 days, ElBaradei said. ElBaradei could not say whether the agency and North Korea could reach agreement before the April deadline, Reuters reported. “I’d like this trip at least to establish the framework and then gradually move forward,” he said.  “It is in their interest obviously to keep to that deadline, but we’ll see.” He also hopes to discuss Pyongyang’s re-entry into the treaty (Reuters I/New York Times, March 12). Chief North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan on Saturday advised the United States to lift economic sanctions, one of the components of the nuclear agreement, or face the consequences, the Associated Press reported. “The U.S. has promised the North it would scrap financial sanctions on the Banco Delta Asia,” he said.  If that does not happen, Pyongyang “will be forced to take corresponding steps.” He did not offer details of those steps, but one option would be to slow work on meeting Pyongyang’s obligations under the deal (Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, March 10). North Korea also Saturday issued another warning against U.S.-South Korean war games, scheduled from March 25 to 31, Reuters reported. “The projected saber-rattling is an uncouth act little short of leveling a gun at the dialogue partner,” a government spokesman said.  “The war moves will only becloud the prospect for the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and bring destruction” (Reuters II, March 10). Pyongyang strongly wants normal diplomatic relations with the United States, according to academics who met with North Korean officials earlier this month in San Francisco. “What they want is normalization with the United States and the possibility of a strategic relationship with the U.S.,” said Stanford University professor John Lewis. Lewis and eight others met with the officials who were headed to New York for talks with U.S. diplomats. The administration has seemingly become more flexible in its dealings with North Korea, years after President George W. Bush included the regime in the “axis of evil.”  The switch has not erased Pyongyang’s doubts, Lewis said. “They are quite unsure, very unsure, if the shift in Washington is a policy shift or is strategic,” he said (Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press II/Yahoo!News, March 10). Back to top       Nuclear Suppliers to Defer Decision on Indian Deal The U.S.-Indian nuclear deal will not be ready for discussion at next month’s annual meeting of nuclear exporting nations, the Times of India reported yesterday (see GSN, March 9). The agreement to sell nuclear power technology to India, despite New Delhi’s refusal to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, requires changes to U.S. and international export control rules.  The U.S. Congress approved initial changes last year, but the international Nuclear Suppliers Group has not yet formally addressed the question. The group is waiting for U.S. and Indian officials to complete an agreement detailing precisely the technologies India would buy from U.S. firms.  Also in the wings is an agreement for the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor activities at Indian sites that New Delhi deems peaceful. Neither the detailed agreement nor the agency safeguards agreement is close to completion, according to the Times. Indian officials are hoping to begin talks with their U.S. counterparts this month, the Times reported, but little progress has been made with the agency, according to IAEA spokesman Peter Rickwood (Indrani Bagchi, Times of India, March 11). Meanwhile, NSG member Japan has indicated it would wait for India to finalize the terms of the U.S. deal and the IAEA safeguards agreement before approving changes to international export rules, the Indo-Asian News Service reported yesterday. “There are positive advantages of taking India into the global nuclear mainstream,” Japanese Ambassador to India Yasukuni Enoki said.  “But then there are consequences of giving an exception to India which will cause a loophole in the NPT” (Indo-Asian News Service/Yahoo!News, March 11). Back to top       Uranium Leak Halts Work at U.S. Weapons Plant A U.S. nuclear weapons facility in Tennessee experienced two spills of enriched uranium liquids last month, sustaining concerns over the aging plant’s safety, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 29). The leaks were discovered at the Y-12 site at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where technicians process uranium removed from nuclear warheads. The first spill occurred Feb. 6 and the second was spotted a week later in the same area of the plant.  More than two gallons of uranium solution leaked. “Data is being collected in the field to determine the cause of the unexpected movement of liquid and to identify any actions to be taken to prevent it in the future,” said plant spokesman Bill Wilburn. In the meantime, managers have put the process involving the leaking tank on “administrative hold.” The facility’s “wet chemistry” program has suffered multiple accidents, the News Sentinel reported, leading to a partial shutdown for over a decade (see GSN, Oct. 25, 2006; Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, March 9). Back to top       Blair Needs Opposition Aid for Trident Vote Support from British lawmakers in other parties is likely to be necessary if Labor Party Prime Minister Tony Blair hopes for approval of his plan to replace the Trident nuclear weapon system, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, March 8). The House of Commons is expected to vote on the matter this week. A BBC Radio poll found that 64 Labor Party lawmakers opposed the nuclear modernization plan.  Fifteen were undecided and 22 backed the initiative. The Labor Party has a 67-member majority in the House of Commons, AFP reported. The leading opposition Conservative Party has supported the $39 billion plan, while the smaller Liberal Democrats opposition party has opposed the existing proposal and favors additional debate (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, March 11). Back to top

Canada to Fund Biodefense at Cricket Competition Canada has agreed to provide $760,000 for biodefense and disease surveillance efforts at the Cricket World Cup, Agence France-Presse reported Friday (see GSN, Oct. 10, 2006). Competition begins tomorrow, and is being conducted in a number of Caribbean countries, including St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and Jamaica.  Attendance is expected to reach 100,000. “Our assistance in making the Cricket World Cup a safe and secure event is a measure of our support for both the host countries and the thousands of visitors who will attend the games,” said Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. The funding is to be used for laboratory supplies, seaport health and cruise-ship management training, investigation equipment and other material. The Caribbean Epidemiological Center said the funds are needed “to deal with threats to health security from bioterrorism to pandemics that could arise during the event” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 9). Back to top       U.S. Biodefense Criteria Not Yet Prepared The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to fully develop mandated criteria for judging the success of federally funded biodefense efforts around the nation, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 8). “We’re not able to demonstrate accountability,” said Craig Thomas, who leads the agency office that tracks and evaluates public health agencies.  “It’s not just accountability to the CDC.  It’s accountability to your community.  It’s accountability to your local stakeholders and the people who fund you as well.” Biodefense funding for states rose from $40.7 million in 1999 to $950 million in 2002, part of a huge increase in antiterrorism spending in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax mailings that followed.  Total bioterrorism and pandemic preparedness funding has reached $5 billion. Funding has been used for disease surveillance, hiring medical personnel, and purchases of drugs and equipment.  This helped health agencies to significantly improve their ability to face major threats, according to health officials. Congress wanted statistical proof that the money is being well spent, but the Centers for Disease Control has relied on anecdotal evidence, AP reported. “The difficulty comes down to, how do you measure (improvement), how do you quantify that, so you have something you can track over time, something you can use to identify gaps that have to be filled,” said Richard Besser, head of the CDC terrorism preparedness office. The agency last year used only 23 of the 100 benchmarks developed in 2003.  Questions for states include the length of time needed to:  have a “knowledgeable public health professional” answer an urgent call, deliver a specimen to a laboratory, or initiate an epidemiological investigation of an incident. There are two major hurdles to developing the measurements, CDC officials say:  the absence of data showing what actions would achieve the greatest results in a specific incident and trouble reaching agreement among health departments on what needs to be measured. There is a lack of clarity regarding many of the measurements, according to health officials who attended a recent conference in Washington. “I don’t think they’re asking things that are measurable.  The right questions are not being asked,” said Kimberly Allan of the Virginia Health Department, calling the measurements overly broad and difficult to answer. Besser acknowledged that improvements are needed. “But it’s absolutely essential that we move forward and start measuring, and then as we get more experience, we’ll continue to refine and improve them,” he said (Kevin Freking, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 11). Back to top

Anniston Incinerator Finishes Off VX Rockets The Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Alabama on Thursday completed elimination of 35,662 M55 rockets carrying VX nerve agent, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 25). Those weapons contained 40,300 gallons of the substance, the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency said in a press release. Weapons disposal began in 2003 at the plant, which has also eliminated more than 142,428 munitions containing the nerve agent sarin. Disposal has now stopped at the facility during a maintenance period.  Disposal of 155 mm artillery shells filled with VX is scheduled to begin in summer.  The plant must also eliminate mustard agent stored at the Anniston Army Depot (Associated Press/USA Today, March 9). Back to top

U.S., Czech Officials Talk Missile Defense U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Czech President Vaclav Klaus discussed Washington’s missile defense plans in Europe during a meeting Friday, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 9). “They discussed a range of issues, including the possibility of cooperation on missile defense against potential developing threats from the Middle East,” Cheney’s office said following the session in Washington.  “The vice president commended the Czech Republic’s continuing contributions to global security as a strong NATO ally and stressed the U.S. commitment to Euro-Atlantic security, which would be further strengthened by missile defense cooperation.” The United States hopes to install a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland.  The Caucasus, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have also been mentioned as potential homes for additional U.S. missile shield sites. Klaus also met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who offered thanks for the Czech government’s support to date for the U.S. plan. “The secretary hopes to continue that dialogue with the Czechs on missile defense and also indicated that we have been and will continue dialogue with the Russians as well,” said Commander Joe Carpenter (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, March 9). Russia has been a vocal opponent of the missile defense program for Europe, warning that it could aim weapons at U.S. installations in order to ensure strategic security, AFP reported. The U.S. effort could produce “new lines of division in Europe,” French President Jacques Chirac said Friday. “The project raises numerous questions which require consideration before they are answered,” he said.  “We have to be very careful not to encourage new lines of division in Europe” (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, March 9). NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also warned against a missile shield that fails to protect all alliance nations, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Southeastern Europe would not be covered, according to NATO officials.  Its proximity to Iran means it would need an additional, shorter-range system. “We it comes to missile defense, there shouldn’t be an A-league and a B-league within NATO,” de Hoop Scheffer told the Times.  “For me it is indivisibility of security that is the guiding principle.” NATO plans to deploy a battlefield missile defense system by 2010 that could complement the U.S. program, he said.  “We are already moving forward with developing systems to protect deployed forces, rather than population centers and territories,” de Hoop Scheffer said.  “There could be at a later stage a relationship between the two systems” (Daniel Dombey, Financial Times, March 11). Back to top       U.S. Ready to Defend Satellites, Analysts Say The U.S. response to China’s antisatellite test earlier this year has been surprisingly quiet, according to some analysts who have concluded that Washington had taken measures to protect its space-based military systems even before the test, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday (see GSN, March 9). China on Jan. 11 destroyed one of its own weather satellites in orbit using a modified ballistic missile.  U.S. defense officials have given only a muted response, according to some experts. The relative quiet “is hard for me to understand except to conclude they already felt they had already dealt with this problem some time ago,” said John Pike, head of GlobalSecurity.org. Pike said a U.S. stealth satellite program was begun about seven years ago to protect space-based equipment. Such defensive measures enjoy widespread support at the Defense Department, but more controversial countermeasures, such as using missile defense technologies to protect satellites, are also under discussion, said another analyst. Agreement begins to fray “when you start talking about issues like, ‘Well do we now need space-based missile defense so we can shoot down China’s ASAT on the pad? … Do we need shoot-back systems in space?’” said Theresa Hitchens of the Center for Defense Information (Jim Mannion, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 10).   Back to top

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