IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, shown arriving in Beijing yesterday, began meetings with North Korean officials in Pyongyang today (Getty Images). IAEA Chief Arrives in North Korea International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei arrived in North Korea today for talks aimed at furthering the nuclear disarmament deal reached at the last round of six-party talks, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 12). “I hope we should be able to make some progress,” ElBaradei said before leaving China. Pyongyang expelled IAEA inspectors in 2002, and then walked away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  ElBaradei said he would like to see the agency “work closer with the D.P.R.K. after many years of estrangement.” North Korea agreed last month to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allow IAEA inspectors back into the country.  These would be the first steps of denuclearization...Full Story

Iran Could Face New Sanctions This Week Six leading U.N. powers neared agreement yesterday to add sanctions against Iran for the nation’s refusal to curb its nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 12)...Full Story

U.S. Conducts Subcritical Nuclear Test Series The United States has conducted four subcritical nuclear tests this year involving small amounts of plutonium, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 26, 2006)...Full Story

	Tuesday, March 13, 2007

IAEA Chief Arrives in North Korea International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei arrived in North Korea today for talks aimed at furthering the nuclear disarmament deal reached at the last round of six-party talks, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 12). “I hope we should be able to make some progress,” ElBaradei said before leaving China. Pyongyang expelled IAEA inspectors in 2002, and then walked away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  ElBaradei said he would like to see the agency “work closer with the D.P.R.K. after many years of estrangement.” North Korea agreed last month to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allow IAEA inspectors back into the country.  These would be the first steps of denuclearization. “I think obviously these initial steps will be important, significant in fact, in moving the six-party talks forward,” ElBaradei said. Suspension of work at Yongbyon “can be done in a short period of time (and) we’re reasonably confident they will take that step,” said one U.S. official. A second official appeared less confident, Reuters reported. “My understanding is that some of what we have seen in recent weeks is maintenance and the like, but we’ll have a better idea after ElBaradei visits this week,” the official said. After closing his visit to Pyongyang, ElBaradei might meet with lead U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill tomorrow in Beijing. Hill is scheduled to attend working group meetings required under the Feb. 13 agreement.  Sessions are planned for Thursday on supplying aid and energy to North Korea, while a denuclearization working group is scheduled to meet Saturday (Reuters/New York Times, March 13). North Korea could face debilitating economic penalties from the other nations involved in the talks — China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States — if it reneges on the deal, former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said. “North Korea also has a reason to seize the opportunity to achieve success in the six-party talks,” he said.  “North Korea’s survival could be threatened” by harsh sanctions (Associated Press I/New York Times, March 13). The U.S. investigation of a bank linked to illicit North Korean financial activities is nearly finished, AP reported. Macau-based Banco Delta Asia froze $24 million in North Korean assets after being blacklisted by Washington.  Pyongyang has demanded that U.S. financial sanctions be lifted before it follows through on the disarmament deal. “We’re working hard to resolve the BDA matter and will do so in the very near future,” said Treasury Department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise. “The [18-month] investigation has only confirmed the ongoing illicit activity at BDA, including the bank’s willingness to facilitate illicit transactions on behalf of their North Korean-related clients,” she said. An announcement from the department this week could lead to the release of between $8 million and $12 million in frozen funds, AP reported (Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press II/Washington Post, March 12). Macau might also liquidate the bank, meaning that North Korea could reclaim at least some portion of the frozen funds, possibly the full $24 million, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 12). Back to top       Iran Could Face New Sanctions This Week Six leading U.N. powers neared agreement yesterday to add sanctions against Iran for the nation’s refusal to curb its nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 12). U.N. ambassadors from China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States met again yesterday in New York to continue the nearly daily schedule of the past 10 days.  The discussions have focused on new measures to penalize Iran after it ignored a December Security Council resolution that demanded a nuclear freeze and imposed limited economic sanctions. “This is the best meeting we have had since the beginning of these negotiations,” French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said yesterday.  “We are now very close, and we have made today (much) progress.” The Western nations appeared to drop some earlier proposals that never found Russian or Chinese support, AP reported. In particular, the new draft resolution would not ban the international travel of certain Iranian officials, would not prohibit Iran from importing weapons and would not deny export credits to companies doing business in Iran, according to AP.  The United States and the European nations had sought all those measures. The six nations have agreed to ban Iranian arms exports, to stop government loans to Iran, and to expand the list of Iranian officials and firms whose foreign-held assets are to be frozen, AP reported. “It’s a package approach, and so there are things that we’re very pleased about, and things that we’re less pleased about — and likewise for probably every delegation involved,” said acting U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff. “If everything goes well, our hope would be to get it done by the end of the week — a vote,” he added (Edith Lederer, Associated Press I/Boston Herald, March 13). Iran dismissed the prospect of new sanctions as unimportant. “The adoption of another resolution is unwelcome but is not worrying,” government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told reporters today.  “It will not affect our work and will not concern our people” (Agence France-Presse I/SpaceWar.com, March 13). The United States was also dismissive of announced plans for Iran’s president to address the Security Council.  Elham said yesterday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to address the council to explain Iran’s nuclear intentions. “I’m not sure what purpose that would serve,” U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said yesterday.  Still, the United States would grant a visa for Ahmadinejad to visit New York if he requested one, Casey said (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, March 12). Meanwhile in Tehran, lawmakers have budgeted $135 million for construction of a domestically produced nuclear power reactor and for selecting locations for additional facilities, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, March 7). The 360-megawatt reactor would be an early step toward Iran’s goal of generating 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power by 2020, according to Reuters.  A Russian-built reactor nearing completion at Bushehr would produce 1,000 megawatts. “Parliament has put 1.2 trillion rials ($135 million) of next year’s budget into building and completing Iran’s 360 MW power plant and also into selecting sites to build new plants,” Iranian state radio reported (Reuters/Khaleej Times, March 12). U.S. lawmakers, for their part, have stepped back from legislation that would have required their approval for any military action against Iran (see GSN, March 6). Democratic House leaders removed the provision from a military spending bill, after members of their own party protested, AP reported today. “It would take away perhaps the most important negotiating tool that the U.S. has when it comes to Iran,” said Representative Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.). “I didn’t think it was a very wise idea to take things off the table if you’re trying to get people to modify their behavior and normalize it in a civilized way,” added New York Democrat Gary Ackerman (Associated Press II/USA Today, March 13). Back to top       U.S. Conducts Subcritical Nuclear Test Series The United States has conducted four subcritical nuclear tests this year involving small amounts of plutonium, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 26, 2006). The Nevada Test Site experiments, dubbed the “Thermos” tests, have involved gram-size amounts of fissile material, less than in previous U.S. subcritical tests.  Such tests examine the properties of plutonium during an explosion without creating a nuclear chain reaction. “There is no nuclear yield out of this,” said NTS head Gerald Talbot.  “So, we're trying to determine what the material properties of plutonium are at higher temperatures and pressures.” The most recent Thermos test was conduct Thursday and the first was exploded Feb. 7, according to Energy Department spokesman Darwin Morgan (Keith Rogers, Las Vegas Review-Journal, March 12). Back to top       South Asian Rivals Hold Peace and Security Talks India and Pakistan today began a new round of peace and security talks that could include discussion of limits to nuclear weapons and missile systems, the Malaysia Sun reported (see GSN, Aug. 23, 2006). The Islamabad talks are the fourth in a series of foreign-secretary level meetings, according to the Sun.  Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan and his Indian counterpart Shiv Shanker Menon lead the delegations. The session could take on a Pakistani proposal for a “strategic restraint regime,” said Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam.  That offer has raised the prospect of mutual force reductions and a missile freeze, the Sun reported (Naveen Kapoor, Malaysia Sun, March 13). Back to top       Libya Seeks U.S. Help for Nuclear Plant Libya is seeking help from the United States to construct its first nuclear plant, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, June 27). The government “has given the green light to enter into negotiations on this question and to discuss with the United States with the aim of reaching an agreement on developing and cooperating on the peaceful use of nuclear power,” a senior official told AFP. Libya’s parliament on Sunday authorized the foreign ministry to move ahead with an agreement, according to the official JANA news agency. “The agreement aims at establishing a nuclear station in Libya to produce electricity, desalting water, and developing the radiochemistry performance at energy research centers,” JANA reported. The proposed deal also reportedly would enable Libyan students to undergo nuclear technology training in the United States and set up a nuclear medicine center in Libya. State Department spokesman Tom Casey could not confirm the report.  “I’m certainly aware of no plans for the United States to participate in nuclear programs with Libya,” he said. Libya has not received fair compensation from the West for its 2003 decision to renounce weapons of mass destruction, leader Muammar Qadhafi told the BBC this month. “Libya has not been properly compensated, so other countries, like Iran and North Korea, will not follow his lead,” Qadhafi said.  “Libya is disappointed because the promises given by America and Britain were not fulfilled.” That does not mean Libya would resume its status as a pariah state linked to terrorism. “Libya will never go back,” Qadhafi said.  “I believe that the era of hostility and confrontation is behind us” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 12). Back to top       British Lawmaker Resigns Post over Trident Plan A senior British lawmaker yesterday stepped down as deputy head of the House of Commons in opposition to the government’s plans to replace its Trident nuclear weapon system, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 12). “I am resigning with a heavy heart but a clear conscience,” Nigel Griffiths, a member of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labor Party, said in a prepared statement. Griffiths said he would vote tomorrow against a Downing Street proposal to replace the four British submarines that carry the nuclear-tipped Trident missiles.  Labor Party lawmakers who vote against the plan could face discipline, AP reported. A decision on replacing the weapons themselves is not expected before 2009, after Blair has left office. Lawmakers Jim Devine and Stephen Pound are considering whether to leave their positions as government minister aides before the vote (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, March 12). Back to top

Japanese Court Denies Chinese Citizens’ CW Claim Japan cannot be forced to compensate a number of Chinese citizens injured through exposure to Japanese chemical weapons left behind in their country at the end of World War II, the Tokyo High Court ruled today (see GSN, Jan. 25). The plaintiffs’ demand for $682,000 had already been rejected by the Tokyo District Court, the Associated Press reported. The High Court acknowledged the illegal abandonment of chemical weapons, but ruled that Japanese governments following the war could not have adequately retrieved weapons from Chinese territory, one plaintiffs’ lawyer said. “The court confirmed the injuries were caused by the poison gas abandoned by Japan.  The government must clean them up properly and provide compensation for the damage,” said attorney Akin Izumisawa, who represents five family members of one plaintiff who died of unidentified causes in 2003. Izumisawa said he would appeal the decision to the Japanese Supreme Court. Japan is believed to have left as many as 700,000 chemical weapons in China, 38,000 of which have been collected to date.  The deadline for full retrieval and disposal of the weapons is April 2012 (Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press/mlive.com, March 13). Back to top       Barbados Joins Chemical Weapons Convention The island nation of Barbados this month became the 182nd country to join the Chemical Weapon Convention (see GSN, Nov. 22, 2006). Barbados submitted its instrument of accession on March 7 with the United Nations.  The treaty will enter into force in the country on April 6. The Dominican Republic and the Bahamas are now the only two Caribbean nations that have yet to join the treaty banning development, production, stockpiling or use of weapons containing materials such as sarin, VX or mustard agent. “As soon as those two are on board, then essentially the entire hemisphere will have joined,” Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons spokesman Peter Kaiser said today. A total of 13 nations have not joined the convention.  The other nonmember states are Angola, the Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau, Somalia, Myanmar, North Korea, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon and Syria (Chris Schneidmiller, Global Security Newswire, March 13). Back to top

Missile Threat Real in Europe, NATO Chief Says Europe faces the potential to become a target of a missile strike, a threat that could be reduced through development of a missile defense system, NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in an interview published Sunday (see GSN, March 12). “There is every reason to believe that, given the North Korean missile tests and the Iranian capability and what the Iranians are saying,” he told the Financial Times. “We have a feasibility study that says it is theoretically very possible to use missile defense to protect Europe as a whole,” de Hoop Scheffer added.  “But it needs political discussion.  It needs a discussion on who is going to pay what.” Discussion of a NATO missile shield has been overshadowed by U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense program in Poland and the Czech Republic.  Russia has vocally blasted the proposal as a threat to its strategic security. While supporting increased transparency with Moscow regarding the proposal, de Hoop Scheffer rejected the Russian argument. “You don’t need to be a technological wizard or an Einstein to understand that this cannot be possibly directed against the Russians and cannot diminish their first-strike capability,” he said. Iran could deploy ICBMs by 2015, NATO officials have said.  A European missile defense system combined with the U.S. installations scheduled to begin operating in 2011 could ensure the entire continent is covered, they said (Daniel Dombey, Financial Times, March 11). Talks among NATO members are expected over the next few weeks in preparation for an anticipated June report on the missile danger facing Europe, the Associated Press reported.  NATO foreign ministers are expected to discuss the issue when they meet in April in Oslo, Norway (Paul Ames, Associated Press/Sun-Sentinel, March 13). The head of the U.S. Missile Defense agency was leading a delegation today in Ukraine to discuss Washington’s missile defense plan, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 13). The United States believes its plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic would benefit NATO, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said yesterday. “We believe that this is something that provides a valuable means of preventing an attack from a rogue state or other kinds of elements out there.  And it’s something that is beneficial for the United States and beneficial for the alliance,” he said (Xinhua News Agency/People's Daily, March 13). Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder disagreed Sunday, Reuters reported. “The missile defense system planned by the United States and which is to be installed in Eastern Europe is politically extremely dangerous,” he said in a speech in Dresden.  “It is viewed, rightly, in Russia, and not only there, as an attempt to establish an absurd encirclement policy, a policy which is everything but in the interest of Europe” (Reuters/Yahoo!News, March 11). Back to top       U.S. Missile Defenses Exceed Goals, Contractor Says U.S. missile defenses deployed in Alaska and California have surpassed expectations about their reliability, lead contractor Boeing said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 1). The Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptors were placed on alert last summer before a set of North Korean missile tests and performed well, said Boeing program director Scott Fancher (see GSN, July 10, 2006). “The system was much more robust than we had hoped,” he said of the system’s software and other computer equipment. Fancher said Boeing plans three ground tests and three flight tests of the GMD system this year, two of which would include the sea-based X-band radar recently moved to Alaska (see GSN, Feb. 9). Also, Boeing was studying the possibility of altering the three-stage GMD interceptor into a two-stage rocket that would be deployed in Europe (see related GSN story, today; Andrea Shalai-Esa, Reuters, March 12). Back to top

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