U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill speaks to reporters today in Beijing after North Korea refused to attend six-nation nuclear talks. Pyongyang said $25 million in frozen funds must be returned before it resumes negotiations (Frederic Brown/Getty Images). Money Matter Slows North Korean Nuclear Negotiations The seemingly resolved dispute over $25 million in frozen North Korean funds today proved not quite finished, halting six-party talks on Pyongyang’s pledge to eliminate its nuclear weapons program (see GSN, March 19). U.S. officials announced yesterday that they had approved releasing the money at the Banco Delta Asia in Macau, which had been linked to counterfeiting and other illicit North Korean financial activities...Full Story

Changing Course, Russia Links Progress on Iranian Reactor to Resolution of Broader Nuclear Crisis Russia has dropped the pretense that it has delayed completion of a nuclear power reactor in Iran over a payment dispute and has instead told Iranian officials that the project will not proceed unless Tehran freezes its uranium enrichment program, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, March 19; Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, March 20)...Full Story

Iraq Chlorine Attacks Likely to Continue, Expert Says The accessibility of chlorine in Iraq means that insurgent attacks using the toxic chemical are likely to continue, one expert told the Associated Press yesterday (see GSN, March 19)...Full Story

	Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Israel Conducts Civil Defense Drill Israeli authorities were scheduled today to begin an exercise simulating a chemical weapons strike against a school and a rocket attack on a power station in Tel Aviv, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 30, 2006). Thousands of police officers and soldiers are expected to participate in the two-day event, the country’s largest civil defense drill. It is intended to show that authorities have gleaned lessons from the summer 2006 war with Hezbollah, which fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel.  The rockets killed 39 Israeli civilians, according to authorities.  Critics have charged the military with failing to provide adequate protection against the rockets, according to AP. “We are demonstrating through such an exercise the lessons we learned in the past war,” said Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Gershon, head of the Israeli Home Front Command. Up to 1,191 civilians and fighters died in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based.  Israel counts its combat deaths at 120 (Associated Pres/Yahoo!News, March 20). Back to top

Money Matter Slows North Korean Nuclear Negotiations The seemingly resolved dispute over $25 million in frozen North Korean funds today proved not quite finished, halting six-party talks on Pyongyang’s pledge to eliminate its nuclear weapons program (see GSN, March 19). U.S. officials announced yesterday that they had approved releasing the money at the Banco Delta Asia in Macau, which had been linked to counterfeiting and other illicit North Korean financial activities. Officials from Pyongyang today declined to join a meeting in Beijing of the lead nuclear negotiators from the nations participating in the talks, Reuters reported.  The meeting was canceled. “According to host China, North Korea is saying that it will not take part in talks unless it confirms the funds at BDA are transferred to its account in China,” said top Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae. “China urged North Korea to come forward, but North Korea did not do so.  There was no progress at all today,” he added. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill had said he hoped discussions would address moving forward with North Korea’s plan to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, along with additional denuclearization moves under the Feb. 13 agreement. The fund transfer could occur overnight, said South Korean deputy negotiator Lim Sung-nam.  “Tomorrow, we anticipate there will be main six-way talks in the morning,” he said. “It’s going to go well,” top North Korean envoy Kim Kye Gwan told a South Korean official.  “We’re going to have a good dream tonight” (Ueno/Kim, Reuters/Yahoo!News, March 20). The first day of talks yesterday went well, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao. This “creates favorable conditions for more progress on the implementation of further steps in the six-party talks process,” he said. Without specifying a date, Liu said North Korea is ready to take the first steps in the pact — halting work at Yongbyon and allowing international nuclear inspectors back into the country, Agence France-Presse reported (Kwanwoo/Hiyama, Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, March 20). Pyongyang  today also blasted Japan for its demand that the issue of North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens be tied into the denuclearization talks, AFP reported. “The present ruling quarter and the right-wing forces of Japan” do not want a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula, the official KCNA news agency said. Tokyo has said it would not join other nations in providing fuel oil and other assistance to North Korea under the deal until the abduction is resolved.  It rejects Pyongyang’s claims that all the abductees have either died or been returned. “We will stay with the same policy that we won’t fund the energy assistance without seeing progress,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told lawmakers yesterday (Kwanwoo/Hiyama, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 20). Back to top       Changing Course, Russia Links Progress on Iranian Reactor to Resolution of Broader Nuclear Crisis Russia has dropped the pretense that it has delayed completion of a nuclear power reactor in Iran over a payment dispute and has instead told Iranian officials that the project will not proceed unless Tehran freezes its uranium enrichment program, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, March 19; Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, March 20). Russia has begun to remove its personnel from the reactor site at Bushehr, the Associated Press reported today. A significant number of Russian technicians, engineers and other experts have returned to Russia over the last week, according to AP (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 20). Iran received the message last week in Moscow from Igor Ivanov, secretary of the Russian National Security Council, according to the Times. In recent weeks Russia has publicly denied that the Bushehr project was linked to the larger nuclear crisis. Just Sunday, for example, Ivanov said the reactor was “a separate issue” that would proceed regardless of international concerns over Iran’s enrichment plans. In February, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told some European officials that Russia would put Bushehr on hold until Iran froze its other nuclear activities.  He also told them that Russia would publicly claim that a financial dispute was the only reason for the delay, the Times reported (see GSN, March 12). “We’re not sure what mix of commercial and political motives are at play here,” said a senior Bush administration official in Washington.  “But clearly the Russians and the Iranians are getting on each other’s nerves — and that’s not all bad.” “We consider this a very important decision by the Russians,” added a senior European official.  “It shows that our disagreements with the Russians about the dangers of Iran’s nuclear program are tactical. Fundamentally, the Russians don’t want a nuclear Iran” (Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, March 20). Meanwhile, the full U.N. Security Council is gearing up to discuss on Wednesday a draft resolution tabled by the council’s five permanent members and Germany.  The resolution would expand economic sanctions against Iran for its refusal to curb its nuclear program. Council president South Africa has recommended amending the draft to call on Iran to freeze its uranium projects for 90 days while the council would simultaneously freeze the sanctions it imposed in December, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday. The six-nation draft resolution allows for suspending the sanctions, but only after Iran demonstrates its compliance with the freeze demand. “The 90-day period of grace provided to Iran would allow for a de-escalation of tensions and create an opportunity for Iran and the other parties involved to resume negotiations toward a long-term solution,” the South African text says. The South African effort has little hope for success, however, because the six-nation draft has the backing of all the veto-holding council members, AFP reported (Gerard Aziakou, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 19). Back to top       Iran Bars Nuclear Inspectors Iran recently prevented U.N. nuclear inspectors from entering an underground uranium enrichment facility, possibly to disguise the amount of progress the nation has made at the site, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 22). Iran has been installing hundreds of enrichment centrifuges at Natanz this year, working toward an interim goal of 3,000 machines. The International Atomic Energy Agency, however, has complained that Iran has not allowed inspectors to install all the verification equipment they need to monitor the site. In his most recent report on Iran, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said that all the agency demands had to be met by the time 500 centrifuges were installed. When inspectors visited the site Saturday, they were denied entry to the centrifuge chamber, AFP reported. One diplomat said Iran wanted to hide the fact “that it now has more than 500 centrifuges functioning underground.” Other diplomats, however, said the access denial could be a minor matter that might be resolved this week when more inspectors return to the site, possibly today (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 19). Back to top       Vietnam Signs Reactor Conversion Deal With U.S. Vietnam and the United States have agreed to a plan to modify a Vietnamese nuclear research reactor to use low-enriched uranium fuel and to transfer the site’s current supply of highly enriched uranium to Russia, the Energy Department announced yesterday (see GSN, March 8). “We commend the government of Vietnam and applaud their leadership in taking this significant step to protect nuclear material,” Thomas D’Agostino, acting administrator of the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a press release (National Nuclear Security Administration release, March 19). The announcement followed contract talks earlier this month in Vienna between Vietnam, Russia and International Atomic Energy Agency officials to set the details for the fuel removal.  The reactor’s fuel assemblies currently use uranium containing 36 percent of the uranium 235 isotope, well below weapon-grade (Greg Webb, GSN, March 19). The project to convert the reactor at Dalat to use low-enriched uranium fuel would be funded by the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, a U.S.-Russian effort to repatriate highly enriched uranium that the two nations distributed globally to nuclear reactors during the Cold War (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2006). Under contracts signed this week, the United States would provide a new batch of low-enriched fuel for the reactor.  In addition, Vietnam would implement security upgrades at Dalat and other sites with radioactive materials (NNSA release). Back to top       U.S. Dismantles Two Types of Older Nuclear Warheads The United States has finished dismantling two types of older nuclear weapons, the Energy Department announced today (see GSN, May 30, 2006). As part of an effort to dismantle obsolete and nondeployed nuclear weapons, the department’s Y-12 facility in Tennessee has dismantled the uranium components of the last W-56 warhead and two versions of B-61 warheads, according to a release. The W-56 had been deployed on Minuteman 2 ICBMs and the B-61 was a gravity bomb deployed on strategic bombers. “The president is committed to having the smallest nuclear weapons stockpile necessary for national security needs,” Thomas P. D’Agostino, acting administrator of the department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a press release.  “The final dismantlement of these two types of Cold War-era weapons components clearly demonstrates our dedication to reducing the size of the nuclear stockpile” (National Nuclear Security Administration release, March 20). Back to top       House Lawmakers to Consider Nuclear Budgets Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives this week are scheduled to consider fiscal 2008 budget requests for Energy Department nuclear programs, Environment and Energy Daily reported (see GSN, Feb. 6). The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee was scheduled to meet this morning to address the $15.8 billion DOE “Atomic Energy Defense Activities” proposal. The spending plan includes $9.4 billion for the Energy Department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration, $6.5 billion of which would go toward weapons work.  Nearly $90 million would go toward the Reliable Replacement Warhead program (see GSN, March 19), a 220 percent increase from the fiscal 2007 request.  Another $1.4 billion would be given to directed stockpile work, while $238.7 million would go toward life-extension programs for B-61 and W-76 warheads and $720.8 million to stockpile services. The security administration requested $1.67 billion for nuclear nonproliferation activities, down 3 percent from its previous request and $10 million lower than the fiscal 2007 budget released last week (Mary O’Driscoll, Environment and Energy Daily I, March 19). The House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee on Thursday is also scheduled to consider the NNSA request for six nuclear nonproliferation projects, E&E Daily reported. The agency has requested $610 million for development of a South Carolina plant to convert weapon-grade plutonium into “mixed-oxide” fuel for nuclear power reactors (see GSN, March 16).  Ranking subcommittee members from both parties have opposed the project. The Energy Department is also requesting:  $372 million for international nuclear materials safeguarding and cooperation; $125 million for conversion of Russian military highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium; $182 million to help Russia replace nuclear reactors that produce plutonium with power plants that operate using fossil fuels; and $120 million for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (Mary O’Driscoll, Environment and Energy Daily II, March 19). Back to top       IAEA to Visit Russian Uranium Enrichment Site A delegation of U.N. nuclear officials is scheduled to visit a Russian facility today to discuss Moscow’s plan to make the site part of an international nuclear fuel supply system, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2006). The International Atomic Energy Agency group would “study the level of preparation … for opening such a [uranium enrichment] center and will verify that all IAEA requirements have been met,” said First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. The Siberian site near Lake Baikal would be “the first concrete step towards realizing the president’s initiative for creating the global infrastructure for international centers of uranium enrichment.” Russia, the United States and IAEA leaders have promoted the concept in recent years as a way to encourage developing nations to abstain from developing their own uranium enrichment facilities which could be used to produce nuclear weapon material (Agence France-Presse, March 19). Back to top

Iraq Chlorine Attacks Likely to Continue, Expert Says The accessibility of chlorine in Iraq means that insurgent attacks using the toxic chemical are likely to continue, one expert told the Associated Press yesterday (see GSN, March 19). Seven incidents have been reported since Jan. 28.  In each, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a vehicle carrying chlorine tanks.  Explosions have killed a number of people, while hundreds have become sick through exposure to the chemical. Chlorine is used widely to purify water in Iraq, said Jonathan Tucker, a Fulbright fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “They can try to limit access to chlorine … but given the black market situation that would be difficult to do,” he said. “This is obviously a very crude terrorist tactic.  Terrorists tend to be very opportunistic and this is a new tactic for them that is scaring a lot of people and doing significant harm,” Tucker added.  “These are chemical dirty bombs.” Low levels of chlorine can cause respiratory, eye and skin irritation, while higher concentrations can be fatal.  The insurgents’ means of attack is “an extremely crude means of delivery,” Tucker said.  “A lot of the chemicals would be consumed in the explosion itself.  It is just not a very efficient means of dispersal.” The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons yesterday condemned the attacks, AP reported. “Once again we have witnessed the horrors of chemicals being used to terrorize and kill innocent civilians in Iraq,” said Director General Rogelio Pfirter, whose organization oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention (Mike Corder, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 19). Back to top       Lab Develops Fast-Acting Chemical Detector The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a technique that detected a mock chemical agent in less than one minute, the Washington state facility announced yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2006). The Quartz Laser Photo-Acoustic Sensing technique uses miniature quartz tuning forks and quantum cascade lasers to detect potentially dangerous chemicals.  “A pulsed laser beam creates a brief absorption in a sample gas, which in turn creates a very small acoustic signal.  A miniature quartz tuning fork acts as a ‘microphone’ to record the resulting sound wave,” the laboratory said in a press release. The system was able to detect diisopropyl methyl phosphonate, a chemical compound similar to the nerve agent sarin, at less than a part per billion in 45 seconds.  A battery-operated prototype sensor, including 10 pairs of lasers and tuning forks, could potentially fit into a briefcase and weigh less than 15 pounds.  It could function independently for extended periods of time. The system would replace previous laser photo-acoustic sensing systems that took up more space and were “cumbersome, power-hungry and prone to interference from external sound and vibration,” the release states. The system has undergone initial testing.  A prototype must be developed and tested in the field. “The laser, tuning fork and other technology needed for QPAS are so simple, and yet robust, that further development is a low-risk investment, and we’re eager to take it to the next level,” laboratory research scientist Michael Wojcik said in the release. The laboratory has collaborated with Rice University in Texas on the project, which is funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory release, March 19). Back to top

U.S. Army Orders 112 PAC-3 Missiles The U.S. Army has ordered 112 Patriot Advanced Capability 3 air-defense missiles from defense contractor Lockheed Martin, the company announced yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 11). The $376 million contract also calls for Lockheed Martin to supply the Army Aviation and Missile Command with PAC-3 launcher modification kits, spares and additional equipment, along with program management and engineering. The PAC-3 system provides theater defense against ballistic and cruise missiles and fixed and rotary winged aircraft (Lockheed Martin release, March 19). Back to top

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