A U.S. W-87 warhead from a now-retired MX Peacekeeper ICBM undergoes reliability testing (White House photo). U.S. Lawmakers Stress Baby Steps for New Nuclear Warhead By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The ranking Democratic and Republican on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee suggested yesterday it would be best to move slowly on a plan to design a new nuclear warhead (see GSN, March 19)...Full Story

No Movement on North Korea Talks North Korea today again refused to join talks on elimination of its nuclear weapons program, to the consternation of negotiators from other countries who have gathered in Beijing, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 20)...Full Story

Russia Denies Changing Policy on Iranian Reactor Russian officials yesterday denied that they have linked the nation’s support for building a nuclear reactor in Iran with resolving the larger nuclear crisis, but nevertheless indicated that the power plant would remain stalled, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, March 20)...Full Story

	Wednesday, March 21, 2007

U.S. Lawmakers Stress Baby Steps for New Nuclear Warhead By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The ranking Democratic and Republican on the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee suggested yesterday it would be best to move slowly on a plan to design a new nuclear warhead (see GSN, March 19). The Bush administration has asked for $88 million in the coming fiscal year to fund a cost study and additional engineering work for the controversial Reliable Replacement Warhead (see GSN, Feb. 6).  Some lawmakers, though, are closely examining the program. At a subcommittee hearing earlier this month, Chairwoman Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) called for a public dialogue on the role of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and stressed that she still had a number of questions about the Bush administration plan (see GSN, March 9). There is no need to rush forward with the program, Tauscher said during a hearing yesterday. “I think that I’m favoring a walk before you run approach to RRW,” she said (see GSN, March 5). While expressing support for the Reliable Replacement Warhead, ranking panel Republican Terry Everett (Ala.) agreed with Tauscher. “I think your comment about moving slowly is probably the right one,” he said. Citing a recent study from researchers at the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories that indicated the operational life of the plutonium triggers in nuclear weapons could extend more than 100 years, Tauscher asked if it would be possible to incorporate the “pits” from dismantled or disused weapons into the RRW design (see GSN, Nov, 30, 2006). Incorporating existing plutonium pits into the new design could eliminate the need for a pit-production facility included in the administration’s “Complex 2030” plan for the U.S. nuclear infrastructure.  Building a new facility could be expensive and politically controversial, Tauscher said, “which I think is a concern that many of us have.” A plan in this fiscal year calls for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to produce up to 10 pits per year.  The Energy Department has said it would like to have the capacity to produce more than 120 pits annually. Speaking before the subcommittee yesterday, acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Tom D’Agostino said that very few of the pits produced up through the 1980s had the safeguards that weapons designers now want to incorporate into next-generation warheads.  “The pit is the heart of the matter when it comes to intrinsic surety,” he said, adding that he could not elaborate at an open hearing on classified details of the safeguards. As the military moves first to replace warheads on submarine-launched missiles, “pit reuse would very difficult if not impossible to incorporate,” D’Agostino said. Reuse is possible in cases in which pits do have the necessary safeguards.  That is something Energy Department and military officials plan to study in 2007 and 2008, D’Agostino said. That small number of “more modern” pits could be examined for possible use in “future Reliable Replacement Warhead concepts.”  Such a pit could be incorporated into a gravity bomb, but a not a warhead on a missile, D’Agostino said. Weight is a central concern when building a missile warhead, but not in a bomb dropped from a plane.  The new design is slated to include insensitive high explosives, which are heavier than the explosives currently used in the first warhead to be replaced. D’Agostino acknowledged Tauscher’s concerns on building a new pit-production facility.  “My goal would be to make sure this nation doesn’t develop a capability it doesn’t need,” he said.  “We don’t want to build a white elephant.” The aim of the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, as described by administration officials, is to create a next-generation nuclear device that would be impossible to detonate if stolen by terrorists and would be easier to maintain without testing than the weapons currently in the arsenal. Freed from the constraints of the Cold War that pushed U.S. weapons designers to make warheads ever more powerful while keeping them light — all the better to pack as many as possible on the tip of a missile — a more robust weapon is now possible, officials argue. Jay Davis, a nuclear physicist and former director of the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, has likened it to replacing a Formula 1 race car with the reliability of a Ford pickup truck. With broader margins of error, the concern that the periodic maintenance of the high-strung warheads of decades past would require a return to underground testing to ensure their viability will be eliminated, officials contend. Others have expressed concerns that any new weapon would have to be tested before entering the stockpile, concerns administration officials have tried to allay by saying that if the program does require a return to nuclear testing it would not move forward. The National Nuclear Security Administration earlier this month chose a preliminary design from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for further development (see GSN, March 2). Back to top       No Movement on North Korea Talks North Korea today again refused to join talks on elimination of its nuclear weapons program, to the consternation of negotiators from other countries who have gathered in Beijing, Reuters reported (see GSN, March 20). Pyongyang since yesterday has declined to discuss the Feb. 13 nuclear disarmament deal until it receives $25 million in frozen funds that are due to be released from the Banco Delta Asia in Macau. “There has been a real opportunity cost to this delay,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. “They’ve not completed the transfer, and until they do that the North Koreans have made clear they’re not prepared to engage on the substantive discussions,” he added. The six-nation session was scheduled to end today, but was extended another day. Work is under way to shift the money back to North Korea, which is to use it for humanitarian purposes.  “But it is not going through,” said South Korean negotiator Chun Young-woo.  “What’s happened is utterly absurd and outrageous that nobody anticipated.” A “technical problem” appears to be holding up the transfer, a Japanese delegate said.  The recipient bank has also expressed concerns about the “nature” of the funds, another source told Reuters. The agreement reached last month calls for North Korea within 60 days to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor and to readmit international nuclear inspectors.  In return, it would receive 50,000 tons of fuel and related support. “We’ve got more than three weeks to go, so I do believe that we can get there with all the commitments in the 60 days, but I had looked forward to a much more in-depth discussion this week,” Hill said (Beck/Kim, Reuters, March 21). Separate talks are likely to be necessary on persuading North Korea to eliminate its existing nuclear weapons, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported today. “North Korea is certainly going to demand separate talks to deal with the abandonment of nuclear weapons when the nations concerned make progress in the current disablement talks and move on to the next stage,” a South Korean official said.  “In that case, there will be a new complication because the framework of the six-party talks will change” (Chosun Ilbo, March 21). Back to top       Russia Denies Changing Policy on Iranian Reactor Russian officials yesterday denied that they have linked the nation’s support for building a nuclear reactor in Iran with resolving the larger nuclear crisis, but nevertheless indicated that the power plant would remain stalled, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, March 20). The New York Times reported yesterday that Russia last week declared that the reactor project at Bushehr would not be completed until Tehran complied with a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that it freeze uranium enrichment activities (Neil Buckley, Financial Times, March 20). Officials denied that report, with one calling it a Western ploy. “It's not the first time that we are seeing such an unscrupulous approach aimed at driving a wedge between us and Iran,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told lawmakers today in Russia’s lower parliament. “There is no link whatsoever between the U.N. resolution ... and the implementation of the Bushehr project,” he added (Associated Press I/The Guardian, March 21). Still, a Russian government spokesman suggested that Moscow would not, or could not, finish building the reactor because some third-party contractors were no longer cooperating. “The unwillingness or inability of Iran to meet the demands of the international community already led to a certain sanctions regime and these sanctions already are jeopardizing the completion of the contract,” said deputy Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.  “Continued refusal, and a further U.N. resolution, will only bring additional obstacles” (Buckley, Financial Times). The Security Council was scheduled to discuss the additional resolution today in New York, where some nonpermanent council members have proposed amendments to a draft resolution offered last week by the five veto-holding members and Germany. The draft resolution calls for expanding existing sanctions imposed in December and imposing new types of measures, including a ban on Iranian arms exports. While amendments offered by Qatar and Indonesia could be “workable,” according to one diplomat, revisions proposed by South Africa were likely to face opposition from the original six sponsors, AP reported. The South African amendment calls for suspending U.N. sanctions for 90 days, if Iran agrees to simultaneously freeze its uranium program, and eliminates the arms embargo and other measures in the six-nation draft, according to AP. The South African changes would probably not survive, said a U.S. State Department official who expressed confidence that the “core principles” of the six-nation draft would be passed, possibly this week (Edith Lederer, Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, March 21). Iran reaffirmed today that it plans to ignore any U.N. sanctions and continue to develop its nuclear program.  Iranian leaders have not recognized the legitimacy of the council’s actions and warned of the consequences of new sanctions. “Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations,” said supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  “But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so” (Associated Press I). Meanwhile, international nuclear inspectors were granted access yesterday to an Iranian site they had been barred from recently, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 20). “The inspectors were able to carry out their inspection work in Iran on Tuesday,” said a diplomat close the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran on Saturday had prevented inspectors from entering its underground uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, raising questions over whether the site now contained more the 500 centrifuges.  That number was set by agency head Mohamed ElBaradei as a trigger for requiring Iran to allow the agency to install certain types of monitoring equipment at the site (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 20). Back to top       Bodman Lauds U.S.-Indian Nuclear Plan U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman praised the planned U.S.-Indian nuclear trade deal yesterday at the start of three-day visit to India (see GSN, March 19). The deal “is good for India ... is good for the United States ... is good for our mutual energy security ... is good for the global nonproliferation system,” he said in New Delhi. It “should not be viewed as a threat in any way to India's sovereignty or its nuclear program,” Bodman added.  “'The opposite is true. ... It is a major opportunity ... and it is clear that the rest of the world will also benefit from India's active engagement in advancing new nuclear technology and on international nonproliferation efforts.” The planned agreement calls for allowing India to purchase nuclear technology from U.S. nuclear firms after it opens its civilian nuclear sector to international monitoring.  Such dealings have been prevented for decades by U.S. and international export laws that banned nuclear sales to nations, such as India, that have not joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Bodman said U.S. firms could also benefit from Indian technological advances. “India is a world-class designer, developer and builder of new nuclear technology,” he said.  “The talent and creativity of your scientific community is unsurpassed.  India's achievements are truly remarkable given that it has pursued these advances independent of the larger international community.” “Therefore, it is clear that the United States has much to learn and much to gain from greater cooperation with India,” Bodman said (Indo-Asian News Service/IndiaPRWire.com, March 20). Back to top       Bolton Says Regime Change Is Only Option to Resolve Iranian, North Korean Nuclear Crises Negotiations to resolve nuclear crises in Iran and North Korea are bound to fail, as neither nation’s leadership will voluntarily drop its nuclear weapon ambitions, a controversial former Bush administration official said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 13). Changing the leadership in Iran, preferably through domestic upheaval, is the only way to achieve a satisfactory long-term solution there, said John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “But if the alternative is a nuclear Iran, as unpleasant as the use of military force would be, I think the prospect of a nuclear Iran is worse,” he said following a talk at the Hudson Institute in New York. “I think Iran’s record is clear that they’re never going to give up the pursuit of uranium enrichment,” Bolton said.  “I think that there’s no disagreement within their leadership that that’s the road to nuclear weapons.” As for North Korea, Bolton criticized the Bush administration for allowing Pyongyang to recover $25 million in frozen assets to enable nuclear negotiations to continue. “It’s a signal of weakness,” he said.  “It’s a terrible signal to Iran and other would-be proliferators” (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Boston Herald, March 21). Back to top

Readiness Needed for Bioterror, Interpol Head Says Law enforcement agencies around the world must prepare to deal with an act of biological terrorism, the head of Interpol said Monday (see GSN, Dec. 6, 2006). “I have no doubt that the threat of bioterrorism is real and that we need to do more to prepare countries,” Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said in a press release, issued during a bioterrorism prevention workshop in Oman. Given the recent use of chlorine as a weapon by Iraqi insurgents (see GSN, March 20), “it is not difficult to imagine these attacks being extended from chemical to biological,” Noble told the Gulf News newspaper, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Noble also noted al-Qaeda training materials and interrogations of operatives that indicated efforts by terrorist groups to develop and use biological weapons. “Nobody really knows when al-Qaeda will strike with chemical or biological weapons, but it is just a matter of time before the terrorists believe they are ready,” he said. The three-day workshop was intended to provide guidance on bioterrorism prevention from science and legal experts to top law enforcement officials from the Middle East (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy release, March 20). Back to top

Japan Conducts Drill on Subway Attack Anniversary Japanese police officers and firefighters yesterday conducted a drill involving the release of a dangerous chemical on a high-speed train, on the 12th anniversary of the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 18, 2006). Emergency personnel in protective gear and gas masks evacuated passengers from the train after it made an emergency stop at the Shinagawa station. “This mock operation was staged to coincide with the anniversary of the sarin attacks in Tokyo’s subway,” said Akihiro Koizumi, deputy chief at the Takanawa police station. It also provided training for responding to a chemical strike against the 2008 Group of Eight summit, which could be held in Japan. “Various locations are being considered to host the summit, including Yokohama.  And since it is one stop away from Tokyo on a bullet train, we thought it essential to do this operation,” Koizumi said. Twelve people died and thousands were sickened when the Aum Shinrikyo cult released the nerve agent sarin at several spots in the subway system on March 20, 1995.  Numerous surviving victims continue to suffer headaches, vision problems and stress, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse, March 20). Meanwhile, Israel yesterday began a two-day nationwide drill that included a terrorist chemical incident, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 20). Two mock terrorists released a toxic chemical at a high school near Tel Aviv, causing soldiers posing as students to flee and collapse in agony.  Authorities “shot” one attacker and the other blew himself up. Chemical treatment personnel wearing protective gear were called in to deal with the chemical, while emergency responders treated victims and set up decontamination showers in a parking lot (Laurie Copans, Associated Press/The Record, March 20). Back to top       N.J. Officials Blast Federal Chemical Security Plan Federal security rules for chemical plants could undermine tougher measures established in New Jersey to prevent the facilities from becoming the targets or weapons of terrorism, state officials said Monday (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2006). Under the 2-year-old state regulations, 140 manufacturers, water treatment sites and other facilities that use hazardous chemicals must meet security standards and prepare plans for reducing the threat posed by a major accident or terror strike, the Bergen County Record reported.  As of Friday, the rules require 94 firms to determine whether they could reduce usage of the most dangerous materials, something not included in federal chemical security regulations established last fall.  U.S. rules also bar shutting down a facility that fails to adopt a particular security action, and critics question whether still-unpublished requirements for gates and background checks would be as stringent as state regulations. The less stringent federal rules could pre-empt their state counterparts, speakers said at a hearing in Newark attended by Democratic Governor Jon Corzine and Democratic U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez. Corzine said the state could challenge threats to its security standards in court, while Lautenberg is using legislation to preserve New Jersey’s security levels, the Record reported. The use of chlorine as a weapon by insurgents in Iraq makes it clear that U.S. chemical facilities are “an enticing target,” Lautenberg said (see GSN, March 20). “I’m going to say it here loudly and clearly,” he said.  “I’m going to do everything in my power to reverse this administration’s underhanded maneuver.” A senior Homeland Security official said there would be “major changes” that could benefit the state in the final version of the federal rules, scheduled to be published on April 4. “We received a great deal of commentary on the issue,” said deputy director Larry Stanton.  “We adapted that commentary into our thinking and have reached a new position on the issue of pre-emption” (Alex Nussbaum, The Record, March 20). Back to top       Pentagon Signs Deal for Nerve Agent Countermeasure The U.S. Defense Department could pay a California company $85 million to develop a new countermeasure against nerve agents, the San Jose Mercury News reported yesterday (see GSN, June 2, 2003). SRI International would develop and produce 90,000 doses of a drug that would be given to soldiers serving in areas considered to be at high risk for a nerve agent attack.  The drug would have to be taken prior to exposure. The contract could be worth $85 million over a decade, the time needed to prepare and deliver the drug, said SRI chemical science and technology laboratory chief Robert Wilson. “This is a really important program for us and we’re very excited about the opportunity to help protect soldiers,” he said. The contract is not set in stone.  The Pentagon also contracted with Maryland-based PharmAthene for development of an anti-nerve agent drug, the Mercury News reported.  Initial testing on both products is expected to take two to three years, after which the Defense Department would select the strongest candidate for continued development. SRI is looking to improve significantly on the drug now used to protect soldiers against the nerve agent soman.  Pyridostigmine bromide has been linked to diarrhea, headaches, dizziness and other side effects (Steve Johnson, San Jose Mercury News, March 20). The Pentagon has also approved military purchases of a skin decontaminant that could be used to remove or neutralize chemical agents, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News reported yesterday. New York-based manufacturer E-Z-EM said its RSDL product has previously been adopted by the military services of several nations (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, March 20). Back to top

New U.S. Radar Tracks Long-Range Missile Test The United States tested its sea-based, X-band radar yesterday, tracking a missile launch from California, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 14). The floating radar, berthed in Alaska, monitored the launch of an unarmed Minuteman 2 ICBM from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The exercise was intended only to test the radar and did not involve any attempt to shoot down the target missile.  Two interception tests are planned for later this year, AP reported (Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, March 21). Back to top       U.S. Missile Defense Chief to Visit Czech Republic The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency next month is scheduled to lead a delegation for talks with officials in the Czech Republic, where the United States hopes to deploy a missile-tracking radar base, the Czech News Agency reported (see GSN, March 19). There is no set date yet for the visit by Lt. Gen. Henry Obering and a contingent of experts, according to U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Richard Graber. The Czech government after the talks is expected to respond to a U.S. diplomatic note, stating whether it wishes to move ahead with negotiations on housing the radar base. Czech Social Democrat chief Jiri Paroubek said the opposition party could support the base only if it “became part of a system within NATO.”  There has been no indication that would occur. “These matters are yet to develop, we will see,” Paroubek said (Czech News Agency/Prague Daily Monitor, March 20). U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the U.S. missile shield with European Union foreign ministers on Monday, Voice of America reported.  Afterward, she dismissed concerns that deployment missile defense components in Europe could destabilize the region, or that interceptors placed in Poland would be aimed at Russia. “We live in a world in which we face small nuclear threats, small potential missile threats from, for instance, Iran.  And in that world, a limited missile defense that can deal with small threats is very much a stabilizing factor, not a destabilizing factor,” Rice said. “We’re continuing to consult with the Russians.  But the notion that somehow that this is aimed at Russia is simply not borne out by the facts,” she added (Leta Hong Fincher, Voice of America, March 20). Back to top

South Africa to Secure Radioactive Material South Africa is preparing to increase security of radioactive sources, to ensure they are not used to power a radiological “dirty bomb” during the 2010 World Cup, the BBC reported yesterday (see GSN, April 27, 2006). The International Atomic Energy Agency gave the country the seal of approval for security at nuclear sites, but had “concerns” regarding safeguards at hospitals and other facilities that use radioactive material, according to South African nuclear chief Tselio Maqubela. “We will be looking at that, particularly going towards the 2010 football World Cup, because part of the requirements is to have a nuclear security plan which would reduce the threat of dirty bombs,” he told lawmakers. Dirty bombs use conventional explosives to disperse radioactive material. South Africa is the only African nation with a nuclear power plant.  It plans to work with the U.N. nuclear watchdog to develop security plans for various radioactive sources, the BBC reported. “We just need to make sure that our radioactive material never finds its way to undesirable elements,” Maqubela said (BBC, March 20). Back to top

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