Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh said today that agency restrictions on nuclear aid would not restrict his country’s uranium enrichment efforts (GSN photo). IAEA Governing Board Backs Nuclear Aid Cuts to Iran By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — The International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board today endorsed the organization’s decision to cancel 22 technical assistance projects with Iran, but Iranian officials vowed to press on with the nation’s nuclear activities (see GSN, March 7). The consensus decision of the 35-nation board belied its members’ concerns over the move that was prompted by the U.N. Security Council’s December resolution barring the agency from helping Iran with anything but “food, agricultural, medical, safety or other humanitarian purposes.”..Full Story

Vietnam Nears Agreement to Remove Uranium By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — A deal to remove highly enriched uranium from a Vietnamese nuclear research reactor could be finalized this month, a senior Vietnamese official said today (see GSN, Feb. 5, 2004)...Full Story

Congo Atomic Chief Charged with Uranium Sale Authorities in Congo on Tuesday charged the country’s atomic energy commission chief with the illegal sale of uranium, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 15, 2006)...Full Story

	Thursday, March 8, 2007

Iraq WMD Inspection Body to be Dissolved The U.N. Security Council could act this month to disband its team responsible for WMD inspections in Iraq, Reuters reported yesterday.  The move would come nearly four years after the U.S.-led invasion and more than 15 years after the group was formed in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War (see GSN, March 7, 2006). The U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission was created to verify the destruction of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, surprising numbers of which were uncovered after the first war. “There was consensus in the council that the work of the mandate must be terminated and the file must be closed,” Security Council president Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa told reporters yesterday. The council would, however, seek to preserve the commission’s experience. “The council would like to further discuss how to retain the expertise and especially the human expertise of the people that have worked in the last four years in this area of weapons of mass destruction,” Kumalo said. Despite not being allowed into the country since the 2003 invasion, the commission has retained a staff of 34 in New York, along with a Cyprus field office and two local employees in Baghdad, and has a $10 million annual budget, Reuters reported (Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, March 7). Back to top

IAEA Governing Board Backs Nuclear Aid Cuts to Iran By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — The International Atomic Energy Agency’s governing board today endorsed the organization’s decision to cancel 22 technical assistance projects with Iran, but Iranian officials vowed to press on with the nation’s nuclear activities (see GSN, March 7). The consensus decision of the 35-nation board belied its members’ concerns over the move that was prompted by the U.N. Security Council’s December resolution barring the agency from helping Iran with anything but “food, agricultural, medical, safety or other humanitarian purposes.” Egyptian Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeidin Ramzy told reporters, “I have not heard anyone express dissatisfaction” with the cuts, but a chairman’s summary of the board meeting suggested otherwise. “Several members … stressed that technical cooperation should not be subject to any political conditions,” says the summary by Slovenian Ambassador Ernest Petric.  Other members pointed out that the agency had previously determined that the cut projects were peaceful when the programs were originally reviewed. Still, the cuts were approved by consensus, ultimately reflecting the board members’ desire to support agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, according to a Western diplomat familiar with agency affairs. “It is the logical thing to do,” Ramzy added. Canceled programs include projects to improve human resources management in Iran’s atomic sector, to upgrade nuclear power technology, to establish a nuclear technology center and to provide some specific types of industrial technology. The Security Council’s December resolution forced ElBaradei to review IAEA assistance programs in Iran.  That resolution demanded that Iran freeze its uranium enrichment program within 60 days, a deadline that Tehran ignored.  Council powers have recently begun drafting a follow-up resolution (see related GSN story, today). Here in Vienna, Iran appears unbowed by the international efforts to ramp up pressure. “None of these [canceled] projects in fact are related to [the] enrichment program,” Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters today. “The enrichment program will continue as planned,” he added. Furthermore, Soltanieh hinted to the board that any international interference in its “inalienable rights” to nuclear energy could backfire. The “Iranian nation is a peace-loving nation but will never tolerate any pressure or intimidation,” he said in a statement to the board. Yesterday, Soltanieh said Iran could resist U.S. pressure but expressed concern about other nations.  He accused officials from Washington and a few other capitals of forcing other nations to join their Iran policies. He suggested that outsiders would benefit by sitting in the board room. “You have to witness the environment.  You have to see exactly what’s happening there in that room,” he said.  “You have to exactly know what poisonous food was cooked by a few members and sent to New York.” Back to top       Vietnam Nears Agreement to Remove Uranium By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire VIENNA — A deal to remove highly enriched uranium from a Vietnamese nuclear research reactor could be finalized this month, a senior Vietnamese official said today (see GSN, Feb. 5, 2004). The removal would be the latest fuel “repatriation” mission in a series that has accelerated since the United States and Russia agreed in 2004 to revitalize efforts to recover nuclear weapon-usable reactor fuel the two nations once freely delivered around the world. The 500-kilowatt Vietnamese reactor at the Dalat Nuclear Research Institute was built more than 40 years ago with U.S. assistance and has since been supplied with fuel from Russia. Talks today at International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters here were intended to complete arrangements for Russia to recover the fuel from Dalat. Participants at the two-day meeting include officials from Vietnam, Russia, the United States, Poland and the agency. “There are no serious issues” of disagreement, said Vuong Huu Tan, head of Vietnam’s Atomic Energy Commission.  “Everyone is in agreement.” Tan said the parties would probably complete the deal this month, perhaps at a meeting next week in Washington, and then conduct the fuel retrieval in September.  A fresh delivery of Russian low-enriched fuel would be made at the same time, Tan said. The Dalat reactor does not pose a serious proliferation risk because the amount of material is so small, according to Tan.  There are only about 40 grams of highly enriched uranium that contains 36 percent of the uranium 235 isotope that is so valuable in nuclear weapons. Still, the removal would represent another success for the U.S.-Russian Global Threat Reduction Initiative.  Under that effort a number of research reactors have returned their fuel to Russia, most recently a German facility (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2006). Back to top       Congo Atomic Chief Charged with Uranium Sale Authorities in Congo on Tuesday charged the country’s atomic energy commission chief with the illegal sale of uranium, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 15, 2006). Fortunat Lumu and an aide “were accused of having illicitly sold a quantity of uranium,” said Attorney General Tshimanga Mukendi. He declined to discuss the amount of uranium sold or its suspected recipient. Government officials last year denied a newspaper report that a shipment of uranium from Congo had been halted on its way to Iran in 2005.  There was no immediate word on whether this week’s arrests were connected to that allegation, AP reported. Uranium can be enriched to weapons levels, or used to produce plutonium for use in nuclear reactors or weapons. Lumu led Congo’s only nuclear research reactor, meaning he is likely to have had access to at least some amount of uranium (Eddy Isango, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 7). Back to top       Iran Sanctions Talks Continue to Wallow Efforts to negotiate tougher U.N. nuclear sanctions against Iran were set back again yesterday when world powers delayed a key telephone meeting, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 7). Diplomats from six key U.N. Security Council nations — China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — had planned a conference call yesterday to follow up on meetings earlier this week to discuss more stringent sanctions on Iran.  The call was rescheduled for today, according to AP. The meetings were spurred by Iran’s refusal to curb its uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities.  A December council resolution imposed a limited set of economic sanctions and set a 60-day deadline for Iran to freeze its sensitive projects. Now the six nations are discussing a new resolution to counter Iran’s defiance.  Possible new measures include freezing the assets of a larger list of Iranian institutions and individuals, banning the international travel of a select group of Iranian officials, and restricting arms sales to Iran, AP reported. “It’s a tough resolution, it’s a very serious resolution,” deputy Chinese ambassador Liu Zhenmin said yesterday. “They need to take some time to improve the text” (Associated Press I/New York Times, March 7). The United States has rejected calls to speak directly to Iran about the nuclear standoff, but U.S. officials held open the possibility for a rare bilateral meeting this weekend during multinational talks in Baghdad on Iraqi stability, Reuters reported. “We will see what interactions may come about,” U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday.  “I'm not going to point you in the direction of any particular diplomatic interaction, nor am I going to wave you off of any one occurring” (Sue Pleming, Reuters/Yahoo!News, March 7). Bushehr Funding Meanwhile, officials from Moscow and Tehran met yesterday but did not resolve a funding dispute over Iranian payment for a nuclear power reactor Russia is building at Bushehr, the Associated Press reported. The officials met for six hours in Moscow, but adjourned until another scheduled session today, according to AP. The dispute began when Russia claimed Iran fell behind on its contractual payments for the reactor.  Iranian officials have claimed Russia is seeking excuses to refrain from completing the project, and delivering nuclear fuel to the site, as a way to pressure Iran on the larger nuclear crisis. Uranium fuel deliveries at one point were due to begin this month, in order for the reactor to begin operations in September. “Iran has done its payments in advance and sooner than the agreed schedule,” Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said yesterday.  “There is no particular problem.  We hope and expect Russia will finalize the last technical point and by sending fuel to the plant it will become ready to inaugurate” (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, March 8). Back to top       U.S. General Remains Worried by North Korea Following Nuclear Disarmament Agreement North Korea’s agreement to eliminate its nuclear weapons program has not fully alleviated the concerns of the head of U.S. forces in South Korea, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, March 7). North Korean leader Kim Jong Il historically has sought to use denuclearization negotiations to benefit his nation, while limiting concrete moves toward actual disarmament, said U.S. Army Gen. B.B. Bell.  He said he backs the Feb. 13 deal at the six-party talks, but cautioned that it would not necessarily result in reductions in North Korean military spending or its efforts to rupture the alliance between South Korea and the United States. “Kim Jong Il has the option to continue to manipulate the international community by alternating provocations and engagement overtures in an attempt to shape the political and military environment to meet his objectives,” Bell told the House Armed Services Committee. North Korea is likely to continue to develop its nuclear arsenal and to test another weapon if the negotiations fail, Bell said (Foster Klug, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, March 8). U.N. sanctions issued after Pyongyang’s first nuclear test on Oct. 9 have not stopped the flow of caviar, liquor and other luxury items into North Korea, Newsday reported today.  The restrictions were intended to hurt the high-living leaders in Pyongyang.  However, the North’s borders with China and South Korea remain largely open, said Peter Beck of the International Crisis Group. “Inspections are, shall we say, very light,” he said. “North Korea is not foolish,” said Seoul-based author Brent Choi.  “If they need luxury goods, they smuggle (them) in through third parties” (Brian Breuhaus, Newsday, March 8). Meanwhile, talks between Japan and North Korea on establishment of diplomatic relations under the Feb. 13 agreement broke down again today, Reuters reported. Diplomats met today in Vietnam after the delegation from Pyongyang canceled an afternoon session yesterday.  However, the talks ended in less than an hour as the two sides continued to disagree on long-standing issues. Japan is demanding the return of citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.  Pyongyang says all surviving abductees have been returned, and is demanding that Tokyo address its harsh rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. No new date has been set for additional meetings (Reuters/New York Times, March 8). Elsewhere, European Union representatives today ended two days of “detailed” and “frank” talks with officials from Pyongyang, the EU presidency said in a statement.  North Korea “expressed its determination to implement in full the 13 February agreements,” according to the statement. Pyongyang “expressed its desire for more intensive contacts and increased dialogue with the EU,” the presidency said.  European Union officials “made it clear that, should there be positive developments, the EU would examine concrete measures aimed at a gradual improvement in relations” (Associated Press/Helena Independent Record, March 8). Back to top       Gorbachev Knocks U.K. Nuclear Plan Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in a letter published today criticized the British government’s plans to replace its Trident nuclear weapons system (see GSN, March 7). “The U.K. government’s rush to deploy nuclear missiles whose service life would extend until 2050 is, to say the least, astonishing,” Gorbachev said in a letter to the London Times.  “The Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons commits the nuclear power to effective measures of nuclear disarmament.  In fact, the entire structure of that treaty, which is already under considerable strain, rests on that commitment. “The decision to deploy new nuclear missiles would be in contradiction to the spirit of the agreements that helped to end the Cold War,” he added. Gorbachev urged British leaders to delay a decision on Trident replacement until 2010, the year of the next Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference (Mikhail Gorbachev, The Times, March 8). Back to top       Former Indian Nuclear Head Against U.S. Deal A prominent retired Indian nuclear scientist is opposed to the pending U.S.-Indian nuclear cooperation agreement, calling it a “nonproliferation mechanism that puts us in the corner,” United Press International reported (see GSN, March 7). “I do not think I am a lone disaffected scientist,” said Peter Ayengar, former chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, during an interview with the news agency.  “Every other living former chairman of the commission agrees with me.  Indeed, I do not know any Indian nuclear scientists who do not agree.” “As currently drafted, the agreement would force us to stop reprocessing nuclear fuel, something we have been doing for 30 years.  It would terminate our strategic [nuclear weapons] program by exposing us to sanctions if we conducted nuclear tests.  And it puts impossible barriers in our path to ongoing and future research, including our well developed programs for fast-breeder reactors and to use thorium rather than uranium as nuclear fuel,” Ayengar said. Other scientists, still employed by the Indian government, were unable to speak freely about the pending agreement,  However, they agreed with Ayengar while speaking off the record, according to UPI. Ayengar’s opposition, along with that of other scientists, has made progress of the deal through India’s parliament difficult.  Members in the left wing of the governing coalition oppose the agreement out of a general opposition to the Washington’s policies, while those in the right wing of the coalition oppose it on grounds that it imposes restrictions on India’s sovereignty. The deal would permit the United States and India to engage in civilian nuclear trade after decades of Indian estrangement from the global nuclear community.  India, not a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, first tested a nuclear weapon in 1974 and remains outside the constraints of the treaty (Martin Walker, United Press International, March 6). Back to top       LANL Investigation Must Go On, House Republican Says A top House Republican rejected an effort of three New Mexico lawmakers to forestall a government investigation of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s chronic security problems, Environment & Energy News reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 27). Senators Pete Domenici (R) and Jeff Bingaman (D) and Representative Mark Udall (D) asked the House Energy and Commerce Committee for a six-month delay of a Government Accountability Office review of the New Mexico facility. The management team that took over operations at Los Alamos in June 2006, led by engineering giant Bechtel and the University of California, “is working to integrate new operational practices, accelerate the consolidation of their classified holdings and increase the level of security to reduce potential for the theft or diversion of classified material,” the lawmakers said in a letter to the committee’s ranking Democrat and Republican. They hoped that additional time would allow managers to correct the long-standing problems.  However, ranking committee Republican Joe Barton (Texas) rejected the idea. “The congressman’s view is that Los Alamos has had decades to sort through the problems and devise solutions, and now it’s time to let somebody else help,” said Larry Neal, Barton’s spokesman.  “It hardly seems likely that keeping GAO in the dark for six more months will fix what’s broken, so the investigation should proceed briskly and thoroughly.” Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) did not respond to a letter from the New Mexico lawmakers, E&E News reported. The panel’s oversight committee requested the investigation last month after some lawmakers suggested the best way to correct security problems at the expansive laboratory might be to simply shut it down. Security at the facility is overseen by the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous body within the Energy Department.  Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman in January fired NNSA chief Linton Brooks over the security problems (Mary O’Driscoll, Energy & Environment News PM, March 7). Back to top

Biden Seeks to Keep Chemical Tankers from Cities U.S. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.) yesterday introduced an amendment to the Senate’s version of new homeland security legislation that would require that rail shipments of hazardous chemicals be rerouted away from urban areas (see GSN, Jan. 24). “Right now we have 90-ton rail tankers carrying toxic chemicals right past some of our nation’s largest cities,” Biden said in a statement.  “We are vulnerable, we know it and we know how to fix it.” A 2004 report from the Homeland Security Council indicated that an explosion of a rail tanker carrying chlorine in an urban area could kill up to 17,500 people and could send 100,000 to the hospital. Biden’s amendment would require the rerouting of “high-hazard” chemicals — about .4 percent of all shipments — away from “high-threat” corridors unless the train trip begins or ends in such a corridor, there is no practical alternative, or the likelihood of an attack would be increased through diversion (U.S. Senator Joseph Biden release, March 7). Back to top

More Missile Defense Talks Needed, Russia Says The United States should increase the dialogue with Russia regarding its plans for missile defense installations in Europe, Moscow’s envoy to NATO said in an interview published yesterday (see GSN, March 7). Washington is also undermining efforts by Moscow to develop a joint missile defense system with NATO to cover Europe, said Gen. Konstantin Totsky. “We have now come to a stage when we have run out of trust.  That’s the most sad and painful thing,” he told the Noviye Izvestia daily. Totsky said more expert-level talks between the two nations are needed, as previous briefings have not resolved Russia’s concerns regarding the strategic effects of the U.S. effort, according to the Associated Press. “Consultations mean an exchange of opinions, discussion, taking a partner’s concerns into account,” he said.  “And what they do is give us a briefing to announce the decision already made by the United States to deploy missile defense elements.” The United States is seeking to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic.  The Caucasus, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have also been mentioned as possible recipients of missile defense elements.  Washington says the program is intended to counter Middle Eastern missile threats, while Moscow fears its weapons would instead be the target. What is needed is a meeting attended by ballistics experts, missile designers and additional specialists who could address the U.S. program, Totsky said.  “Scientists won’t be able to cheat one another, and it would be impossible to sell a picture which doesn’t correspond to reality,” he said (Associated Press/Bradenton Herald, March 7). U.S. Ambassador to Russia William Burns said Moscow and Washington should conduct direct meetings to resolve their differences in the matter, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday.  The potential exists for cooperation on missile defense between the two countries, he said (United Press International, March 7). Back to top

U.S. Halts Purchase of Radiation Drug The Bush administration will not move forward with the anticipated purchase of a drug to treat victims of a nuclear or radiological attack, McClatchy Newspapers reported yesterday (see GSN, March 7). The Health and Human Services Department for more than a year considered buying sufficient amounts of a California firm’s drug to treat 100,000 people.  The drug developed by military researchers would protect bone marrow against the effects of radiation, according to license holder Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals. The agency ultimately determined that no drug on the market met its needs, but declined to elaborate on its reasoning or say how many products were considered. “We determined after very rigorous scientific and technical review that no competing product out there met our requirements,” said HHS spokesman Bill Hall.  “That doesn’t change our commitment for purchasing products for all types of radiological and nuclear threats.” Administration of the Hollis-Eden drug must occur within four hours of exposure.  Agency officials had worried about that limitation, as it could take 24 hours or longer for emergency personnel to reach the majority of victims in a nuclear detonation area. The drug’s supporters counter that it could be delivered before any incident so that it would be already available to first responders.  The drug could be used to treat hundreds of thousands of people evacuating a strike area, they argued. For now, the United States is left with outdated drugs for countering radiation, McClatchy reported.  The government is expected to review its criteria and then request new proposals. The antiradiation drug contract was to be offered under Project Bioshield, the troubled $5.6 billion program to fund development of countermeasures for terrorist attacks involving biological, chemical, radiological or nuclear weapons (see GSN, Feb. 22). The program so far has provided almost $800 million for development of biological countermeasures and another $27.6 million for radiation drugs.  Health and Human Services last year canceled the program’s flagship contract for production of 75 million doses of a new anthrax vaccine (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2006). “It seems as though HHS has dropped the ball,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (R-Miss.).  A panel subcommittee is expected to conduct a hearing on the matter in April. “It is unacceptable that we continue to lack countermeasures to radiation poisoning,” said a spokesman for Representative Tom Davis (R-Va.) (Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers, March 7).   Back to top

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