Under a plan announced this week, Russia will maintain U.S.-provided security upgrades at its sites with fissile material (U.S. Energy Department photo). U.S., Russia Hash Out Nuclear Security Agreement By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — After more than two years of discussion, officials from Moscow and Washington have agreed to a plan to maintain the U.S.-funded security upgrades at Russian nuclear material sites, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced Wednesday (see GSN, Feb. 15)...Full Story

Scientists Improve U.S. WMD Detection Technology Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have developed an improved WMD detection technology that virtually eliminates any delay in sensing dangerous materials and sounding an alarm, the Berkeley Daily Californian reported Wednesday (see GSN, Feb. 8)...Full Story

Virginia Capital Moves Away From Chlorine Use The capital city of Virginia is moving away from using chlorine to disinfect its water and sewage treatment systems, eliminating the potential for trains carrying the gas into the city to become terrorism targets, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported yesterday (see GSN, April 5)...Full Story

	Friday, April 13, 2007

U.S. Adds WMD Unit to Korean Military Exercise A U.S. military task force devoted to managing WMD response units could debut this summer during exercises in South Korea, Inside the Pentagon  reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 27, 2006). The group, called Joint Task Force-Elimination, is intended to coordinate the WMD detection and response activities of the various military services. The task force is slated to participate in the annual Ulchi/Focus Lens exercise which has often drawn North Korean criticism.  The exercise is intended to prepare U.S. and South Korean forces for war with North Korea (Sebastian Sprenger, Inside the Pentagon, April 12). Back to top       Scientists Improve U.S. WMD Detection Technology Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have developed an improved WMD detection technology that virtually eliminates any delay in sensing dangerous materials and sounding an alarm, the Berkeley Daily Californian reported Wednesday (see GSN, Feb. 8). “With (this new technique), we're conducting individual particle analysis, and this gives us the specificity to almost instantaneously detect the needle in the haystack, whether it is a biological, chemical or explosive agent,” said Keith Coffee, a project chemist. The process, called Single Particle Aerosol Mass-Spectrometry, can identify molecules within individual particles, enabling sensors to rapidly scan gas samples for dangerous materials. “This is one of the most advanced detection systems in existence.  This system has shown the capability to distinguish between different biological materials, giving it the ability to determine whether an aerosol release is a possible hazard,” Coffee said (Stephan Van Duin, The Daily Californian, April 11). Back to top       Canadian Military Orders WMD Detection System The Canadian military plans to pay General Dynamics $26.4 million to develop an updated detection system for biological and chemical agents, the Canadian Press reported yesterday (see GSN, March 6). Using the Vital Point Bio-Sentry system would allow Canadian Forces personnel to equip themselves with protective clothing if they were in danger of exposure to WMD materials. General Dynamics Canada and the Canadian Forces jointly developed the system.  Prior versions of the technology provided protection to Canadian Forces ships and military operations, and have been sold to other nations’ militaries (Canadian Press, April 12). Back to top

U.S., Russia Hash Out Nuclear Security Agreement By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — After more than two years of discussion, officials from Moscow and Washington have agreed to a plan to maintain the U.S.-funded security upgrades at Russian nuclear material sites, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced Wednesday (see GSN, Feb. 15). The plan — drawn up by NNSA officials and their counterparts at the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency — calls for Russia to maintain security at those locations. U.S. law requires that Russia by 2013 take over sole support of securing sites that contain weapon-usable nuclear material or nuclear warheads.  The new plan, which the security administration declined to discuss in any detail, covers materials sites.  Negotiations are ongoing for sustaining security at weapons sites, according to a NNSA press release. “I think this is a significant step forward for U.S. security and international security,” said Matthew Bunn, a senior research associate at Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom, “a very important event.” Still, “there’s a lot more work yet to be done,” he said. Under the Material Protection, Control and Accounting program, the United States has invested roughly $1.6 billion since 1993 to improve security and oversight at Russian nuclear sites.  Funds have been used to install security systems, train personnel and improve infrastructure at 50 Russian navy nuclear sites, 11 Strategic Rocket Forces locations, and more than 175 nuclear complex buildings.  Control and accounting systems have also been put in place for weapons, material and personnel. Work has been completed at 75 percent of material and weapons “sites of concern,” and is scheduled to be completed next year, the agency said. “Ensuring that our improvements to security at Russian nuclear facilities are maintained is critical,” William Tobey, head of NNSA nuclear nonproliferation programs, said in the press release.  “This agreement will help to protect national security investments that we have made in Russia and, most importantly, it should ensure that the nuclear material is secure and protected over the long-term.” Details of the 46-page plan are “classified” and “internal,” said NNSA spokeswoman Julianne Smith. Bunn said it is his understanding that the agreement is fairly detailed. “They sat down and looked site-by-site at the specific pieces of work that need to be done from where the site is today to a sustainable and effective security system,” he said. Back to top       North Korea Set to Miss Reactor Deadline North Korea is almost certain to miss the deadline to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, as it seeks to verify that $25 million in frozen funds have been released, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, April 12). Several days would likely be needed to halt work at the reactor and have the shutdown verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency, as called for in the Feb. 13 disarmament agreement, U.S. officials and experts said.  The deadline for Pyongyang to take those first denuclearization steps is tomorrow. “Things can get better any time, but it would be difficult to expect by tomorrow” that the reactor would be closed, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said today. He urged the nations participating in the six-party talks — China, Japan, Russia, the United States and North and South Korea — to focus on moving forward with the agreement rather than bogging down over the deadline. North Korea was checking today if it had access to the frozen funds, which had been held at Banco Delta Asia in Macau after being linked by Washington to counterfeiting and other illicit North Korean financial activities.  Pyongyang refused to move ahead with denuclearization before receiving the funds, but the process has proven more complicated than anticipated, with banks in mainland China refusing the accept the money. It was not known today when North Korea would verify reception of the money, AP reported (Burt Herman, Associated Press/Boston Herald, April 13). The North Korean Foreign Ministry said today only that it would “confirm soon” whether the frozen funds had been released, Agence France-Presse reported. A senior North Korean official said today his government would meet its obligations under the February agreement once it was satisfied the money matter was resolved. “There is no reason to be pessimistic.  We will be faithful to this agreement if the Americans respect its clauses,” said Kim Son Gyong, deputy director of the European department at the North Korean Foreign Ministry.  “We will respect out commitment as it is written in the Feb. 13 agreement.  No more and no less.” Kim would not confirm a report that North Korean officials were retrieving the money in Macau (Philippe Agret, Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, April 13). Pyongyang should immediately allow IAEA inspectors back into the country, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said today in Beijing. “They need to call the IAEA,” he said.  “That would certainly be an indication that they are getting ready to do what they agreed in the February agreement.” “We will work with our other partners on an appropriate response in accordance with the circumstances,” Hill said, referring to the potentially missed deadline (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, April 13). U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday the deadline for the reactor shutdown could be extended, AFP reported. “The members of the talks have it within their power to, I suppose, modify any previous agreements,” he said.  “These aren’t treaties, these are political and diplomatic commitments.” Officials from the five nations negotiating with North Korea are expected to discuss the situation this weekend, McCormack said (Agence France-Presse III/Yahoo!News, April 12). Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said today he did not believe North Korea would actually eliminate its nuclear program, AFP reported. “They’ll delay and they’ll make small moves toward denuclearization, but nothing irreversible,” he said during an event in Seoul. Pyongyang is likely to “try to get as much assistance from the United States and the international community as possible” while holding back on disarmament, said Armitage, who left the administration in 2005. “They are playing a very good game,” he said. “There is a danger that the United States will be a little hungry for an agreement,” he added.  “My government is under such attack generally in the United States and has not many great successes recently in the international community” (Agence France-Presse IV/Khaleej Times, April 13). Back to top       Arab Nuclear Push Needs 10 Years, ElBaradei Says Arab nations have the right to develop nuclear energy projects, but they are at least 10 years away from having working facilities, the top U.N. nuclear official said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 16). First, the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council must develop a base of nuclear knowledge, said International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei during a visit to Riyadh. “Preparation in the long-term for the use of nuclear energy in desalination and power generation may not happen tomorrow but it may happen … within 10 years or 15 years,” ElBaradei said. A delegation from the six countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — visited ElBaradei earlier this year to seek help in initiating nuclear development efforts (see GSN, Feb. 12).  ElBaradei said yesterday that the agency would reply to the request in a month. ElBaradei criticized comments U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made in December questioning the need for Arab nations to pursue nuclear power (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2006). “One would have to wonder about the need of some states for nuclear power given their own energy resources,” Rice said. “Nothing prevented ... the United States ... or the Soviet Union ... from developing nuclear energy while they were producing large quantities of oil,” ElBaradei countered yesterday (Reuters/New York Times, April 12). Back to top

Virginia Capital Moves Away From Chlorine Use The capital city of Virginia is moving away from using chlorine to disinfect its water and sewage treatment systems, eliminating the potential for trains carrying the gas into the city to become terrorism targets, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported yesterday (see GSN, April 5). The $12.5 million conversion of Richmond’s water-treatment plan is nearly finished.  Afterward, it is set to use liquid sodium hypochlorite, a disinfectant that unlike chlorine would not create a major health threat if released by terrorists or an accident. “The transport and use of this chemical is much safer,” said Robert Steidel, deputy director of the Richmond Public Utilities Department. An upcoming $14.1 million project is intended to enable use of ultraviolet disinfection rather than chlorine in sewage treatment. The Richmond water-treatment plant is among a number of water or wastewater facilities eliminating the use of chlorine in disinfection, according to a report released last week by the Center for American Progress.  Three dozen such sites, including Richmond’s wastewater treatment plant, continue to receive chlorine gas by train, the report states. “The only way to truly protect communities is to get unnecessary toxic cargoes off the track,” according to the report (Michael Martz, Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 12). Back to top       Activists Blast CW Waste Transport Plan The U.S. Army defied the will of Congress when it approved a contract to ship waste produced by chemical weapons disposal in Indiana to an incinerator in Texas, activists said yesterday (see GSN, April 11). Lawmakers in a conference report to the 2007 Defense Authorization Act called on the Defense Department to “propose a credible process” for ensuring community support for site selection of chemical agent waste disposal, said Craig Williams, head of the Chemical Weapons Working Group. “The Army has surreptitiously signed this contract without informing the public and involving the public.  That’s certainly in violation of that language,” Williams said during a teleconference, adding that legal action was being considered to block the transport. The Army has agreed to pay Veolia Environmental Services in Port Arthur, Texas, $49 million to destroy caustic hydrolysate wastewater producing during neutralization of VX nerve agent at the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, the Associated Press reported. The waste — more than 700,000 gallons of which is already being stored at Newport — would have to be shipped through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana before reaching the largely black community in southeast Texas. Pollution from industrial sites in the city has already caused residents to experience respiratory troubles, kidney disease and other health problems, said Hilton Kelley, head of the Port Arthur Community In-Power Development Association. “Port Arthur’s residents are sick and tired of being the dumping ground for the United States.  We want it to stop,” he said. Critics say the waste should be treated at an on-site facility at Newport.  Building such a plant now could add years to the overall chemical weapons disposal process at the depot. The Army has already unsuccessfully tried to have the waste treated at plants in Ohio and New Jersey.  In those cases, the plans were announced and met opposition before contracts were finalized. “Let’s call it lessons learned,” said Greg Mahall, spokesman for the Army Chemical Materials Agency. “We’ve been under legal advisement through the entire process, and we’re quite comfortable with how we got to this decision and the decision we made,” he said. Mahall discussed the transport plan yesterday with homeland security and environmental officials in Indiana, AP reported.  The group conducted a conference call with officials from Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas (Rick Callahan, Associated Press/The Courier-Journal, April 12). There has also been consideration of shipping waste produced by yet-unbuilt chemical weapons neutralization plants in Colorado and Kentucky. The Blue Grass Army Depot is expected to produce 6 million gallons of waste from disposal of 523 tons of nerve and blister agents, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday. The Texas plan is “something that we’ll watch and see how that works out for them,” said Katherine DeWeese, spokeswoman for the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program, which will manage weapons disposal at Blue Grass and the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado (Lexington Herald-Leader, April 12). Back to top

U.S., Japan Discuss Missile Defense Rules Senior U.S. and Japanese military officers yesterday discussed sensitive missile defense issues, including whether Japan would help to shoot down missiles aimed at the United States, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 27, 2006). Japan has acquired and deployed missile interceptors in recent years, spurred in part by a 1998 North Korean ballistic missile test, but its constitution limits its military forces to defending Japanese territory, according to AP. If allowed, Tokyo’s systems would work well with U.S. missile defenses, said Adm. Timothy Keating, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, who met yesterday with Japan’s top officer, Adm. Takashi Saito. “All of this integrates into a very complex but elegant ballistic missile defense system for the United States and Japan,” Keating said (see GSN, March 30). Still, whether Japan could engage U.S.-bound targets remains unclear. “Can Japan have the authority under the constitution to launch an Aegis missile against a threat if you're not certain where this missile is going? It could be overflying Japan or Honolulu,” Keating said.  “It's complicated.  We've got to work through all this” (Audrey McAvoy, Associated Press/The Honolulu Advertiser, April 12). Back to top

About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines

© Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.