Iran reportedly prevented international nuclear inspectors from examining uranium enrichment centrifuges last month at this facility (Getty Images). Iran Turns Away IAEA Inspectors Iran turned away international nuclear officials last month when they tried to conduct a surprise inspection of Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, March 20). The International Atomic Energy Agency personnel were denied access April 21 to a room containing the centrifuges despite an earlier Iranian promise to cooperate with unannounced visits, diplomats said. The attempted inspection was the first unannounced visit since Tehran and the agency brokered a deal to permit agency monitoring of the site at Natanz, where diplomats close to the agency have said technicians have installed more than 1,600 centrifuges in 10 “cascades” (see GSN, April 19)...Full Story

NPT Conference in Turmoil on Final Day The final day of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty conference was marred by disputes over the session’s final statement, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 10)...Full Story

House Panel Boosts Nonproliferation Funding by $150M The U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved a fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill that includes more than $2 billion to prevent the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Jan. 5)...Full Story

	Friday, May 11, 2007

U.S.  Provides Infrastructure Protection Funds The U.S. Homeland Security Department yesterday announced that it had fully awarded roughly $445 million in grant funds this fiscal year for the protection of critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks and other disasters (see GSN, Jan. 10). The fiscal 2007 funding is provided through the Infrastructure Protection Program, which to date has distributed nearly $2 billion to protect facilities and transportation systems. “These grants will help to protect our nation’s critical infrastructure from threats and hazards that could cause major loss of life, economic impact and disruption of services,” said Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Michael Jackson in a press release.  “These risk-based investments will increase security for vital assets such as ports, mass transit systems, long-distance bus carriers, chemical facilities and nuclear power plants.” The agency in January announced allocations totaling $200.1 million for the Trucking Security Program and the Buffer Zone Protection Program, along with transit security grants for eight “Tier 1” regions considered to be at highest risk for an attack. The announcements yesterday covered funding for security of seaports, transit in Tier 2 regions, ferry operations and intercity transportation systems. A total of $202 million is due to be distributed between 183 public and private entities to promote port infrastructure protection.  Homeland Security said its funding priorities included training and other efforts to reduce the threat of improvised explosive devices and improved access controls. The agency plans to distribute $14.2 million to 24 Tier 2 urban regions for transit security, $7.2 million to 17 ferry systems in 13 regions and $8.3 million to Amtrak. Thirty-nine Tier 1 and Tier 2 intercity bus systems are due to receive $11.6 million for prevention and detection of improvised explosive devices, protection of “high-risk/high-consequence assets,” antiterrorism training, emergency preparedness and other priorities (U.S. Homeland Security Department release, May 10). The New York City region is due to receive $27.3 million for port security, a nearly $2 million increase from fiscal 2006 and a five-fold boost from fiscal 2005, Newsday reported yesterday.  Funding for rail, bus and ferry security is up 13 percent from $53.8 million to $61 million. “It’s a very good day for New York,” said Representative Peter King (R-N.Y.).  “This is not political favoritism, this is not pork-barrel … this is a realization that New York is, sadly, the No. 1 target,” he said (Louise Radnofsky, Newsday, May 10). Back to top

House Panel Boosts Nonproliferation Funding by $150M The U.S. House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved a fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill that includes more than $2 billion to prevent the global proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Jan. 5). “The committee fully supports the goals of the Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration’s nonproliferation programs and the Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction program and emphasizes that these programs are critical to U.S. national security and must be a top priority,” the panel said. “The committee is concerned that lack of effective policy guidance and leadership, and program and funding constraints, have limited progress of U.S. nonproliferation and threat reduction programs in recent years,” it added.  “The committee believes there must be a strong national commitment to reinvigorate these programs.  The committee authorizes additional funding and concrete measures that will expand and strengthen nonproliferation and threat reduction efforts around the world.” Lawmakers voted unanimously in favor of the bill, which authorizes spending nearly $1.82 billion on NNSA nonproliferation programs in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.  That amount is $150 million higher than requested by the Bush administration. Funding authorized for the agency in the bill includes: —      $280.2 million, a $15 million hike from the NNSA request, for development of WMD proliferation detection and nuclear explosion monitoring technology under the Nonproliferation Research and Development program; —      $147.9 million, a $23 million increase, for expansion of the Proliferation Security Initiative (see GSN, March 16) and other WMD interdiction programs under the Nonproliferation and International Security program; —      $401.8 million, which includes an additional $30 million, for International Materials Protection and Cooperation programs, including securing Russian nuclear material and installing radiation detection technology at ports overseas; —      $196.6 million, an increase of $77 million, for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, including efforts to eliminate highly enriched uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons and to prepare teams to secure and remove WMD material; —      $609.5 million for the U.S. Surplus Fissile Materials Disposition program, including $333.8 million for construction of the planned U.S. MOX facility that would convert weapon-grade plutonium into proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel (see GSN, April 16); and —      $399.7 million, a $5 million rise, “to expand and strengthen staff capacity, capabilities and resources that NNSA needs to effectively implement nonproliferation programs.” The committee also authorized a $50 million above the administration spending target for Defense Department Cooperative Threat Reduction programs.  That would bring the total to $398 million to secure and eliminate WMD material in former Soviet states. The panel directed $42.7 million toward completion of the Shchuchye chemical weapons disposal facility in Russia (see GSN, March 1).  The United States has directed more than $1 billion toward the project, which has been stalled by disputes over construction bids submitted by Russian subcontractors and other problems. “The committee is strongly concerned that the project is incomplete, and yet the DOD has requested no additional funding in fiscal year 2008,” the panel said.  “The committee is also concerned that DOD’s current budget and strategy for the project do not reflect the U.S. commitment to CTR efforts.” Lawmakers also set aside $7 million for the Pentagon to use to develop a plan for new CTR initiatives, including programs in Asia and the Middle East and related to the denuclearization of North Korea.  They also voted to remove restrictions on CTR funding for chemical weapons disposal in Russia and to eliminate the annual certification requirement for recipients of program funds, a committee spokeswoman said (see GSN, Feb. 14). The bill must now pass through the House and Senate before going before the president for final approval (U.S. House Armed Services Committee release, May 9). Back to top       Cheney Disputes Tenet Version of War Planning U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday responded to claims from former CIA Director George Tenet that the White House failed to fully consider the implications of invading Iraq in 2003, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, May 7). In his recently released “At the Center of the Storm,” Tenet said Cheney and others refused to seriously examine alternatives to war. “That's just not true,” Cheney told Fox News yesterday.  “I haven't read George's book, but to state that somehow the president didn't spend a lot of time thinking about this or talking about it — we had extensive conversations.  Maybe George wasn't included in those, but the fact of the matter is this decision was weighed as heavily and given as careful consideration as any I've ever been involved in, and I've worked for four presidents.” Cheney also disagreed with the book’s description of the meaning of Tenet’s infamous “slam dunk” comment (see GSN, April 27).  Tenet wrote that he used the phrase in a meeting with Cheney and President George W. Bush to describe the ease of improving the presentation of U.S. intelligence on Iraqi WMD capabilities, not to characterize the intelligence itself. “The president asked him that question specifically: 'How good is the evidence, George?'” Cheney recounted.  “And George says, 'It's a slam dunk.’  It's an honest, accurate statement of what transpired. … I never said it was a tipping point” (Peter Baker, Washington Post, May 11). Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has completed a second report assessing U.S. intelligence efforts prior to the invasion, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 20, 2006). The committee plans to send the report to the national intelligence director for removal of any classified information prior to releasing the document, according to statement from committee leaders (United Press International, May 10). Back to top

Iran Turns Away IAEA Inspectors Iran turned away international nuclear officials last month when they tried to conduct a surprise inspection of Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, March 20). The International Atomic Energy Agency personnel were denied access April 21 to a room containing the centrifuges despite an earlier Iranian promise to cooperate with unannounced visits, diplomats said. The attempted inspection was the first unannounced visit since Tehran and the agency brokered a deal to permit agency monitoring of the site at Natanz, where diplomats close to the agency have said technicians have installed more than 1,600 centrifuges in 10 “cascades” (see GSN, April 19). The agency had sought to install permanent cameras within the cascade hall, but Iran refused and instead agreed to allow frequent, unannounced visits by agency inspectors, AFP reported. The April 21 visit “was a total failure,” said one diplomat, adding that the agency has not yet attempted another surprise inspection. “The Iranians did not let the IAEA inspectors into the halls where the cascades of centrifuges are,” the diplomat said.  “So they couldn't get details of what is going on there.” “An undeclared visit should be fast, uncomplicated, but the Iranians said they wanted to talk again about the terms of the visits,” the diplomat added (Michael Adler, Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, May 11).. Iran denied the AFP report today, saying the nation has cooperated with the agency. “There are no limitations regarding inspection and Iran as promised acts completely according to the [Nuclear Nonproliferation] Treaty and has opened its door to all inspections of its sites,” said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, head of the Iranian delegation to an NPT conference meeting this week in Vienna (see GSN, May 10). “Such news is only aimed to weaken Iran's placement in the final days of the Nonproliferation Treaty revision conference,” he added (Iranian Student News Agency, May 11). Tehran and the agency have been working for months to agree on inspection arrangements at the underground enrichment facility, where Iran has been adding about one cascade of 164 centrifuges every 10 days, said the diplomat. The machines are processing uranium gas, but only “in slow motion,” to prevent equipment failures, according to the diplomat. “The Iranians are working at having a large number of centrifuges running, rather than how efficient the process is,” the diplomat said (Adler, Agence France-Presse I). Meanwhile, the United States has backed a proposed “time out” compromise to enable a return to talks with Iran to reach a long-term resolution to the nuclear crisis, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 7). The compromise would call for U.N. powers to suspend implementation of recently imposed Security Council sanctions and for Iran to simultaneously freeze its uranium enrichment activities. Officials from the five permanent council members and Germany met yesterday in Berlin, where U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns agreed to the dual suspension plan. “We are offering to negotiate.  We are waiting for a response from Iran,” he said (Judy Dempsey, International Herald Tribune, May 10). Elsewhere, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney kept up rhetorical pressure on Iran today, addressing the nuclear crisis from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis in the Persian Gulf (see GSN, Feb. 12). “With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we’re sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike,” he said.  The United States “will stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region” (Graham Bowley, New York Times, May 11). Last night, Iranian and North Korean officials signed an agreement to improve ties between the two nations, Reuters reported. by Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il signed the deal in Tehran (Reuters, May 11). “Tehran sees no limit in expanding ties and cooperation with Pyongyang,” said Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi.  Iran was “ready to offer its achievements in different fields but especially the economy, infrastructure and technical services for the progress of North Korea” (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, May 10). Back to top       NPT Conference in Turmoil on Final Day The final day of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty conference was marred by disputes over the session’s final statement, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 10). The annual session to plan for the treaty’s 2010 review conference was scheduled to end today, but Iran and other Nonaligned Movement nations objected to the chairman’s summary statement, according to Reuters Developing nations argued that the statement focused too much on treaty compliance concerns, notably regarding Iran, and not enough on provisions requiring nuclear-weapon states to move toward disarmament, Reuters reported. Some nations demanded that the summary statement be downgraded to a “working paper,” a status that would not require the approval of all the roughly 130 nations participating in the meeting. “There is a general objection to imbalance in the summary.  But different NAM members are objecting to different things.  NAM is not united,” said one Nonaligned Movement diplomat.  “The end of this meeting has turned into a terrible mess” (Mark Heinrich, Reuters, May 11). Back to top       Nuclear Experts Urge Return to Bomb Shelters Harkening a return to Cold War programs to prepare U.S. residents for nuclear war, a group of high-level experts plans to urge local communities to dig underground bomb shelters to protect them from the aftermath of a terrorist nuclear weapons attack, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today (see GSN, May 8). The 41-member group convened last month in Washington to discuss ways to improve the emergency response to such an attack, based on the premise that nuclear terror prevention efforts are inadequate.  Sponsored by Stanford and Harvard universities, the meeting included directors of U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories, Homeland Security Department officials, and current and former top military officials, according to the Chronicle. Organizers have begun to prepare a summary paper that recommends several civil defense measures, including building bomb shelters, setting rules to strictly limit citizen movement after an attack to keep roadways open and lifting radiation safety rules for emergency responders, the Chronicle reported. “The public at large will expect that their government had thought through this possibility and to have planned for it,” said event organizer Ashton Carter of Harvard University.  “This kind of an event would be unprecedented.  We have had glimpses of something like this with Hiroshima, and glimpses with 9/11 and with Katrina.  But those are only glimpses.” The group discussed a scenario in which terrorists detonate a 10- to 15-kiloton nuclear weapon, comparable to the U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.  Participants worked on the assumption, however, that terrorists would have more than one weapon. “If one bomb goes off, there are likely to be more to follow,” Carter said.  “This fact, that nuclear terrorism will appear as a syndrome rather than a single episode, has major consequences.” Some participants argued that those consequences would be so enormous that greater efforts are needed to prevent such a scenario. “Your cities would empty and people would completely lose confidence in the ability of the government to protect them,” said University of Maryland professor Steve Fetter.  “You'd have nothing that resembles our current social order. I'm not sure any preparation can be sufficient to deal with that.” “We have to hold current policy-makers more responsible” for preventing a nuclear attack in the first place, he added (James Sterngold, San Francisco Chronicle, May 11). Back to top       U.S. Bank Said Willing to Accept North Korean Money A U.S. bank has indicated its willingness to act as a transfer point for North Korean funds that the regime says it must collect before beginning the process of denuclearization, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, May 10). Financial institutions have been reluctant to touch the $25 million, now held in 52 accounts at Banco Delta Asia in Macau, for fear of being penalized for accepting money the United States had linked to illicit North Korean financial activities such as counterfeiting.  Pyongyang says, though, that it would not start meeting its commitments under a February six-party talks agreement until it has the money in hand. Work is under way at the State and Treasury departments to find a strategy for moving the money without violating U.S. law, the Times reported.  The U.S. bank has not been named, though it apparently is not among the major institutions. Transferring the funds through a U.S. bank could also meet Pyongyang’s stated demand that it have access to the international financial system. “I think we are getting to the point where we know how this is going to be solved,” said Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, lead U.S. negotiator at the six-party talks.  “Currently, what we are doing is to assist in ways that we can allow the North Koreans to put those accounts into another bank, where they can make use of those accounts” (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, May 11). Japan and South Korea yesterday urged North Korea to take the first steps called for under the Feb. 13 deal — shutting down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and letting international atomic inspectors back into the country. “We agreed that it is necessary for North Korea to take the initial phase steps as soon as possible,” Japan’s Foreign Ministry said following a meeting between foreign affairs officials from Seoul and Tokyo.  “We also confirmed that the two countries will continue to closely work together” (Chisaki Watanabe, Associated Press/The China Post, May 10). However, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso today expressed doubt that North Korea would move quickly on denuclearization even after receiving its money, Kyodo News reported. “My sense is that there will be a mountain or two before we can move into initial steps,” he said (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, May 11). Back to top       Russia, Kazakhstan Ink Deal on Joint Uranium Center Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement yesterday advancing an effort to create an international nuclear fuel supply system that could permit developing nations to pursue nuclear energy without raising weapon concerns, RIA Novosti reported (see GSN, May 9). Kazakhstan, home to 15 percent of the world’s uranium reserves, agreed to participate in a Russian uranium enrichment center the Siberian city of Angarsk.  The site was previously part of Russia’s nuclear weapons complex, but has been opened to international monitoring, according to RIA Novosti. Russian nuclear agency head Sergei Kiriyenko and Kazakh Energy Minister Baktykozha Izmukhambetov signed the deal during a summit in Astana between the two nations’ presidents. “We consider this document the first step in the implementation of our initiative to create a global nuclear energy infrastructure,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday (RIA Novosti, May 10). Back to top       Indiana Nuclear Terrorism Drill Begins Emergency personnel in Indiana yesterday began a four-day exercise in which they must respond to a mock act of nuclear terrorism, The Indianapolis Star reported (see GSN, May 8). The drill is one component of the April 30-May 18 Ardent Sentry-Northern Edge 07 preparedness exercise, which involves U.S. and Canadian personnel.  This is the largest such drill ever conducted in Indiana.  Roughly 4,000 soldiers and emergency responders from around the nation are expected to join the exercise by today. At the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Jennings County, a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon “detonated” at 10 a.m. yesterday.  Some of the first emergency responders rushed to the site without taking adequate safety precautions, the Star reported. “They were overwhelmed at first.  They forgot there could have been radiation exposure or chemicals,” said Purdue University fire safety expert Tom Cooper. Firefighters quickly began evacuating volunteer victims. Meanwhile, Indianapolis police were dealing with the detonation of an improvised explosive device at a mock mall at the training center.  They made the right moves, including wearing masks and gloves and calling out the SWAT team to protect responders from terrorists, one expert observer said.  However, he said the total response was too slow. “By my watch, it’s been 44 minutes, 50 seconds, and (the victims) are still inside,” said T.K. Stoudt, an emergency management and chemical warfare expert with the Air National Guard in Washington (Will Higgins, The Indianapolis Star, May 11). Back to top

“Chemical Ali” Denies Role in Iraqi CW Attacks The former senior Iraqi official known as “Chemical Ali” yesterday said he had no role in using chemical weapons against the country’s Kurds in the 1980s, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 7). Ali Hassan al-Majid is among six officials from the Saddam Hussein regime on trial for the Anfal campaign that has been linked to the deaths of up to 180,000 Kurds.  They face execution if convicted. “As for the chemical weapons … I did not use or issue order to use them.  I do not know who used them if they were ever used,” said al-Majid, Hussein’s cousin, who received his nickname for allegedly ordering the use of chemical weapons during the operation. Hussein was being tried in this case prior to his execution after being convicted in an earlier trial. The Anfal campaign was necessary to prevent Kurdish rebels from helping Iranian forces enter northern Iraq while the two countries were at war, al-Majid said.  “I did what should have been done at that time,” he said. The defense finished its closing arguments yesterday, AP reported.  The trial is scheduled to resume June 10 (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, May 10). Back to top

U.S. Prepares Missile Intercept Test The U.S. Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct a missile intercept test later this month, the Kodiak, Alaska, Daily Mirror reported (see GSN, Jan. 16). The test could occur between May 24 and 27, though the actual date would not be selected until a week before the planned launch, said agency spokesman Rick Lehner. An interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California would be aimed at a missile fired from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska.  The test has a “primary objective of striking the target missile,” Lehner said. The sea-based X-band radar is set to track the test from the Pacific Ocean (see GSN, March 14), along with radar systems at Beale Air Force Base in California (Bryan Martin, Kodiak Daily Mirror, May 10). 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.