Christopher Hill (left) and Kenichiro Sasae, the lead U.S. and Japanese negotiators on North Korea’s nuclear program, talk to reporters today after meeting in Tokyo (Toshifumi Kitamura/Getty Images). IAEA Team Slated for Trip to North Korea Next Week Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency are scheduled to visit North Korea next week for talks on overseeing the shutdown of the plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 18). Pyongyang pledged in February that it would suspend work at the reactor and under IAEA supervision as it begins moving toward shuttering its nuclear weapons complex.  The regime in return would receive fuel oil and related support from the other nations participating in the six-party talks.  ..Full Story

House Puts Weight Behind Nuclear Fuel Bank The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed a measure authorizing a $50 million donation to the International Atomic Energy Agency for the purpose of creating an international nuclear fuel bank, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 24)...Full Story

U.S. Intelligence Services Promote START U.S. intelligence agencies have urged the Bush administration to pursue an extension to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, a U.S.-Russian nuclear weapons pact that is set to expire in 2009, McClatchy news service reported today (see GSN, May 23)...Full Story

	Tuesday, June 19, 2007

IAEA Team Slated for Trip to North Korea Next Week Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency are scheduled to visit North Korea next week for talks on overseeing the shutdown of the plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 18). Pyongyang pledged in February that it would suspend work at the reactor and under IAEA supervision as it begins moving toward shuttering its nuclear weapons complex.  The regime in return would receive fuel oil and related support from the other nations participating in the six-party talks.  The deal has been delayed for months by a now seemingly resolved dispute over millions of dollars in North Korean funds held at a bank in Macau. “We want the IAEA to quickly make an agreement and get on with shutting down the reactor,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Washington’s lead envoy to the talks. “We need to assess how quickly we can move to, I think, catch up to some of our timelines” following the financial dispute, he added.  North Korea under the deal was supposed to have closed Yongbyon in April. North Korea expelled IAEA personnel in December 2002 and has not let officials from the U.N. agency return since then.  State media announced Saturday that a “working-level delegation” had been invited for talks.  Officials from several countries said the reactor shutdown could occur next month. “I think we’re talking about weeks, not months,” Hill said (Associated Press I/CNN.com, June 18). He said today he hoped to see the next round of six-party talks in early July, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, July 19). Hill said today that Pyongyang appeared to have taken possession of the formerly frozen funds, AP reported.  Russia and Washington began transferring the money last week following an extended delay in which various financial institutions refused to handle the funds Washington had linked to illicit North Korean financial activities. “My understanding is that today, it was deposited in a North Korean account in Russia,” Hill said in Tokyo.  Estimates of the total amount have varied; while reports have recently used the figure $25 million, Hill placed it at “something like $23 million.” (Associated Press II/New York Times, June 19). North Korea could receive $2 million in aid from the United States for taking the first steps in the denuclearization agreement, AFP reported today. The funds would be directed toward humanitarian projects, such as power generators for hospitals, according to the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.  The money would be an addition to the 50,000 tons of fuel oil North Korea stands to receive for beginning denuclearization.  South Korea apparently intends to provide that aid (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, June 19). While North Korea has said the Yongbyon reactor is intended to produce electricity, it apparently has no connections to power lines, AFP reported today.  It is believed to have produced enough plutonium for between six and 12 nuclear weapons, Hill said in April. The initial period of suspending work at a reactor could take up to two months, according to an official with the French Atomic Energy Commission.  Fully dismantling the facility “requires a certain number of phases and can last many years,” according to Robert Mogavero (Agence France-Presse III/Yahoo!News, June 19). Back to top       House Puts Weight Behind Nuclear Fuel Bank The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed a measure authorizing a $50 million donation to the International Atomic Energy Agency for the purpose of creating an international nuclear fuel bank, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 24). Such a facility could weaken Iran’s case for pursuing nuclear fuel technology for what it says is a nuclear energy program.  U.S. leaders argue that the program is military in purpose. While Tehran contends its research is purely civilian, mastering the same technology that produces civilian nuclear fuel could represent a huge leap toward a nuclear weapon capability. Passed by voice vote, the bill provides the president authority to voluntarily contribute funding provided that the U.N. nuclear watchdog has already received other pledges of $100 million and received at least $75 million. “This bill is a dramatic step forward in the epic struggle to contain the spread of nuclear arms around the globe,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.). The bill, he said, would “expose the subterfuge that we know Iran is perpetrating in order to further its nuclear weapons pursuit.” The fuel bank would be set up in a nation without nuclear weapons.  While the creation of the facility is in part directed at Iran, Tehran under the bill would be prohibited from participating as long it remains on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The bill also calls for the United States to support a Russian proposal to place one of its uranium enrichment facilities under international management in support of a multinational nuclear power infrastructure. The $50 million authorized for fiscal 2008 matches $50 million pledged by the Nuclear Threat Initiative with the financial support of billionaire U.S. investor Warren Buffett.  The NTI funding is contingent upon $100 million in support from other sources (Jim Abrams, Associated Press/The Houston Chronicle, June 19). [Editor’s Note: The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.] Back to top       U.S. Intelligence Services Promote START U.S. intelligence agencies have urged the Bush administration to pursue an extension to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, a U.S.-Russian nuclear weapons pact that is set to expire in 2009, McClatchy news service reported today (see GSN, May 23). The treaty currently allows U.S. inspectors to verify the deployment of Russian strategic warheads, a job that satellites have had less time to do because they are used to assist U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush administration policy-makers, however, have expressed an interest in allowing the treaty to lapse and to allow less rigorous arms control measures to replace those of the Cold War, McClatchy reported. “We both (Moscow and Washington) want to understand the general trends and directions of each other's forces,” said one senior administration official.  “But we don't need to know everything all the time.” Concerned about losing information about Russian nuclear threats, U.S. intelligence agencies delivered a report to Congress last week, according to one expert. Other experts warned that allowing START to expire, compounded with rising tensions over U.S. missile defense plans (see GSN, June 15) and other disagreements, could lead to a renewed nuclear arms race. “The biggest loser will be everybody, because that would undermine every kind of accountability on both sides,” said Pavel Podvig, a nuclear specialist at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation (Jonathan Landay, McClatchy/Miami Herald, June 19). Back to top       U.N. Urges Cooperation Against Nuclear Terror A senior U.N. official yesterday joined a well-known nonproliferation expert in calling for greater international cooperation in the fight to prevent nuclear terrorism (see GSN, June 12). Larry Johnson, assistant secretary general for legal affairs, pushed for every member state of the international body to ratify the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. “Advances in technology continue to outpace the efforts undertaken to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction,” he said at U.N. headquarters in New York, the U.N. News Service reported. The treaty, which was proposed by Russia and then adopted in April 2005, calls on countries to outlaw specific acts related to nuclear terrorism, such as obtaining nuclear material with the intent to do harm or plotting to attack a nuclear power facility. The convention, which has been signed by 115 countries and ratified by 22, enters into force on July 7.  It provides for international cooperation in the form of information sharing and help with criminal investigations and extraditions. “There is an urgent need to enhance international cooperation between states for devising and adopting effective and practical measures for the prevention of acts of terrorism and for the prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators,” Johnson said (U.N. News Service, June 19). Matthew Bunn, a senior researcher at Harvard University’s Project on Managing the Atom, also called for more countries to adopt the treaty.  He noted that creating a nuclear weapon is not as hard as people may think, nor is nuclear material as secure as it could be.  Both Bunn and Johnson spoke at a conference held at the United Nations. “Theft of the essential ingredients of a nuclear weapon is not a hypothetical worry,” he said, according to the Associated Press.  “It is an ongoing reality.” Despite several thefts of nuclear material over the last 15 years, there is no convincing evidence that any terror group had gotten acquired the highly enriched uranium or plutonium that could fuel a bomb, Bunn said. If a nonstate group were to acquire such material, however, getting it across international borders would not be terribly hard.  “These things are small.  They’re not as radioactive as people think they are.  They’re quite difficult to detect at any distance.” He called for nations, particularly the United States and Russia, to consolidate their nuclear weapons to fewer sites. Once fissile material is obtained, it would be possible to assemble a bomb of some sort, Bunn said.  “Unfortunately, it does not take a Manhattan Project to make at least a crude nuclear bomb of the kind terrorists might want” (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, June 18).  Back to top       Former Y-12 Personnel Kept Security Clearances A U.S. Energy Department audit found that more than 100 one-time workers at two nuclear weapons sites in Tennessee were allowed to keep top-security clearances after leaving those facilities, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 18, 2006). The investigation by the DOE inspector general’s office followed up on a 2003 review of security access and security badge issues at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and the former K-25 uranium enrichment site, which is now the East Tennessee Technology Park. “Our recent analysis … indicates that these issues persist,” stated Inspector General Gregory Friedman in the May 24 report. “We identified 142 employees (at Y-12) who were no longer associated with the department but still maintained an active security clearance.  All except two … had ‘Q’ (top-security) clearances,” the report states. Thirty-four more people “who had reportedly worked at ETTP and should have had their security clearances terminated or transferred were still listed as active,” it adds.  Eighteen of those people had top-security clearances. There have also been problems at the Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories since 2003 in collecting security badges from exiting personnel, the report stated. “It is not a good news story when you have badges floating around,” said Peter Stockton, a senior investigator at the Project on Government Oversight watchdog group. Standard protocols were followed regarding clearances at the Oak Ridge sites, and there were no security issues, according to government and contractor officials.  Personnel shifting to other high-security work could maintain their clearances while those not returning had to turn in their badges, they said. “There was no problem.  There is no problem,” said Mike Monnett of Y-12 managing contractor BWX Technologies. “The IG report made a claim about security clearances for people who no longer work here,” he added.  “Those people have valid requirements for those clearances.” None had been fired, Monnett said (Duncan Mansfield, Associated Press/The Knoxville News Sentinel, June 18). Back to top       India Promotes Nuclear Deal With Missile Compromise India hopes to push its nuclear trade deal with the United States to completion by pledging to produce only medium-range ballistic missiles, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 18). Under the deal, India could receive U.S. nuclear technology and materials in exchange for placing its civilian nuclear infrastructure under international monitoring. However, there have been concerns in the United States that giving India access to more nuclear fuel for energy purposes could allow it to direct more of its domestic uranium toward its military program.  That could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia, observers worry. New Delhi hopes that a decision against developing missiles with ranges of more than 5,000 kilometers would reduce those concerns, CNN-IBN reported. The longest-range Indian missile, the Agni 3, has a range of 3,000 kilometers, AP reported (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, June 18). New Delhi is also preparing to approve the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, which Washington has made a requirement for accepting the nuclear deal, the Indo-Asian News Service reported Friday. Signatories to the international pact are required to provide adequate protection for nuclear plants and for materials being used, stored or transported (Indo-Asian News Service/Yahoo!News, June 15). The U.S.-Indian trade agreement might not be completed in 2007, The Times of India reported. “I cannot say it can positively be done this year.  We are trying,” Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told The Straits Times. While “some advancements have been made … there are certain areas which have to be sorted out,” he added (The Times of India, June 19). Back to top       Iran Threatens Oil Action in Nuclear Crisis Iran has warned that it could manipulate its oil exports to disrupt global markets if the United States were to take any military action against the Iranian nuclear program, Reuters reported today (see GSN, June 18). U.S. officials have refused to remove military force from their set of options to address Iran’s growing capacity to enrich uranium.  They have argued that Iran’s activities constitute the early stages of a nuclear weapons program, not an energy program as Tehran has said. “When the Americans say that military action in regard to the nuclear issue has not been put aside, Iran can also say that it will not put aside oil as a tool,” said Iranian OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili.  “We will not start using this tool (of oil) but if others use their tools that they have not put aside to put pressure on negotiations, it is natural that the two sides would discuss all their tools” (Reuters/Washington Post, June 19). Iran has also complained of recent Israeli statements which also refused to rule out military options in the nuclear standoff. “The military option is included in all the options that are on the table, but at this time it's right to use the path of sanctions, and to intensify them,” Israeli Deputy U.N. Ambassador Daniel Carmon said earlier this month. Yesterday, Iranian U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif circulated a protest letter he sent last week to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "I wish to inform you that, emboldened by the absence of any action by the Security Council, various Israeli officials have unabatedly continued to publicly and contemptuously make unlawful and dangerous threats of resorting to force against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said (Sarah DiLorenzo, Associated Press/TriCityHerald.com, June 19). Back to top

VX Waste Shipments Halted Shipments to Texas of wastewater produced by VX nerve agent disposal are being temporarily suspended while a federal court sets a hearing date on a preliminary injunction intended to block the process, The Port Arthur News reported yesterday (see GSN, May 1). “We are very excited,” said Hilton Kelley, head of the Port Arthur Community In-Power Development Association.  “This is a victory, no matter how small.  While the objective was to stop the trucks from coming to Port Arthur, we were able to get the Army to temporarily agree to stop the shipments until this is heard in court.” The U.S. Army in April began shipping caustic hydrolysate from the chemical agent neutralization plant in Newport, Ind., for final treatment at Veolia Environmental Services in Port Arthur.  The plant has received 101 shipments, of which 72 have been incinerated, said Veolia environmental, health and safety manager Dan Duncan.  Less than a quarter of the entire project has been completed. Opponents filed a federal lawsuit in May in Indiana, claiming that the shipments constitute a violation of state and federal environmental laws.  They are also seeking a government study of alternative strategies for eliminating the waste, the News reported. “There are too many unanswered questions,” Kelley said. The Army and Veolia said the shipments and treatment are safe.  Duncan scoffed at claims that nerve agent could potentially reform during storage. “Our opponents feel the agent could reform in an organic layer of wastewater, something we believe is not true,” he said.  “An excess of sodium hydroxide is used to prevent the agent from reforming.  The military has been sampling the oldest of the containers and have found zero.” Duncan said he expects a favorable ruling from the court (Mary Meaux, The Port Arthur News, June 18). Back to top

North Korea Launches Missile Toward Japan North Korea today fired a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea (see GSN, June 7). This was the third time North Korea has tested a conventionally armed missile over the last month, Thomson Financial reported. Officials have described the two previous launches as part of regular annual exercises.  North Korea on May 25 fired one missile into the sea off its eastern coast and on June 7 it fired two missiles off its western coast. This latest move from Pyongyang comes only three days after North Korean officials signaled a possible willingness to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear reactor as required under the Feb. 13 six-party agreement (see related GSN story, today). Pyongyang has invited a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog to travel to North Korea next week to discuss shuttering the reactor. The type of missile fired today remains unknown, the Yonhap News Service reported.  The earlier launches were believed to involve ground-to-ship or ship-to-ship missiles with a range of about 60 miles.  “I don’t think it (the launch) has a special significance that can be linked to the six-party talks,” the Korean news service quoted an unnamed Korean official as saying (Thomson Financial/Hemscott.com, June 19). Back to top

Experts Question Putin Missile Defense Proposal Experts said there are a number of reasons why U.S. policy-makers are likely to reject Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal for deployment of missile defenses in Europe, United Press International reported yesterday (see GSN, June 18). Putin has been angered by the Bush administration’s intention to place missile interceptors and a radar base in nearby Poland and the Czech Republic.  Earlier this month, he suggested instead that Washington use an existing radar leased by Russia in Azerbaijan and that interceptors could be placed in Iraq, Turkey or on U.S. Aegis-class ships. Speaking anonymously, U.S. military experts noted several drawbacks to this plan: While Standard Missile 3 interceptors can be placed on ships, they are not intended for use in bringing down fast-moving ICBMs.  U.S. Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptors have that capability, but are housed in silos. Radars in Azerbaijan — as opposed to the Czech Republic — would not provide the necessary information to allow interceptors to stop potential Iranian missiles fired at the United States, the experts said.  Interceptors deployed at sea or on land in the Mediterranean region would also not be in good position to bring down Iranian missiles. Setting up the necessary communications equipment with Russia would also be difficult, the experts said.  They also argued that the planned U.S. installations would pose no threat to Russian strategic security, given the size of Russia’s arsenal and the small number of location of the planned interceptors in Poland, UPI reported. “We must clearly understand that this proposal cannot, and does not offer any protection against Iranian missiles targeted at the United States, United Kingdom and portions of Northern Europe,” said Riki Ellison, president of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (Martin Sieff, United Press International, June 18). Back to top

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