Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon (left) and U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, shown Friday, could not complete a bilateral nuclear trade deal after three days of talks in New Delhi. Officials had hoped for a breakthrough prior to the anticipated meeting this week of the two countries' leaders in Germany (Raveendran/Getty Images). Still No Agreement in U.S.-Indian Nuclear Trade Deal U.S. and Indian negotiators have failed to resolve their disagreements over a planned bilateral nuclear trade deal, the Financial Times reported yesterday (see GSN, May 31). Prospects have therefore dimmed for the nations’ two leaders to announce major progress on the agreement when they meet this week on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Germany, according to the Times. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns concluded three days of talks Saturday in New Delhi with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, but the two sides made little progress on their key disagreements...Full Story

U.N. Inspection Team Still Together Despite U.S. and British pressure to disband, the U.N. team created to investigate Iraqi WMD capabilities before the 2003 war continues to operate, although it has not conducted any inspections since the invasion began, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, March 8)...Full Story

North Korea Restarts Nuclear Reactor North Korea has apparently restarted its plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear reactor following a 10-day shutdown last month caused by technical troubles, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, June 1)...Full Story

	Monday, June 4, 2007

U.N. Inspection Team Still Together Despite U.S. and British pressure to disband, the U.N. team created to investigate Iraqi WMD capabilities before the 2003 war continues to operate, although it has not conducted any inspections since the invasion began, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, March 8). The U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission has continued to conduct low-level operations at its New York headquarters, where 20 WMD experts each day examine satellite imagery of Iraq to search for evidence of weapons they may have missed. The team was created to succeed the U.N. Special Commission on Iraq that uncovered and destroyed the nation’s extensive WMD programs following the 1991 Gulf War. A massive search following the 2003 invasion turned up no evidence of contemporary WMD programs, and many experts see no need for the U.N. inspectors to continue their mission. “The reality on the ground is there is no WMD there,” said Charles Duelfer, a former U.N. weapons inspector who completed the CIA-led, post-war WMD hunt.  “I think they understand the distance their work is from reality.” U.S. and British diplomats recently introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution to abolish the commission, the Post reported. “The reason for them disappeared the day Baghdad fell,” said former British diplomat Carne Ross, who aided the commission’s 1999 creation. “This is really absurd,” agreed Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, Iraq's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.  “We're approaching five years now of this exercise in futility.” Russia, however, has not concurred, according to the Post.  Russian diplomats have argued that U.N. officials, not U.S. ones, should make the final judgment on Iraq’s WMD capabilities.  To do so, the commission would need to see classified reports from the U.S. postwar search, but Washington has so far rejected such requests, said commission head Dimitri Perricos. “I recognize this is unhealthy,” he said of the commission’s continuing existence, but “we are not the ones who are holding the purse; the one who is holding the purse is the council.” Still, the team could have a useful role if it were allowed to re-enter Iraq, he said, expressing concern that insurgents or a future Iraqi government could acquire dangerous materials and technology. “Look, Iraq is not Denmark.  They've made botulin, anthrax, VX, sarin; they've made the whole spectrum of horrifying items, and they've used them.  We don't know how things are going to develop in the region, and we want to be sure there are some controls.” In addition, the commission could serve to maintain the skills of a cadre of inspectors who could be used for other similar missions, said a former commission chairman. “The main part of the job is done," said Swedish diplomat Hans Blix, who now heads the Swedish-sponsored Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission (see GSN, June 2, 2006).  “But there is a valuable asset that has stood the test and could be of great use in other areas,” he said, pointing out that are no international groups that monitor biological or missile programs (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, June 2). Back to top       Russia Stops WMD Document Smuggling Attempt Russia has begun to investigate a possible effort to smuggle WMD information out of the country, RIA Novosti reported Friday (see GSN, May 2). “Members of the Urals customs service have opened two criminal cases (into the smuggling) of technical documents that could be used in weapons production,” said a customs service statement. The service reported that authorities had seized “28 booklets of technical documents and reports” worth $3.6 million, but the agency did not indicate where the documents were confiscated or from whom they were taken.  Anyone found guilty of the crime could face a seven-year prison sentence (RIA Novosti, June 1). Back to top       Pentagon Certifies Two More WMD Response Units The U.S. Defense Department announced last week that it had certified that National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams in Utah and Nevada are ready for service (see GSN, May 23). “The 85th WMD-CST of Lehi, Utah and the 92nd WMD-CST of Las Vegas are fully ready to assist civil authorities in responding to a domestic weapon of mass destruction incident, and possess the requisite skills, training, and equipment to be proficient in all mission requirements,” the Pentagon said in a press release. The Pentagon has now certified 51 of the 55 planned teams.  The final four units are scheduled for certification by September, ensuring that there is one team in every U.S. state and territory and the District of Columbia.  New York is seeking a second team (U.S. Defense Department release, May 30). Back to top

Still No Agreement in U.S.-Indian Nuclear Trade Deal U.S. and Indian negotiators have failed to resolve their disagreements over a planned bilateral nuclear trade deal, the Financial Times reported yesterday (see GSN, May 31). Prospects have therefore dimmed for the nations’ two leaders to announce major progress on the agreement when they meet this week on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit in Germany, according to the Times. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns concluded three days of talks Saturday in New Delhi with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, but the two sides made little progress on their key disagreements. New Delhi has asked the Bush administration to seek changes to a U.S. law that exempted India from most, but not all of U.S. nuclear export restrictions.  The current law would enable the United State to pull out of the pact if India were to conduct a nuclear weapon test.  Indian officials have said that provision places too many limits on their country’s nuclear activity. The talks were “intense, productive and constructive,” Menon said, but there were “still issues left where there is some distance to travel.” No future dates have been scheduled to resume the talks, but Menon said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would visit India in late July or early August (Jo Johnson, Financial Times, June 3). Back to top       North Korea Restarts Nuclear Reactor North Korea has apparently restarted its plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear reactor following a 10-day shutdown last month caused by technical troubles, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, June 1). The specific cause of the shutdown was not immediately identified, according to the Yonhap News Agency.  It is not believed to be linked to the February denuclearization deal reached at the six-party talks, which called on Pyongyang to close the reactor by mid-April.  That did not occur. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that reactor operations had not yet resumed.  It said the shutdown might be a feint intended to give the impression that North Korea was removing spent fuel rods that could be processed for weapon-usable plutonium. An intelligence official told Yonhap that there is no indication that fuel rods were being prepared for removal from the reactor during the shutdown (Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, June 4). North Korea is still waiting for an explanation from the United States on the delay of $25 million in previously frozen funds from a Macau bank, deputy leader Kim Yong Nam said Friday, according to AP.  Pyongyang has said it would not begin fulfilling its commitments under the February deal until it receives the money. “There is so far no direct message from the U.S. what the problem is with the release of money,” he told German lawmakers visiting Pyongyang. “When this momentary obstacle is eliminated, we will fulfill our promise immediately,” he said, according to German delegation head Hartmut Koschyk (Michael Fischer, Associated Press II, June 1). North Korea would not receive any food aid from South Korea until it begins implementing the agreement, AP reported. Cabinet officials from Pyongyang and Seoul met for four days last week. It is “absolutely imperative” that North Korea begin carrying out its obligations under the agreement, said South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung. Pyongyang’s agreed first steps toward denuclearization are shutting down Yongbyon and readmitting international nuclear inspectors.  In return, it would receive 50,000 tons of fuel oil and equivalent aid, with the promise of more support as it dismantles its nuclear weapons program (Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press III/Yahoo!News, June 1). Back to top       U.S. Consolidates Nuclear Weapons Inspection Process at Oak Ridge National Laboratory The United States has completed the first stage of a project to consolidate one type of nuclear weapons activity at its Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported Friday (see GSN, April 17). The site where workers inspect warheads removed from deployment has been relocated within the laboratory’s Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, said officials from the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. “The consolidation of this function has enabled Y-12 to eliminate the need to transport materials onsite, to reduce costs and to increase the safety and security of these important activities,” said Y-12 site manager Ted Sherry in a statement. Workers finished the initial stage of the consolidation over the past two years, and the second phase is expected to be completed in December 2008, said another U.S. official.  Total cost for the project is estimated at $47 million. Inspecting recently removed warheads ensures that the deployed stockpile will work as designed, officials said. The program "is responsible for assessing multiple aspects of the nuclear weapons stockpile, including component integrity, design compatibility and safety,” said a NNSA release.  “It is a key Y-12 mission and is intended to maintain confidence in the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile” (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, June 1). Back to top

Japanese Biosecurity Rules Take Effect Japan implemented new regulations Friday to improve monitoring and security over potentially lethal biological materials in the nation’s laboratories, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported (see GSN, Jan. 10, 2006). The augmented Infectious Diseases Law requires researchers to register inventories of agents that could be used for biological weapons, such as anthrax, and to report to a safety commission whenever those agents are transferred. Some scientists have expressed concern that the measures would interfere with emergency response efforts and basic scientific research, Yomiuri reported (Yomiuri Shimbun, June 1). Back to top       Dugway Plans Worry Environmental Groups Environmental organizations are expressing concerns about U.S. Army plans to renovate a laboratory at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to allow it to conduct biological defense research, the Deseret Morning News reported Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 18, 2004). The U.S. biological defense effort “requires improvement,” according to the environmental assessment for plans to refurbish the shuttered Baker Laboratory.  Military and emergency personnel must have access to technology capable of detecting and identifying biological agents, along with protective gear and decontamination equipment, according to the document. The Army wants to place up to 25 laboratories within the 32,000-square-foot facility.  It is expected to take several years for Congress to fully fund the project, according to Army officials. The Sierra Club’s Utah branch and the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah in April submitted responses to the environmental assessment for the project.  The Army said it has largely addressed or would address the health, safety and environmental issues raised in the comments, the Morning News reported. There has been a “general lack of specificity and details regarding what is certainly a major expansion of Dugway’s capacity to conduct testing of agents of biological origin,” Citizens Education Project chief Stephen Erickson said in an April letter to Dugway officials.  One area of concern is the potential testing of anthrax vaccine strains, he said. The Army responded that the plan for the facility is not yet finalized.  Systems would be installed at the facility “to prevent the release of biological materials to the atmosphere,” according to the environmental assessment (Stephen Speckman, Deseret Morning News, June 2). Back to top       Canadian Firm to Develop Mobile Biosensor Canada has issued a $3.8 million contract for development of a sensor capable of detecting biological agents at a distance of five kilometers, The Vancouver Sun reported Friday (see GSN, April 13). Richmond-based contractor MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates plans to place the detector on a pickup truck, ensuring it could be used for quick response to a possible act of bioterrorism. “It’s self-contained and can be deployed quickly,” said company vice president David Hargreaves.  “It’s a broad application and it can detect biological (agents) in the air.  The primary reason is for a terrorist threat or attack. “A potential use would be around the 2010 [Vancouver] Olympics or other major events” (see GSN, May 16). The truck is scheduled to be delivered to the Canadian defense department in June 2009.  Additional trucks could be produced if the first vehicle proves successful, Hargreaves told the Sun.  Technology for detecting other threats, such as chemical or nuclear weapons, could also be placed on trucks. “This is an emerging market, largely triggered by Sept. 11,” Hargreaves said.  “This sensor is in the biological area.  For other applications, we’d add other sensors” (Brian Morton, The Vancouver Sun, June 1). Back to top

U.S. Soldiers Exposed to Chlorine in Iraq More than 60 U.S. soldiers became ill after being exposed to chlorine gas released yesterday by a car bomb in Iraq, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, May 21). The attack in the Diyala province came as 14 soldiers were killed in a series of strikes in and around Baghdad. The 62 soldiers exposed to chlorine suffered dizziness and nausea, but all returned to duty yesterday.  There have been at least 10 attacks involving explosives and chlorine in the Al Anbar province.   The potentially deadly gas had apparently not been used in Diyala before Sunday’s attack, the Times reported (Zavis/Therolf, Los Angeles Times, June 4). Back to top       Chinese National Linked to Chemical Black Market A Chinese national is believed to be operating a black market system that provides chemical weapons materials to Iran, Kyodo News reported Saturday (see GSN, Jan. 10, 2005). The United States has issued sanctions against Qingchang Chen on no less than six occasions since the 1990s for violating U.S. export laws. “Q.C. Chen is a serial proliferator of chemical weapons capabilities,” said a former high-level U.S. official.  “He’s a Chinese national.  I couldn’t tell you where he is, but he operates out of China. “He works out of China and he facilitates the export of technologies that are directly linked to chemical weapons capabilities” to Iran, the former official added. These exports have included “dual-use chemical precursors, equipment and/or technology,” the Congressional Research Service said in a recent report. The former official likened Chen to former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who led an operation that provided atomic technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea (see GSN, May 9). Chen led a “WMD-related supplier network” that “operated various supplier organizations over the past several years,” Lt Gen. Michael Maples, head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers in January. “He is still on our radar,” one official told Kyodo.  Washington has sought assistance from Beijing in halting Chen’s activities (Masakatsu Ota, Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, June 2). Back to top

Putin Vows Response to U.S. Missile Defense Plans Russian President Vladimir Putin fired another salvo against U.S. missile defense plans for Europe, indicating Moscow might respond to the initiative by aiming nuclear weapons at sites on the continent, the Associated Press reported  today (see GSN, June 1). “If a part of the strategic nuclear potential of the United States appears in Europe and, in the opinion of our military specialists, will threaten us, then we will have to take appropriate steps in response,” Putin said in an interview released today.  “What kind of steps?  We will have to have new targets in Europe.” Russia has repeatedly made its displeasure known regarding Washington’s intention to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic.  U.S. officials say the plan poses no threat to Russia, and is intended solely to offset the danger posed by missiles from nations such as Iran and North Korea. If Washington continues with its plan, “then we disclaim responsibility for our retaliatory steps, because it is not we who are the initiators of the new arms race, which is undoubtedly brewing in Europe,” Putin said. “The strategic balance in the world is being upset and in order to restore this balance without creating an antimissile defense on our territory we will be creating a system of countering that antimissile system, which is what we are doing now,” he said. Putin has said that tests last week of a new Russian cruise missile and a ballistic missile that can carry several nuclear warheads were a response to the U.S. missile defense program.  Western analysts said, though, that the weapons have probably been in development for years (Maria Danilova, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, June 4). Putin is expected to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush at this week’s Group of Eight summit in Germany.  Bush is due to stop in the Czech Republic and Poland during his trip to Europe, the Financial Times reported. Leaders in those two nations see involvement in the missile defense effort as a safeguard against a revived Russia by tying them more closely to the West. “Russia has again become a rich country and they would like to return to the position of the Soviet Union, of being a superpower,” said Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (Jan Cienski, Financial Times, June 3). Russia is trying to mask its own internal problems by lashing out at the missile defense initiative, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said yesterday. “Russia needs an outside enemy to hide problems at home,” he told Czech television. “It is evident that the radar, and the interceptors in Poland, will not threaten Russia,” he said.  “They on purpose mislead the public” (Associated Press II, June 3). The senior security official in Iran today labeled the effort as an unnecessary “joke,” AP reported. “Claims by U.S. officials that installing a missile defense system in Europe is aimed at confronting Iranian missiles and protecting Europe against Iran is the joke of the year,” said Ali Larijani.  “The range of Iran’s missiles doesn’t reach Europe at all” (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press III/Yahoo!News, June 4). Tehran has said that its Shahab 3 missile has a range of 1,200 miles, AP reported.  There are suspicions in the West that Iran is developing a Shahab 4 missile with a range of up to 1,900 miles, meaning it could reach a large section of Europe (Danilova, AP, June 4). Back to top

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