The hexagonal negotiating table in Beijing could see action this month if diplomats resume North Korean nuclear talks (Greg Baker/Getty Images). North Korea Open to Early Reactor Shutdown North Korea indicated today that closure of its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor could come immediately after it receives its first shipment of fuel oil from South Korea, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 5)...Full Story

Smallpox Still Threatens, 30 Years After Its Demise An Australian expert said a terrorist attack using smallpox would be devastating, as it has been decades since people have been vaccinated against the disease, the Australian Associated Press reported today (see GSN, July 3)...Full Story

Scientist Develops Body Bag for WMD Attacks A Kentucky forensic anthropologist has developed a body bag that could help protect medical examiners from bodies contaminated by biological or chemical weapons agents, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 13, 2003)...Full Story

	Friday, July 6, 2007

Scientist Develops Body Bag for WMD Attacks A Kentucky forensic anthropologist has developed a body bag that could help protect medical examiners from bodies contaminated by biological or chemical weapons agents, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 13, 2003). Emily Craig worked alongside other medical examiners following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in identifying the asbestos-tainted bodies of victims pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center.  Personnel conducting the work were given only latex gloves and masks for protection.  A paramedic who had worked at Ground Zero died in 2006 of mesothelioma, a form of cancer that has been linked to asbestos exposure, the Herald-Leader reported. Craig filed a patent request in September 2003 for the body bag, which would be transparent and have gloves on the inside allowing medical examiners to work with bodies while restricting their exposure. “It’s like a giant Ziploc bag,” said Craig, who has received a patent but has not yet produced a prototype bag. "I can imagine several potential scenarios where this (invention) would be essential, none of which I would like to see come to pass," said Joseph Prahlow, president of the National Association of Medical Examiners.  “This would be a very welcome tool to have available when you get into the realm of biological and chemical warfare.” Craig acknowledged that the body bag alone could not provide full protection to emergency responders or medical personnel following a WMD event. “Say someone found a body in the street with boils on it, they’d pick it up, transport it to the hospital and then to the morgue,” she said.  “Then we discover it’s smallpox.  It’s already out there spreading to the hospital and to anyone who works in the morgue or the lab or funeral homes.” “Hundreds, if not thousands of America's most experienced and altruistic responders would also be at risk of immediate death and debilitation” after touching contaminated bodies following a WMD event, she said (Amy Wilson, Lexington Herald-Leader, July 5). Back to top       DHS Developer Battles Terrorism With a Dash of 007 The U.S. Homeland Security Department employs gadgetry and geeks in its efforts to combat terrorism, USA Today reported yesterday.  At the vanguard stands engineer and former submarine commander Rolf Dietrich (see GSN, July 3).  Dietrich is in charge of developing cutting-edge technology for the agency.  All of his work is highly secret, highly esoteric and not necessarily highly successful. “The projects that I’m working on are expected to fail,” said Dietrich, who oversees just 1 percent of Homeland Security’s science and technology division budget, roughly $8 million in this fiscal year.  Dietrich considers proposals submitted to his department and develops some of his own.  The goal is to have one idea bear fruit for every 10 that do not. Homeland Security Science and Technology Undersecretary Jay Cohen promotes such visionary work.  At a recent meeting with high-tech industrialists, Cohen solicited their most fanciful products. “Reach down to your weirdest, geekiest, stinkiest engineer or scientists and say, ‘Do we have a job for you,’” he said. Some recent projects smack of science fiction: underwater explosions to diminish hurricane storm surges; cell phones with biological, chemical, and radiation detectors; and drones that would hover over airports to intercept surface-to-air missiles. Not everyone is enthralled by Dietrich’s work.  Parney Albright, a former DHS security innovator, called such projects wasteful. “If they thought about it for 10 minutes, they’d say, ‘I’m not going to spend any more money on it.  It’s stupid,’” Albright said. “It’s always good to be thinking out of the box,” he added.  However, “it’s the taxpayers’ dollars” (Mimi Hall, USA Today, July 5). Back to top

North Korea Open to Early Reactor Shutdown North Korea indicated today that closure of its plutonium-producing Yongbyon reactor could come immediately after it receives its first shipment of fuel oil from South Korea, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, July 5). Pyongyang pledged in February to halt operations at the facility, but until now had given no hint as to when that would occur. Pyongyang “is now earnestly examining even the issue of suspending the operation of its nuclear facilities earlier than expected, that is from the moment the first shipment of heavy oil equivalent to one-tenth of the total quantity is made,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported. The February denuclearization agreement reached at the six-party talks calls for North Korea to receive 50,000 tons of fuel oil in exchange for closing the reactor under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision. South Korea said today that an initial shipment of 6,200 metric tons of oil would reach the North on July 14, AP reported.  That amount more than covers Pyongyang’s requirement, meaning it is possible the reactor could be closed next week (Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, July 6). A North Korean official today called on the other nations in the six-party talks to meet their pledges to supply another 950,000 tons of fuel oil or equivalent aid as Pyongyang moves to fully shutter its nuclear weapons program, Reuters reported. “The agreement should be honored not only by the D.P.R.K. but by all the countries participating in the six-party talks on the principle action for action,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement. If that fails to occur, “the resumption of its nuclear activity will assume legitimate nature,” he added (Jack Kim, Reuters/Yahoo!News, July 6). The six-nation negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program are likely to resume this month, according to the head South Korean nuclear negotiator. “A meeting among the head delegates of the six-party talks will be held this month,” Chun Young-woo said in Beijing following a meeting with Chinese nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei.  “No date has been determined.  It looks like China, as the host country, will decide after listening to the other countries’ opinions.” The other nations involved in the talks are Japan, Russia and the United States (Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press II/Yahoo!News, July 6). Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said today he believes the talks would not resume until August, Kyodo News reported. He also said it was likely to take until “the end of July” for the U.N. nuclear watchdog to complete preparations for monitoring Yongbyon (Kyodo News, July 6). A report from IAEA safeguards chief Olli Heinonen, following a trip last week to Yongbyon, indicated that improvements at North Korean nuclear facilities had continued until recently. Most of the work occurred at a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant and a fuel production site, The Yomiuri Shimbun reported.  Improvements included installation at the reprocessing plant of a machine for separating plutonium from fuel rod solution and near-completion of a new production line at the fuel production site (Yutaka Ishiguro, The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 5). Back to top       South African Nuclear Expert Wants Improved Tracking of Devices Carrying Radioactive Materials A South African nuclear expert expressed concern Wednesday over the lack of resources for tracking small devices containing radioactive material, Business Day reported (see GSN, Mar. 21). South Africa has had no major safety problems managing its nuclear waste, said Thiagan Pather, nuclear technology and waste program manager for South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator.  However, he said government workers have at times “lost control” of systems for tracking devices containing smaller amounts of radioactive material. “What we’ve had is one or two instances where these sources have ended up, for example, in a scrap yard where you do not know who the owner is,” he said. Pather called for South Africa’s nuclear management body to work directly with various government departments to streamline their systems for tracking nuclear sources (Business Day, July 5). Back to top       Latest Chinese Nuclear Sub Spotted by Satellite A commercial satellite has photographed the newest Chinese ballistic missile submarine for the first time, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 1, 2006). The Jin-class ship was spotted late last year while docked in Dalian in northeastern China, said Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists. Kristensen, who first identified the submarine, said its design seemed to be based on the Russian Victor-3 model and echoes the Xia-class submarine China built in the early 1980s.  China might be looking to build five of the new vessels. “The Chinese naval nuclear programs so far have been very, very slow,” he said.  “They’ve managed to get this submarine out, but it’s been under construction for many years.” The new submarine is approximately 436 feet long and is likely to be armed with 12 Julang-2 sea-launched ballistic missiles, he added. The Chinese are extremely secretive about their submarines, said Kristensen, and they most likely wanted this one to be seen. “The fact that they have it and the fact that it moves around, I’m sure they want the world to know about it,” he said (Reuters/The New York Times, July 5). Back to top       Iran Views EU as Bystander to Nuclear Talks Iran considers the European Union to no longer have a role in resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis, a senior Iranian official said yesterday (see GSN, July 5). EU officials had offered a package of incentives to Iran that would be granted if Tehran agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program.  However, the offer was rejected and a separate diplomatic track has seen the U.N. Security Council impose economic sanctions against Iran. By moving the dispute to the council, Western nations essentially undercut the EU offer, said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.  He spoke to a Brussels meeting of Green Party lawmakers in the European Parliament. He urged EU officials to move the matter out of the council so that they could restore more fruitful talks (IRNA, July 6). Back to top

Smallpox Still Threatens, 30 Years After Its Demise An Australian expert said a terrorist attack using smallpox would be devastating, as it has been decades since people have been vaccinated against the disease, the Australian Associated Press reported today (see GSN, July 3). “The world population is no longer immune to smallpox, it’s 30 years ago that vaccinations stopped,” said Ian Ramshaw, head of the National Center for Biosecurity at the Australian National University. Ramshaw made his remarks at an Australian conference marking the 30th anniversary of smallpox’s worldwide eradication.  Russia and the United States are both known to store samples of the disease.  Former Soviet scientists might also have taken samples with them during the breakup of the communist superpower, Ramshaw said. “It’s not known whether rogue states or others have samples of smallpox virus but we must remain alert,” he said.  “I don’t think immediately there is a threat of bioterrorism but I think things might change in the future and we have to be aware of that.” “We don’t have modern vaccines for smallpox … something that we could introduce if it were released,” Ramshaw added (see GSN, June 7). “There’s no current vaccine that would be tolerable or acceptable in today’s world,” Ramshaw said (Australian Associated Press/The Age, July 6). Back to top       U.K. Tightens Laboratory Security The United Kingdom has moved to secure dangerous bacteria and viruses held in British laboratories in response to reports that terrorists were seeking deadly biological agents to use in weapons, the London Times reported today (see GSN, Jan. 25). In April, British officials added 40 agents to the list covered by the Antiterrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001.  Additions included the viruses that produce polio, rabies and West Nile fever. The law requires laboratories that handle the deadly agents to log all people entering and leaving their facilities, and to use electronic locks and alarm systems to secure the controlled pathogens. British rules also require laboratories to verify the backgrounds of their personnel by checking references, verifying their employment history and obtaining information on past criminal convictions. The security changes were triggered in part by a British intelligence service report finding that terrorists were actively seeking biological agents as well as nuclear, chemical and radiological materials for use in attacks (Nigel Hawkes, London Times, July 6). At least eight people arrested in the wake of would-be terrorist attacks last week in London and Glasgow were medical professionals, the New York Times reported Wednesday (Landler/Lyall, New York Times, July 4). In the past, al-Qaeda has recruited scientists such as Pakistani microbiologist Abdur Rauf, who traveled through Europe in search of anthrax spores and equipment to turn them into weapons, David Wright, chief executive officer of U.S. biodefense company PharmAthene, said in a statement. “Given their training in life sciences, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to believe that they may soon graduate from vehicle bombs to bioweapons” (Business Wire, July 5). Back to top       Judge Nixes Anonymity for Anthrax Vaccine Plaintiffs U.S. Defense Department employees disputing the safety of the Pentagon’s anthrax vaccine cannot proceed anonymously with a lawsuit, a federal judge declared last week (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2006). “Fairness dictates that plaintiffs’ identities be revealed,” wrote U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in an opinion.  A 2004 lawsuit, dubbed “Anthrax I,” challenged the Pentagon’s program of mandatory anthrax vaccinations for select personnel, Inside the Pentagon reported yesterday.  The six plaintiffs in that dispute remained anonymous while their case proceeded.  The Pentagon made the vaccinations voluntary for a time, but last fall announced it would again order mandatory shots for personnel serving in Afghanistan, Iran and South Korea (see GSN, Oct. 17, 2006). The employees filed the “Anthrax II” lawsuit last year, disputing the Food and Drug Administration’s ruling that the vaccine now in use could be safely used to safeguard against inhaled anthrax.  The plaintiffs “fear retribution if they are named,” Collyer stated in her decision.  “They fear they will be labeled unpatriotic, denied advancement, assigned to less desirable duty, subjected to discipline, or dishonorably discharged,” she added. The judge countered that “the presumption of openness outweighs the interests presented by the plaintiffs.”  She called their fears of retribution “vague and unsubstantiated,” according to Inside the Pentagon. The Pentagon employees have until July 27 to tell the court “whether they will drop out of the suit, reveal their identities, seek a certification for appeal, and/or file an amended complaint,” Collyer wrote. Lawyers for the plaintiffs are expected to alter the suit to include the names of willing litigants (Elaine Grossman, Inside the Pentagon, July 5). Back to top

U.S. Calls Russian Missile Threat “Not Constructive” A U.S. official yesterday dismissed as “not constructive” a Russian threat to deploy missiles along the border of the European Union if the United States moves ahead with its missile defense plans in Poland and the Czech Republic, Agence France Presse reported (see GSN, July 5). Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov's comments “were unfortunate, but I don't think it distracts us from the fact that we are having a constructive conversation with the Russians on the issue, now,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.  “While we have not bridged what are obvious differences on the issue of missile defense, I think that there's a very constructive conversation that's going on.” White House spokesman Tony Snow said that reaching agreement with Moscow on the missile defense proposal would be difficult. “The clear message is that there are going to be a lot of technical issues to work out and we're going to work on them,” he said (Agence France Presse/Yahoo!News, July 5). Back to top

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