Gen. James Cartwright, head of the U.S. Strategic Command, said yesterday that the United States could pursue cuts to its reserve nuclear weapons (Yuri Gripas/Getty Images). U.S. Could Cut Arsenal Without New Warhead, General Says By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Reliable Replacement Warhead would help the United States decrease the number of reserve weapons in its nuclear stockpile but is not necessary for a continued reduction, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, the Bush administration’s nominee to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday (see GSN, July 25)...Full Story

House Panel Chops Funding for Conventional Trident By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Appropriations Committee last week cut funding for developing a conventional version of the Navy’s nuclear-armed Trident D-5 missile and shifted the remaining dollars into a separate account (see GSN, June 22)...Full Story

Radiological Poisoning Attacks Possible, Experts Say The United States and other nations must seriously consider the potential for a terrorist attack in which victims would breathe, be doused in or drink highly radioactive material, experts warned today in the New York Times (see GSN, May 22)...Full Story

	Wednesday, August 1, 2007

U.S. Could Cut Arsenal Without New Warhead, General Says By Jon Fox Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Reliable Replacement Warhead would help the United States decrease the number of reserve weapons in its nuclear stockpile but is not necessary for a continued reduction, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, the Bush administration’s nominee to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday (see GSN, July 25). Under the terms of the 2002 Moscow Treaty, Russia and the United States agreed to reduce the number of operationally deployed warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012.  That treaty, however, sets no limits or goals for a reduction in reserve weapons.  The total number of warheads maintained by the United States remains classified, but according to the most recent estimate from the Natural Resources Defense Council there are slightly more than 5,100 deployed U.S. warheads and nearly 4,800 in reserve. Gen. James Cartwright, in his testimony during a Senate confirmation hearing, suggested that the new nuclear warhead design proposed by the administration would be the “biggest leverage” toward reducing the stockpile. The Reliable Replacement Warhead would be easier and safer to produce and maintain as well as less prone to operational failure, administration officials have argued.  Such characteristics would permit the United States to carry fewer reserve warheads as a hedge against unforeseen problems with the deployed arsenal, officials have said. The program has drawn serious opposition in Congress, and Cartwright noted that even without the new design the U.S. stockpile could be drawn down over the next five years.  He offered no specific numbers. The Energy Department recently announced that it had increased the pace of weapon dismantlement and that it expected to decommission twice as many weapons this year than it did in 2006 (see GSN, June 7). Again, the actual number remained veiled behind a curtain of classification, but Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert with the Federation of American Scientists, said the United States dismantled about 100 nuclear weapons last year. “We need to stay on that path,” Cartwright said.  “I agree that as long as there are other countries in the world that have nuclear weapons, we’re going to have to have a deterrent in the nuclear side of the house.”  That deterrent, however, should be “the smallest number necessary to be consistent with national security needs,” he said. It is unclear what that number might be.  Portions of a classified Bush administration re-evaluation of nuclear weapons policy were leaked in 2002, but since then a comprehensive assessment of the role of U.S. nuclear weapons has not been undertaken. As administration officials push for fiscal 2008 funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a number of lawmakers have called for another re-evaluation of nuclear policy (see GSN, June 29). Adm. Michael Mullen, the nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who testified with Cartwright, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Stockpile Stewardship program continues to enable the United States to refrain from explosive nuclear weapon testing. Under the stewardship program, U.S. warheads are maintained and refurbished with enough confidence that underground nuclear testing is not needed to certify the weapons’ viability and reliability. Mullen, now the chief of naval operations, said the defense of U.S. interests in the Middle East, and dealing with Iran as a component of that effort, is the primary challenge that would face him should he become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs (see GSN, July 30). “I’m especially concerned about the increasingly hostile role played by Iran,” he said.  “I support diplomatic efforts to counter Iran’s destabilizing behavior and hope their leaders will choose to act responsibly, but I find their support for terrorism and their nuclear ambitions deeply troubling.” As the U.S. continues what is likely to be a “longer, larger war on terror,” the U.S. military could be taken to places “we do not now foresee,” Mullen said.  Meanwhile the United States must be able to “deter if possible and defeat if necessary” regional powers that might be armed with nuclear weapons, Mullen said. Back to top       House Panel Chops Funding for Conventional Trident By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. House Appropriations Committee last week cut funding for developing a conventional version of the Navy’s nuclear-armed Trident D-5 missile and shifted the remaining dollars into a separate account (see GSN, June 22). In its July 25 markup of the fiscal 2008 defense appropriations bill, the panel nixed the entire $49 million the Defense Department requested to begin purchasing material in the so-called Conventional Trident Modification effort.  The program would arm 24 D-5 missiles with non-nuclear warheads and deploy them throughout the Navy’s Trident submarine fleet. The lawmakers also clipped the $126.4 million request for conventional Trident research and development, shifting $100 million into a new account the Pentagon could spend on any of several “prompt global strike” initiatives. Defense officials since 2005 have looked to build a stable of weapons that could hit targets anywhere around the globe within 60 minutes of a strike order.  The Pentagon wants the conventional Trident to become the first such system deployed. The House move echoes a similar provision passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee in its version of the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, which remains pending on the Senate floor.  The panel in June wrote that no funds in the new account should be used for the Conventional Trident Modification “or other similar capability that could raise any nuclear ambiguity issues.” Lawmakers in both chambers have raised concerns that Russia or other nations might mistake the launch of a conventional Trident for a nuclear-tipped missile, potentially triggering a nuclear retaliation against the United States (see GSN, May 16). The House appropriators’ report cautions against adopting a single solution such as the Trident, but does not sharply restrict how the joint funds could be spent.  Rather, the panel says the joint account is aimed at “not limiting the nation to a single option at this early stage in the concept, but still allowing for the CTM option or other such options like Advanced Hypersonic Weapon in the near future.” Critics of the use of a single joint account for prompt global strike weapons allege the accounting device is directed at winning a greater funding share for the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, a technology left unfunded by the Army, its official service sponsor.  Congressional interest has kept the nascent hypersonic technology research program alive. Advanced Hypersonic Weapon is envisioned as an unmanned boost-glide vehicle capable of striking targets up to 6,000 miles away in less than 35 minutes.  Skeptics say the proposed system faces immense technological hurdles that could take many years and dollars to surmount. There was no mention of the weapon in galley proofs of the House appropriators’ language on the conventional Trident, drafted by the panel’s staff and obtained by Global Security Newswire.  Committee members added reference to the Army technology during their markup of the bill. Back to top       Contaminated Facilities Slow North Korean Inspections Installing equipment for monitoring the North Korean Yongbyon nuclear site could be slowed by the discovery of minor radioactive contamination, Kyodo News reported today (see GSN, July 31). International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors found low levels of radiation in the spent-fuel reprocessing and nuclear reactor buildings at the complex, sources said. The contaminated buildings are being cleaned so that shutdown of the facility can safely continue, the officials added.  The shuttering process is now expected to take six weeks, instead of the four predicted by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, Aug. 1). Meanwhile, senior officials from the six nations involved in North Korea’s denuclearization talks reiterated their willingness to fully implement the group’s February agreement, the Associated Press reported today. The six countries reaffirmed “their determination to see a successful end to the talks,” said Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who yesterday hosted the Manila meeting on the fringes of the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference. The next round of official negotiations is scheduled for early September, said chief U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill.   He did not expect to meet personally with North Korea’s new foreign minister at the ASEAN forum. “I just greeted him but I don’t have any plans for a meeting,” Hill said (Kwang-Tae Kim, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Aug. 1). Back to top       Libya Joins U.N. Nuclear Terrorism Convention Libya has signed on to a U.N. pact intended to block potential acts of nuclear terrorism, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, July 27). The convention requires each signatory nation to prosecute nuclear terrorism activities, extradite accused nuclear terrorists and assist international investigations. The Libyan General People’s Committee “explained that the agreement is compatible with the aspirations of [Libya] following its historic initiative by voluntarily eliminating programs and equipment that could lead to the production of internationally banned weapons,” according to the official news agency JANA (Reuters, July 31). Meanwhile, a top French official hedged yesterday about whether France would give Libya a nuclear reactor under a recent agreement, Agence France-Presse reported. “There have been complaints, in particular because we raised the hypothesis, which is far from being confirmed,” of sending a nuclear reactor to Tripoli, said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in parliamentary testimony.  The arrangement, signed last week, was only a “memorandum of understanding, a possible framework” potentially to include a “possible nuclear reactor,” he added. Kouchner reminded French lawmakers that the reactor would power a facility “for desalinating water, not for making war, and that it would be completely controlled” by the International Atomic Energy Agency, “if [the deal] goes ahead, and it is not certain that it will.” The potential reactor deal is intended “to deepen and develop cooperation between both countries on the peaceful uses of atomic energy in the mutual interest of both parties,” according to a French document.  That indicates it could lead to further peaceful nuclear cooperation, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 31). Back to top       Accused Khan Associate Too Sick to Attend Trial An accused member of disgraced Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan’s nuclear smuggling ring might be too ill to attend his trial in South Africa, the Pretoria News reported today (see GSN, May 3). Swiss engineer Daniel Geiges asked to be excused from the proceedings because he has colon cancer.  Geiges and German national Gerhard Wisser are scheduled to be tried next month on 10 charges of violating South Africa’s Nuclear Energy Act and Nonproliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act. Authorities said in 2004 that the men “unlawfully and intentionally imported, held in transit and exported goods which may contribute to the design, development, production, deployment, maintenance or use of weapons of mass destruction without a permit.” The Khan network is believed to have shipped nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. The trial had been due to begin this week.  The South African High Court postponed the case, which is expected to last months, until Sept. 4 (Zelda Venter, Pretoria News, Aug. 1). Back to top       Congress Aims to Cut Iran Energy Funds The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation yesterday intended to curb international investment in Iran’s energy sector, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 27). Lawmakers passed the bill by a vote of 408-6 in response to suspicions that Iran is supporting international terrorism and using its energy program to pursue nuclear weapons. The legislation would require identification of foreign companies with $20 million or more invested in Iran’s energy sector, enabling federal and state pension funds to withdraw funds from the firms.  The bill would also protect investment managers who pull money from the sector to reinvest in other areas. “The purpose of [the bill] is to change the behavior of multinational corporations and so change the behavior of Iran’s government,” said Representative Brad Sherman (D-Calif.). If the bill becomes law, the United States could not lift sanctions it has placed on Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution until a U.S. president certifies that the country is not involved in international terrorism or has halted any nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missile programs. The U.N. Security Council has twice placed sanctions on Iran in response to Tehran’s refusal to stop uranium enrichment activities (see GSN, July 23).  Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is only for research and power production. Legislation from Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) would encourage investors to pull money from projects helping Iran (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 31). Meanwhile, Iran this week rebutted Russian claims that it is backlogged on payments to the Russian state contractor building the Bushehr nuclear plant, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Tehran has met “all its commitments regarding the Bushehr” facility, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters Monday in Tehran. Russia has referred to missing payments on several occasions to explain repeated delays in the plant’s construction. “Iran has declared it can examine [the Russian claims] in the framework of negotiations,” Hosseini said, adding that Iranian negotiators are scheduled to travel to Russia for talks (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, July 31). Back to top       Australia Plans Decision on India Uranium Sales Australian officials are likely to decide in August whether to seel uranium to India and to end a policy of selling the material only to Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty signatories, Reuters reported (see GSN, July 30). Members of the national Cabinet expect to make their decision this month, but government sources said extensive negotiations would be required before India received Australian uranium. The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which governs civilian nuclear trade, would have to sign off on the deal.  India must also determine a program of inspections of its civilian reactors by the International Atomic Energy Agency. India would operate its civilian and military nuclear programs separately under a pending deal reached with the United States, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told the Cabinet in a confidential memorandum.  Uranium sold by Australia to New Delhi would only be used in India’s 14 nuclear energy plants, he said (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Aug 1). Back to top

Ohio Man Made Ricin in the Past, Witness Says A source told police that a Pataskala, Ohio, man suspected of seeking to make ricin had manufactured the lethal biological agent in the past, the Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday (see GSN, July 30). Stanley Elliott planned to use a new batch of the poison on a neighbor’s dog, the source said. Police in Pataskala found a jar of castor beans, a key ingredient in ricin, last week while arresting Elliott at his home on unrelated sexual assault charges.  Elliott, 44, pleaded not guilty to 19 charges on Monday. Authorities found no ricin at Elliott’s home, the Dispatch reported (Josh Jarman, Columbus Dispatch, July 31). Back to top       Congress Urged to Examine Laboratory Security A U.S. House oversight committee should investigate security at the country’s most sensitive biological defense sites, the panel’s ranking Republican said this week (see GSN, July 20). Representative Tom Davis (R-Va.) called for the inquiry in a letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), United Press International reported. “The integrity of Biosafety Level 3 and 4 laboratory procedures,” Davis wrote, referring to facilities assigned to work with the most dangerous diseases, “is emerging as a critical national and homeland security issue.” In the letter, Davis referred to 2006 incidents in which Texas A&M University personnel were exposed to potential biological weapons agents.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month ordered the university to halt federally funded research on certain agents until it was finished looking into the incidents (see GSN, July 2). Davis also referred to a power outage last month that shut down a critical ventilation system at the CDC biological terrorism laboratory in Georgia. Such events create security and safety concerns at the high-security laboratories, which have grown in number since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Davis said.  He said the Government Accountability Office was investigating the matter and could support a congressional inquiry. Waxman’s office did not immediately respond to the request for the inquiry, UPI reported (United Press International, July 31). Back to top

U.K. Fines Company for Exporting VX Ingredient British authorities have fined a chemical company for illegally exporting a precursor to VX nerve agent, the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office announced last week (see GSN, March 27). Avocado Research Chemicals Ltd. in 2005 shipped 100 grams of 2-diisopropylaminoethyl chloride hydrochloride — a chemical precursor to VX — and 10 grams of hafnium, a substance used in manufacturing nuclear control rods.  The chemicals, together valued at about $120, were sent to a broker in Egypt, a country that has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention. British officials last year discovered that Avocado had not obtained a license to export the materials when the company submitted records of its orders covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention to the British Trade and Industry Department.  The department referred the case to the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, which is responsible for prosecuting nonlicensed exports. The company received a fine of about $1,200 and must pay about $200 in additional fees.  An internal investigation by the company concluded that human error had caused it not to apply for an export license or cancel the order. “[Avocado Research Chemicals] Ltd did the right thing once they noticed their mistake and contacted the authorities,” RCPO Director David Green said.  “But other companies should note that, even in a case where small quantities and genuine human error are involved, some action must be taken.  The unlicensed export of potentially lethal substances is too serious to be ignored at any level” (Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office/Government News Network, July 27). Back to top

Israel Could Intercept Most Missiles in 3-5 Years Israel should be able to intercept most missile and rocket attacks in three to five years, according to the country’s top defense official (see GSN, July 27). The nation could defend itself against an “absolute majority” of missiles should it successfully employ medium- and short-range interceptor arrays, said Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a statement.  Israel already deploys the Arrow long-range missile defense system, United Press International reported yesterday. Israel is researching a short-range interceptor called the “Iron Dome” and a medium-range interceptor called the “Magic Wand.”  Scientists at an Israeli defense company have also restarted researching an antiballistic missile laser, UPI reported (see GSN, July 31; United Press International, July 31). Back to top

Radiological Poisoning Attacks Possible, Experts Say The United States and other nations must seriously consider the potential for a terrorist attack in which victims would breathe, be doused in or drink highly radioactive material, experts warned today in the New York Times (see GSN, May 22). Through an act of radiation poisoning, terrorists could kill hundreds of people, while a more widely known “dirty bomb” explosion would kill far fewer people by spreading radioactive material with conventional explosives, said Peter Zimmerman, James Acton and Brooke Rogers of King’s College London in a commentary. Lethally radioactive isotopes — cesium, polonium or americium — could be slipped into food at a processing plant, spread in a large smoky fire or sloshed over victims with an insecticide sprayer, the experts said. The 2006 polonium poisoning death of former Soviet KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko was an example of the lethality of such an attack.  Moreover, the necessary lethal radioactive isotopes are widely available for industrial and medical purposes, including in blood sterilizers and cancer therapy machines, the experts said.  They estimated U.S. industry daily loses track of about one device with enough radiological material to do significant harm (see GSN, July 9).  The experts recommended that the most dangerous and weaponizable radiological material, like powdered cesium chloride, should be removed from the market immediately.  Hospitals and other businesses that frequently use lethal isotopes should employ safer, available alternatives.  The deadly and dissolvable cesium powder, for example, can be replaced in X-ray machines. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should also lower the amount of radioactive material a business can purchase without undergoing a thorough licensing process.  The experts also suggested imposing criminal penalties for businesses that lose radioactive machinery (New York Times, Aug. 1). Back to top       Protect Terrorist Convicts, Attorney Warns The British attorney for convicted “dirty bomb” planner Dhiren Barot warned yesterday that there could be a Muslim backlash if prisons fail to protect jailed terrorists, the London Evening Standard reported (see GSN, July 31). Barot, 35, is serving a minimum of 30 years in prison in for planning to detonate a radiological weapon as part of a series of attacks in the United Kingdom and the United States.  Fellow Frankland Prison inmates threw hot oil and boiling water on Barot on July 13, severely burning his scalp, forehead, neck, back and hands. Attorney Muddassar Arani said Barot was in “extreme pain” and was bleeding from infected wounds.  He would require extended medical care including future operations in order to make a partial recovery, she said Prison administrators failed in their “duty to care” for prisoners by not protecting Barot and other terrorist convicts, Arani said.  She predicted a Muslim “backlash” if attacks continued. “Convicted terrorists are despised in society but that doesn’t mean that they should be victimized in prison,” Arani said.  “If we can’t treat them as human beings in prison then it does not reflect well on our society.” Inmates recently started a fire in the Frankland Prison cell of Hussain Osman, who was convicted for his role in the July 2005 attacks on London trains and buses.  Omar Khyam, jailed for leading a group that planned to detonate explosives at a shopping center, has received death threats from other inmates. “People talk about radicalization, but if there is a death that takes place in custody, then there will be a backlash,” Arani said (Martin Bentham, Evening Standard, July 31).   Back to top

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