International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors pass through the Beijing airport July 31 while traveling to North Korea. They are prepared to return from North Korea this weekend after completing installation of surveillance cameras (Peter Parks/Getty Images). IAEA Finishes Installing Cameras at North Korean Site A team of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors is expected to leave North Korea this weekend after finishing installation of surveillance cameras at the Stalinist state’s primary nuclear site, Reuters reported (see GSN, Aug. 9). Pyongyang closed the Yongbyon nuclear complex under the first phase of a February denuclearization agreement.  The cameras are intended to monitor any changes at the facility...Full Story

U.S. Biosurveillance Goals Unmet, Report Says A new report questions the effectiveness of the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s program for tracking potential disease threats, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today (see GSN, July 11)...Full Story

South Korean Laboratory Burned Uranium South Korea’s nuclear research institute acknowledged yesterday that it burned 2 kilograms of uranium earlier this year but said that none of the radioactive material escaped, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 18, 2005)...Full Story

	Friday, August 10, 2007

Coast Guard Awards $592M Cutter Production Contract The U.S. Coast Guard has agreed to pay Northrop Grumman Ship Systems $592 million to build a national security cutter and to make upgrades to two ships now under construction, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, June 21, 2005). The new 418-foot cutters are to carry equipment for detection and defense of chemical, radiological and biological attacks.  Designed more like warships than their forerunners, the vessels are also expected to include automatic weapons systems, medium-caliber deck guns and sensors to gather and share intelligence. The new cutters “will replace Coast Guard cutters that are almost 40 years old," said Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who announced the contract yesterday with Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).  "This new class of ships will significantly increase the capability and capacity of our Coast Guard, enhancing its ability to meet today's challenges, including illegal drug interdiction and guarding our shores against terrorist threats." The contract includes $255 million in new funding for the two cutters being built at Northrop Grumman’s Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.  The extra money is intended to cover change orders, materials, increases in labor costs and Hurricane Katrina-related expenses (Associated Press/Biloxi Sun-Herald, Aug. 9). Meanwhile, General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products has received a $12.6 million Defense Department contract to build lightweight detectors for sensing chemical agents, the Charlotte (N.C.) Business Journal reported yesterday. The devices are designed to distinguish chemical warfare agents from nontoxic substances in combat zones.  They would detect deadly chemical materials by reading background radiation. The sensors are expected to be manufactured in Charlotte.  Production is expected to be finished in early 2009 (Charlotte Business Journal, Aug. 9). Back to top

IAEA Finishes Installing Cameras at North Korean Site A team of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors is expected to leave North Korea this weekend after finishing installation of surveillance cameras at the Stalinist state’s primary nuclear site, Reuters reported (see GSN, Aug. 9). Pyongyang closed the Yongbyon nuclear complex under the first phase of a February denuclearization agreement.  The cameras are intended to monitor any changes at the facility. Two IAEA inspectors are due to replace to six-member team leaving North Korea, according to one diplomat close to the agency. “It will be an ongoing verification process now, a regular rotation of monitors with cameras and seals on the equipment, minding the store.  We’re not aware of any difficulties,” the diplomat said. Upcoming talks between the six-party nations are expected to focus on having North Korea fully declare and disable its nuclear program.  Pyongyang stands to receive 950,000 tons of fuel oil or equivalent aid for carrying out that process; however, the government there on Wednesday indicated it wants to receive 50,000 tons per month (Mark Heinrich, Reuters I/The Star, Aug. 9). Meanwhile, North Korea today called on South Korea and the United States to call off a joint military drill scheduled for Aug. 20 to 31, Reuters reported. Pyongyang “cannot remain a passive onlooker to it, doing nothing,” the officials KCNA news agency stated. “The U.S. will be held wholly responsible for the catastrophic impact the above-said saber rattling will have on the implementation of the Feb. 13 agreement and the six-party talks,” according to the North Korean military (Jon Herskovitz, Reuters II/Washington Post, Aug. 10). Back to top       South Korean Laboratory Burned Uranium South Korea’s nuclear research institute acknowledged yesterday that it burned 2 kilograms of uranium earlier this year but said that none of the radioactive material escaped, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 18, 2005). The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in May incinerated a box that contained 1.9 kilograms of natural uranium, 0.8 grams of depleted uranium and 0.2 grams of enriched uranium after erroneously labeling the container as industrial waste, the government laboratory announced. “The uranium was such a small amount that it wasn't to the level that could cause harm to the human body or the environment in the course of the incineration,” one laboratory official said (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Aug. 9). Laboratory workers responsible for losing the uranium samples are expected to be punished, AFP reported today. “It is inevitable for the government to sternly punish those responsible for the lapse,” said a Science and Technology Ministry official. The enriched uranium, enriched to 10 percent, was the result of unauthorized experiments in 2000. The International Atomic Energy Agency inspected the institute in 2004, after officials said that researchers there had enriched uranium and extracted plutonium in minimal amounts in 1982 and 2000, yielding possible nuclear bomb ingredients. The agency rebuked the Seoul government for producing the weapons-grade nuclear material and subjected the uranium samples to analysis.  However, South Korea did not face possible U.N. Security Council trade sanctions. South Korean officials said the experiments had been carried out without government approval and were halted (Agence France-Presse II, Aug. 10). Back to top       Clinton Sends Mixed Messages on Using Nukes Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Hillary Clinton said last year she would not order the use of nuclear weapons to prevent Iran from achieving its own atomic arsenal, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 3). The statement came to light after Clinton (D-N.Y.) last week criticized fellow candidate and Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for saying he would not consider using nuclear weapons against terrorists based in Afghanistan or Pakistan.  “I don’t believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or nonuse of nuclear weapons,” she said. In an April 2006 interview with Bloomberg Television, Clinton made such a statement while addressing the issue of use of force against Iran, AP reported. “I have said publicly that no option should be off the table, but I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table,” she said.  “This [Bush] administration has been very willing to talk about using nuclear weapons in a way we haven’t seen since the dawn of a nuclear age.  I think that’s a terrible mistake.” Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer denied any contradiction. “She was asked to respond to specific reports that the Bush-Cheney administration was actively considering nuclear strikes on Iran even as it refused to engage diplomatically,” he said.  “She wasn’t talking about a broad hypothetical nor was she speaking as a presidential candidate.  Given the saber-rattling that was coming from the Bush White House at the time, it was totally appropriate and necessary to respond to that report and call it the wrong policy” (Beth Fouhy, Associated Press/The Examiner, Aug. 9). Back to top       Russian Bombers Did Not Approach Base, U.S. Says The United States has denied Russia’s claim that two Russian strategic bombers flew over a U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam on Wednesday, the London Telegraph reported (see GSN, Aug. 9). The U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet commander contested the claim put forward by a Russian general, saying the Russian TU-95s did not come within 300 miles of Guam. “U.S. planes went to an orbit point in preparation for an intercept that never occurred because the Bears didn't get close enough,” said Adm. Robert Willard, referring to the Russian bombers (Paul Willis, London Telegraph, Aug. 10). Back to top

U.S. Biosurveillance Goals Unmet, Report Says A new report questions the effectiveness of the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s program for tracking potential disease threats, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today (see GSN, July 11). There has been a lack of “consistent leadership and staff support to ensure successful execution” of the National Biosurveillance Integration System ordered three years ago by the White House, said Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner. The program repeatedly shifted between various Homeland Security offices, and has yet to receive a permanent director.  There is insufficient staff to manage incoming biological information compiled by several federal agencies, according to the report. Significant turnover has undermined institutional knowledge and continuity at the program, whose manager also failed to give a contractor “adequate guidance, requirements input or data sources to delivery a fully functional system,” Skinner stated. “The problem is there is no strategy,” said Tara O’Toole of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Biosecurity.  “They wanted to build a national hurricane watch for public health emergencies.  But just as we saw with Hurricane Katrina, just watching the hurricane coming is not enough.” The report is scheduled to be released next week, but has already caught lawmakers’ attention, the Journal-Constitution reported. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is studying the program “to assess the adequacy of DHS’s current biosurveillance efforts,” Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) and member Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “Our committee would like to know how our country can be kept safe from bioterrorism if the National Biosurveillance Integration System does not have a permanent director or permanent staff in place to do the job of coordinating our government’s response to biologic threats,” Stupak said. Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said some issues detailed in the report are already being addressed.  The agency is hiring nine full-time staffers for the program, and expects to acquire additional analysis and technical support workers through agreements with six other federal agencies, he said. “Most importantly, the program now has critical leadership and support from senior officials,” Knocke said (Carr/Young, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug. 10). Back to top       U.K. Has Hundreds of Disease Research Labs There are hundreds of laboratories in the United Kingdom that conduct research on diseases that could be dangerous or lethal to humans, the London Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 7). There are five facilities authorized to handle Category 4 pathogens that cause “severe disease in humans” and have “no effective prophylaxis, or treatment” available.”  Among the 16 such diseases are Lassa fever and Ebola. The British Health and Safety Executive refuses to identify the sites on security grounds, but the newspaper named the Health Protection Agency Center for Infections in north London, the Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response at Porton Down, the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down, and the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Hertfordshire. Research is conducted at roughly 450 facilities — most operated by universities and pharmaceutical firms — on Category 3 pathogens that are dangerous to humans but treatable.  Such pathogens include salmonella, yellow fever, SARS and hepatitis. There were a few cases of researchers being infected with diseases in the 1970s, but otherwise the laboratories largely have strong safety records, according to the Times. There have been more recent questions about biosecurity at laboratories that handle pathogens that could kill animals.  Two sites have received six “notices” in four years from the Health and Safety Executive.  One of those facilities, the Institute for Animal Health laboratory at Pirbright, might be linked to an outbreak this month of foot-and-mouth disease in nearby livestock. Perfect biological security is not possible, experts said. “One can put in all the engineering and control methods in the world, but at the end of the day you still have to let the human beings in and out,” said Anton de Paiva, biological safety officer at Imperial College in London (Martin Fletcher, London Times, Aug. 10). Back to top       Study Observes Anthrax’s Toll on Immune System University of Michigan researchers have studied the first moments of anthrax infections in mice in an effort to find treatments that could better safeguard against a terrorist attack using the disease, the school announced last week (see GSN, Aug. 7). The study traced the genes and enzymes that played key roles in enabling anthrax-causing bacteria to infiltrate “first-responder” immune cells in the lungs, called macrophages, which are able to kill most bacteria. “Somehow the bacterium avoids being killed and actually hijacks these phagocytes (microbe-killing cells),” lead author Nicholas Bergman, an assistant research professor of bioinformatics at the University of Michigan’s Medical School, said in a press release. Bergman said the study would help scientists find new targets for future anthrax drugs and vaccines that could be more effective and create fewer side effects in patients. He said new drugs should target anthrax-causing bacteria during a “window of vulnerability” open for a few hours, as spores awaken from dormancy in the lung’s immune cells and before they grow and move on to the lymph nodes. After reaching the bloodstream, anthrax-causing bacteria cannot be recognized by immune cells and cause death from septicemia in more than 50 percent of all reported cases, even with intensive care unit support. The study was published in the July edition of Infection and Immunity (University of Michigan, July 31). Back to top

Congress Pushes for New Missile Defenses U.S. lawmakers have urged the Defense Department to take new steps to protect the United States against cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles that could be launched from ships or aircraft by terrorists or another “nonstate actor,” Inside the Pentagon reported yesterday (see GSN, July 10). A report that accompanied House fiscal 2008 defense appropriations bill praised the Missile Defense Agency’s efforts to address the asymmetric missile threat, but added that “much additional work remains to be done within the U.S. government.” The legislation would set aside $15 million for the agency to carry out experiments, develop prototypes, conduct tests, and make recommendations to deploy an integrated asymmetric missile defense system that would protect population centers. The bill also calls on the agency to conduct an “operationally realistic test using sea-based assets.” The bill requires the agency to develop and recommend an operations plan for a homeland asymmetric missile defense system, including recommendations for technical upgrades that could improve cruise and ballistic missile defenses. The legislation asks the agency to report to Congress on its development efforts by March 1, 2008 — which are to occur in collaboration with the U.S. Northern and Strategic commands – and to recommend additional investment and development programs (Christopher Castelli, Inside the Pentagon, Aug. 9). Back to top       U.S. , Czech Officials to Discuss Planned Radar Site U.S. officials are scheduled to visit the Czech Republic next week for talks on a site being considered to house a radar base as part of the Bush administration’s missile defense plans for Europe, United Press International reported (see GSN, July 30). Washington believes the best location for the radar is near the village of Misov, 55 miles southwest of Prague.  Talks with Czech leaders are ongoing, but local officials have opposed the radar on the grounds that it could be harmful to residents and the environment. A vote in the Czech parliament on the radar is expected by the end of 2007, UPI reported. The United States also plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland.  House appropriators, however, have slashed hundreds of millions of dollars from that component of the project (see GSN, July 26; United Press International, Aug. 9). Back to top

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