Senator Richard Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn (background) visited Russian WMD sites last week to discuss Cooperative Threat Reduction efforts (Yuri Akdobnov/Getty Images). Lugar, Nunn Call for START Extension While Reviewing CTR By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) last week called on the United States and Russia to renew key provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which is set to lapse in December 2009 (GSN, July 23). The two men traveled to Russia to mark the 15th anniversary of their landmark Cooperative Threat Reduction legislation to secure weapons of mass destruction in former Soviet nations and beyond.  ..Full Story

North Korea Agrees to Close Nuclear Sites in 2007 North Korea pledged during weekend talks to declare and disable its entire nuclear program within four months, a U.S. official said Sunday (see GSN, Aug. 24)...Full Story

Iran to Increase Cooperation With Inspectors Iran last week said it would cooperate partially with the U.N. nuclear watchdog as the agency investigates U.S. claims that Tehran is conducting covert uranium processing activities to produce material for a nuclear weapons program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 24)...Full Story

	Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Lugar, Nunn Call for START Extension While Reviewing CTR By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) last week called on the United States and Russia to renew key provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which is set to lapse in December 2009 (GSN, July 23). The two men traveled to Russia to mark the 15th anniversary of their landmark Cooperative Threat Reduction legislation to secure weapons of mass destruction in former Soviet nations and beyond.  They voiced concern that the Bush administration might view treaty extension as unnecessary.  Russia has expressed interest in striking a new agreement but the White House has been less than enthusiastic. Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Aug. 28 that he is “inclined to feel we probably do” need to extend the accord’s verification and transparency provisions.  Now co-chairman and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative, Nunn called extension of the 1991 treaty “absolutely essential.” “The United States and Russia must extend the START treaty’s verification and transparency elements, which will expire in 2009,” Lugar said in Moscow.  Additionally, “they should work to add verification measures to the Moscow Treaty,” he said. That 2002 accord, signed by Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, commits the United States and Russia to reducing their stockpiles of operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 2,200 by 2012 (see GSN, March 7). Lugar also proposed that the two former Cold War rivals employ procedures similar to those used in the CTR program for dismantling weapons in North Korea if a pact is concluded to eliminate weapons of mass destruction there. For his part, Nunn urged the Bush administration to back off plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe, which Russia opposes (see GSN, Aug. 24).  The United States and Russia should “pause” and “take a deep breath,” Nunn said, or the two nations would risk a “stumble to the precipice of strategic danger.” The former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman also said the United States and Russia should do more to take their nuclear arsenals off hair-trigger alert and should take deeper cuts in their stockpiles. Nunn additionally called for bilateral talks on the future disposition of short-range nuclear weapons and on making research on biological weapons more transparent. Lauding the success of the so-called Nunn-Lugar legislation, which launched the threat reduction effort in 1992, a key Russian nuclear energy figure noted no major leakage of nuclear components or materials has occurred over the past 15 years in nations where the program has been operating. Work remains to be done, though, said Nikolai Spassky, deputy head of Russia’s atomic energy agency, Rosatom. “The horizons of our cooperation are breathtaking and there are a lot of problems,” he said at an Aug. 28 round-table discussion with U.S. and Russian government officials, experts, diplomats and military officials.  The Carnegie Moscow Center and the Center for Policy Studies-Russia sponsored the event to celebrate the Cooperative Threat Reduction anniversary (see GSN, Aug. 24) On Aug. 29, President Bush released a statement commemorating the legislation, noting that 75 percent of Russian warhead sites and 160 buildings containing weapon-grade nuclear material have been secured. “As the threat continues to evolve elsewhere, U.S. [threat reduction] efforts are expanding to include the work of securing dangerous biological pathogens, rapidly detecting disease outbreaks, and improving export controls and border security to stop the movement of materials of mass destruction worldwide,” Bush said. Nunn and Lugar’s travels last week took them to a number of CTR sites, among them the Luch nuclear institute in Podolsk, Russia.  There they witnessed the arrival of 21 pounds of uranium from a research reactor in Otwock, Poland, which had been secretly shipped for conversion for nuclear power plant fuel, the Washington Post reported Aug. 30 (see GSN, Aug. 10, 2006). One of the first post-Soviet uranium thefts occurred at the Luch facility in 1992, when an employee stole roughly 1.5 kilograms of weapon-grade uranium. The United States has since helped “secure nuclear material and consolidate highly enriched uranium storage from 50 areas in 17 buildings to five areas within four buildings — an effort that significantly reduced the risk and security costs,” according to a statement released last week by the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Nunn and Lugar also visited a chemical weapons disposal facility at Shchuchye, where construction is just beyond the halfway point after years of controversy over contracting and funding.  Russia might begin destroying chemical weapons there by the end of next year.  However, it could take another five to 10 years to destroy the facility’s 1.9 million artillery shells filled with sarin, soman and VX nerve agents. “I don’t think we have that much time,” said Nunn, who expressed concern that the shells could pose an attractive target to terrorists. Once built, the Shchuchye facility would be capable of destroying 1,700 tons of chemical agent each year.  Under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, Russia has until 2012 to destroy its arsenal (see GSN, March 1). [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

North Korea Agrees to Close Nuclear Sites in 2007 North Korea pledged during weekend talks to declare and disable its entire nuclear program within four months, a U.S. official said Sunday (see GSN, Aug. 24). “One thing that we agreed on is that the D.P.R.K. will provide a full declaration of all their nuclear programs and will disable their nuclear programs by the end of this year, 2007,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Sunday, following two days of bilateral meetings in Geneva. “Of course we will have to work out some of the details of this in the six-party process … but we had a very good understanding of this today and an understanding that we need to pick up the pace and get through this phase in 2007.” Declaration and disablement falls under the second phase of work required of North Korea under a February denuclearization agreement.  Pyongyang has already frozen operations at its Yongbyon nuclear complex under international monitoring.  It stands to receive a total of 1 million tons of fuel oil or equivalent aid, along with diplomatic and security benefits, for fully meeting the terms of the deal (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Sept. 2). However, a report last month indicated that North Korea intended to declare and shut down only three sites, none of which contain nuclear weapons, AFP reported. The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported that North Korean officials said in August talks that Pyongyang was only prepared to address a reactor, spent fuel reprocessing plant and a nuclear fuel processing facility.  All are located at the Yongbyon complex. Regarding other facilities or programs, the North Korean diplomats said:  “We will bring that back home for further discussions,” according to the newspaper (Agence France-Presse II/Yahoo!News, Aug. 25). Hill countered last week that declaration and disablement must cover all of the Stalinist state’s nuclear programs, AFP reported.  He hoped the deal would be set during full six-party talks this month involving diplomats from China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas (Agence France-Presse III/Yahoo!News, Aug. 29). Pyongyang has sought removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as part of the denuclearization process. Washington agreed to make that happen during the weekend talks on normalization of diplomatic relations, the North Korean Foreign Ministry claimed yesterday. “Both sides discussed the issue of taking practical measures to neutralize the existing facilities in the D.P.R.K. within this year and agreed on them,” according to a spokesman.  “In return for this the U.S. decided to take such political and economic measures for compensation as delisting the D.P.R.K. as a terrorism sponsor and lifting all sanctions that have been applied according to the Trading with the Enemy Act” (Agence France-Presse IV/Spacewar.com, Sept. 3). Hill said North Korea was jumping the gun, the Associated Press reported. “No, they haven’t been taken off the terrorism list,” he said today. “Getting off the list will depend on further denuclearization,” Hill added (Associated Press/New York Times, Sept. 4). Back to top       Iran to Increase Cooperation With Inspectors Iran last week said it would cooperate partially with the U.N. nuclear watchdog as the agency investigates U.S. claims that Tehran is conducting covert uranium processing activities to produce material for a nuclear weapons program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 24). As a “sign of good will and cooperation with the [International Atomic Energy Agency] … Iran will review” documentation provided by the agency on the alleged secret program “and inform the agency of its assessment,” said a memorandum produced by Iranian and IAEA officials. Tehran also provided a timetable for disclosing other details that IAEA officials have requested regarding the country’s more than two decades of secret nuclear activity (George Jahn, Associated Press/Washington Post, Aug. 28). Meanwhile, IAEA officials said in a joint statement that Iran has resolved questions surrounding its previous experiments using plutonium, Reuters reported on Aug. 27. The findings represent the first major issue resolved by the agency’s four-year investigation into Iran’s nuclear activities. Iran and IAEA officials agreed Aug. 21 to a broader plan for clarifying Iranian nuclear ambitions following suspicions that Tehran’s civilian nuclear energy program could be serving as a cover for nuclear weapons development.  The plan also aims to allow IAEA inspectors to more easily access Iran’s underground uranium enrichment plant, which would manufacture nuclear fuel. The plan said that information given to IAEA officials regarding Tehran’s plutonium program was consistent with the findings of IAEA inspectors. “Thus this matter is resolved. This will be communicated officially by the agency to Iran through a letter,” the plan said, giving no description of how officials resolved the suspicions. By November, Iran is expected to describe its efforts to construct P-2 centrifuges, which would enrich uranium two to three times faster than the country’s existing P-1 centrifuges. The current centrifuges are also susceptible to breakdowns. Western powers are also seeking evidence of secret connections between Iranian uranium processing and activities such as the testing of powerful explosives and missile warhead design.  In a gesture of “goodwill and cooperation,”  Officials in Tehran said they would examine evidence previously rejected as “politically and baseless accusations.” The nuclear watchdog called the plan a “milestone” for Iranian nuclear transparency, but a Western diplomat said the plan did not commit Iran to find access to “people, places and documentation” needed for questions to be fully resolved (Mark Heinrich, Reuters, Aug. 27). Iran’s recent cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog could hinder U.S. efforts to impose a new round of sanctions against the country, the Washington Post reported Friday. In a report to the agency’s governing board, agency officials said that although Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of two U.N. Security Council resolutions, the enrichment facility has produced “well below the expected quantity for a facility of this design.” The report said Iran took “a significant step forward” when it agreed to the new plan for resolving questions surrounding its nuclear agenda, while U.N. officials said Tehran has slowed its construction of its Arak plutonium reactor. “For the first time in a couple of years, we have been able to agree with the Iranians on a working arrangement, on how to resolve the outstanding issues,” said IAEA safeguards head Olli Heinonen.  “What Iran is now facing is actually a litmus test” on its willingness to meet its new obligations in spite of its past violations of Security Council resolutions, Heinonen said. An IAEA conclusion that Iran is not running a clandestine nuclear weapons development program could raise new questions about U.S. intelligence in the Middle East.  The United States justified its invasion of Iraq on its contention that Saddam Hussein’s government was secretly pursuing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, but U.S. forces found no evidence that such programs existed. Analysts following Iran’s nuclear program noted that Tehran’s uranium enrichment program was falling far short of its stated goals for installing new centrifuges and enriching uranium in existing centrifuges. According to IAEA findings, Iran has been producing about 31 pounds of low-enriched uranium each month although it had projected a monthly output of 200 pounds, said an analysis released Thursday by the Institute for Science and International Security.  Low-enriched uranium is used for power production and cannot be used in weapons without additional processing. The low production suggests that Iran has faced technical difficulties or has deliberately slowed its production to “forestall negative reactions that would lend support for further sanctions,” said the institute’s report. Iranian nuclear negotiator Mohammad Saeedi lauded the IAEA report in state media, stating that it “put an end to all U.S. baseless accusations” about the nuclear program and “once again endorsed the authenticity of the statements of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Critics of Iran noted that the country continues to refuse to halt its uranium enrichment efforts in compliance with Security Council demands. “For the most part, Iran has made only promises,” U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA Gregory Schulte said in a statement Thursday.  The report “indicates that Iran has not suspended its enrichment related activities, which is a violation of U.S. Security Council resolutions.”  Schulte said Iran must halt its uranium enrichment “for the international community to gain confidence that Iran's nuclear activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes.” The IAEA report is expected to be reviewed by the agency’s 35-nation governing board at its meeting beginning Sept. 10, the Post reported (Anderson/Warrick, Washington Post, Aug. 31). The IAEA report cast light on an expanding rift between the U.N. nuclear watchdog and U.S. officials and their allies, the New York Times reported Friday. “This is the first time Iran is ready to discuss all the outstanding issues which triggered the crisis in confidence,” said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei said he would welcome a delay in the U.S.-led drive for a new round of sanctions against Iran.  “I’m clear at this stage you need to give Iran a chance to prove its stated goodwill.  Sanctions alone, I know for sure, are not going to lead to a durable solution,” he said. “There is no partial credit here,” said State Department spokesman Tom Casey.  “Iran has refused to comply with its international obligations, and as a result of that the international community is going to continue to ratchet up the pressure.” David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, used IAEA figures to estimate that Iranian centrifuges were operating at as little as 10 percent of their total capacity. “That’s very low — and we don’t know why,” he said. ElBaradei said he suspected that Iranian officials chose to deliberately slow uranium enrichment at Iran’s Natanz facility. “They could have expanded much faster,” he said.  “Some say it’s for technical reasons.  My gut feeling is that it’s primarily for political reasons” (Sciolino/Broad, New York Times, Aug. 31). Iran could miss its last chance to resolve its nuclear standoff with the international community if it fails to do so by the end of the year, ElBaradei said. “By November, or December at the latest, we should be able to state whether the Iranians are keeping their promises. If they don't keep them, Tehran will have passed by an important chance, perhaps the last,” ElBaradei told Der Spiegel. ElBaradei added that nations should “encourage” Iran to cooperate with IAEA inspections (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, Sept. 3). Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran’s nuclear program reached a critical milestone by completing the installation of 3,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, the London Telegraph reported. The uranium enrichment process could yield a possible nuclear bomb ingredient. “We have more than 3,000 centrifuges working and every week a new set is installed,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech. He said that “world powers” were disappointed that Iran has refused “retreat” in pursuing its nuclear ambitions. Analysts have said that even if Iran has installed as many centrifuges as it claims, running them successfully is difficult and it could take operators one or two years to master the necessary procedures (David Blair, London Telegraph, Sept. 4). U.S. President George W. Bush said on Aug. 28 that a “nuclear holocaust” could unfold in the Middle East if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Agence France-Presse reported. “Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and the United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran's regime, to impose economic sanctions,” Bush said. “We will confront this danger before it is too late,” he said. “Iran’s active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust,” Bush said. Shortly before Bush’s speech, Ahmadinejad discounted French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s warning of a possible military strike on Iran. “There is no … possibility of such an attack by the United States,” Ahmadinejad said. “Even if they take such a decision, they cannot implement it,” he said. Sarkozy said in an Aug. 27 foreign policy address that continued nuclear negotiations with Iran together with the threat of sanctions were the only means to avoid “a catastrophic alternative:  an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran.” “[Sarkozy] only recently came to power and wants to find a place for himself in the world,” Ahmadinejad said.  “He is still inexperienced, meaning that maybe he does not really understand the meaning of his own words” (Agence France-Presse II/Google News, Aug. 29). Back to top       Indian Politicians Step Back From Nuclear Crisis India’s top political leaders reached a deal last week with key left-wing allies to delay implementation of the U.S.-Indian nuclear trade pact, Reuters reported.  The move would buy time for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government to elicit support from the communist parties that have objected to the deal and have threatened to withdraw their support for Singh’s leadership (see GSN, Aug. 23). The two groups issued a statement Thursday announcing the creation of a panel to study the nuclear deal which would give India access to U.S. nuclear technology and materials in exchange for allowing international inspectors to monitor New Delhi’s civilian nuclear program.  Critics from the left and the right have criticized the agreement for allowing too much U.S. influence over Indian energy and military affairs. The new commission is due to deliver a report by the end of this month, giving Singh time to seek to restore relations with his coalition-backing communist allies, according to Reuters. “They … saved face, we also saved face,” said one leftist leader.  “We found a middle path” (Y.P. Rajesh, Reuters/Washington Post, Aug. 31). “The operationalization of the nuclear deal will take into account the committee’s findings,” said Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.  “The committee will also examine the implications of the nuclear agreement on foreign policy and security cooperation” (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 30). Singh would also hold off on formal talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency to finalize a nuclear inspections agreement, although officials did not describe that decision as a concession to the leftist parties, Reuters reported. “Our talks with [the] IAEA have been informal and they will remain so until we are ready with a formal safeguards agreement,” said one senior government official.  “And that was anyway not expected to be ready until around November” (Reuters). India would also wait for the IAEA agreement before it seeks approval for the deal from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a multilateral entity that sets guidelines for nuclear trade, the Hindustan Times reported last week. Group rules currently prohibit nuclear sales to nations, such as India, that do not belong to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and do not allow international monitoring of all their atomic facilities (Amit Baruah, Hindustan Times, Aug. 27). Back to top       Russia Plans Additional ICBM Deployment Russia plans by the end of this year to deploy another set of mobile Topol-M ICBMs, Reuters reported Saturday (see GSN, June 27). The division would be established in the city of Teikovo, roughly 150 miles northeast of Moscow.  It follows Russia’s first deployment of the new weapon in December 2006. “We are absolutely confident this division will be put on combat duty in December,” said Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, head of Russian strategic missile forces, according to Interfax. The Topol-M can carry a single nuclear warhead and be fired from fixed or mobile launchers.  It is expected to combine with the multiwarhead RS-24 missile as the primary components of Russia’s strategic security system for the next two to three decades, according to Reuters (Amie Ferris-Rotman, Reuters I/Yahoo!News, Sept. 1). Solovtsov said Russia would conduct further test launches of its nuclear-capable missiles in 2007, United Press International reported. “This year we will continue test and combat-training launches of new types of warheads for the Topol-M and Bulava sea-launched missile complexes,” he said (United Press International, Sept. 1). Meanwhile, Russia this week is conducting strategic bomber training over the Arctic, Reuters reported. Twelve Tu-95MC bombers are taking part in the two-day exercise that began yesterday and involves cruise missile launches. “The planes will also practice midair refueling from IL-78 transport planes,” said a Russian air force spokesman (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Sept. 3). Back to top       U.S. to Upgrade Submarine Nuclear Warheads More than 60 percent of W-76 nuclear warheads are expected to be upgraded for possible deployment on 14 U.S. Navy ballistic missile submarines, the Federation of American Scientists said last week (see GSN, June 2, 2006). The Clinton administration called for improvements to 25 percent of the W-76 warheads, the most common warhead in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.  The Bush administration’s 2001 Nuclear Posture Review, however, recommended that more warheads undergo the upgrades. A 2005 Defense Department plan slated 63 percent of W-76 warheads, or about 2,000 warheads, to be upgraded between 2007 and 2021. The upgraded W-76 warhead is expected to have improved capabilities against hard targets, according to officials. Approval to begin manufacturing the Reliable Replacement Warhead in 2014 could result in the next-generation warhead being deployed on submarines in place of the W-76 warheads during the second half of the upgrade project (Hans Kristensen, Federation of American Scientists, Aug. 30). Back to top       NNSA Leader Takes Helm U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman last week swore in Thomas D’Agostino to serve as head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, a slot he has held on an interim basis since early this year, the department announced (see GSN, Jan. 8). “Tom brings institutional knowledge of the weapons complex and firsthand experience in leading our defense programs to his new position,” Bodman said in a press release.  “I am pleased to have him on my senior leadership team as we work to further President Bush’s energy and national security agenda and advance critical nonproliferation goals.” Prior to his current position, D’Agostino served as NNSA deputy administrator for defense programs (U.S. Energy Department release, Aug. 30). Back to top

Smallpox Vaccine Receives FDA Approval The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday that it had approved a new smallpox vaccine that could be produced quickly in the event of a bioterrorist attack involving the disease, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 13, 2006). “The licensure of ACAM2000 supplements our current supply of smallpox vaccine, meaning we are more prepared to protect the population should the virus ever be used as a weapon,” said Jesse Goodman, head of the agency’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a press release. The vaccine is produced by British drug maker Acambis Inc. and would be used to protect those considered at high risk for exposure to the disease.   Use of modern cell culture technology means that production could be ramped up quickly if necessary. More than 192 million doses of the treatment, derived from the Dryvax vaccine that is no longer produced, have been stockpiled to date in the United States, AP reported. Smallpox has been eradicated in nature.  However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks it among the top public health threats (John Heilprin, Associated Press/Washington Post, Sept. 1). Back to top

Iraqi Court Confirms “Chemical Ali” Death Sentence Three former senior officials under the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein could be executed within a month after the country’s highest court upheld their death sentences for  genocide and crimes against humanity, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Aug. 21). “The Iraqi Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence on Ali Hassan al-Majid, Sultan Hashim al-Tai and Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti,” said top Judge Aref Shaheen. Al-Majid earned the nickname “Chemical Ali” for ordering the use of chemical weapons to kill thousands of Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s.  Al-Tai served as the regime’s defense minister and al-Tikriti was the deputy operations chief operations for Iraq’s armed forces. “Thousands of people were killed, displaced and disappeared,” Iraqi High Tribunal chief judge Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah said in June, after announcing his decision to sentence the three men to death for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds. “They were civilians with no weapons and nothing to do with war,” he said. Under Iraqi law, the men are expected to be hanged within 30 days (Salam Faraj, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 4). Back to top       Iraqi Chemical Weapons Material Found at U.N. Material that appear to be from Iraq’s former chemical weapons program turned up recently at a U.N. office in New York, the Associated Press reported last week (see GSN, July 2). The material was found at the office of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, the WMD monitoring team set to be shut down.  The office, one block north of U.N. headquarters, was not evacuated. “The office area was screened using UNMOVIC’s chemical weapons detection equipment.  No toxic vapors were found,” said U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe.  “There is no immediate risk or danger.  UNMOVIC staff are still working on the premises.” The material found on Aug. 24 is believed to have been removed in 1996 from the primary Iraqi chemical weapons plant, AP reported. One container, roughly the size of a soda can, contained the choking agent phosgene in liquid form and suspended in oil, U.N. officials said.  The container was inside a sealed plastic bag also carrying “unknown liquid substances contained in metal and glass containers ranging in size from small vials to tube the length of a pen,” according to Okabe. Glass tubes found in a second sealed package each contained less than 1 gram of chemical agents used for the identification of chemical materials. UNMOVIC personnel secured the material, which was to be removed and destroyed by U.S. authorities (Edith Lederer, Associated Press I/Houston Chronicle, Aug. 30). The United Nations intends to determine why the material was brought to New York and why it was not located again for more than a decade, AP reported.  The material should not have ended up in an office, one that until three years ago was inside U.N. headquarters, according to U.S. and U.N. officials. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “takes very seriously the late discovery … of potentially hazardous material,” according to a statement.  “He has given immediate instructions to launch an internal investigation drawing on external expertise in close cooperation with the U.S. and New York City authorities.” “We welcome the inquiry because clearly mistakes were made somewhere along the line and proper procedures were not followed,” said UNMOVIC spokesman Ewen Buchanan (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, Aug. 31). Back to top       Mustard Leaks Found at U.S. Chemical Depots Workers at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon detected trace amounts of mustard vapor inside a storage unit during a routine inspection on Thursday, the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency said (see GSN, Aug. 16). A passive filter system prevented mustard gas from escaping into the surrounding environment.  Depot personnel installed a powered filter system on the storage igloo and planned to locate, inspect and decontaminate the source of the leak (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release I, Aug. 30). Meanwhile, a 155 mm projectile leaked three drops of mustard agent at the Deseret Chemical Depot in Utah before workers found the leak on Thursday, the Chemical Materials Agency said (see GSN, Aug. 2). Personnel wearing protective gear cleaned up the spilled material, decontaminated the leaking munition and sealed it in an airtight container. No mustard vapor escaped from the filtered storage unit, the Army said (U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency release II, Aug. 30). Back to top

Pakistan Tests Nuclear Cruise Missile Pakistan tested a new nuclear-capable cruise missile late last month, demonstrating “a great strategic standoff capability of land and sea,” the Pakistani army announced (see GSN, July 26). The air-launched Hatf 8 missile, also called the Raad, has a range of 220 miles and can carry all warhead types, including nuclear payloads, according to the army.  The Aug. 25 test strengthened the nation’s ability to project power — the missile is designed to be carried by all types of Pakistani air force planes — and the “Raad cruise missile will only add more range to its inventory,” an army statement said (Pakistani army release, Aug. 25). Back to top

U.S. Missile Defense Laser Passes Low-Power Test The U.S. Airborne Laser system in recent testing demonstrated its capability to take the necessary steps to bring down ballistic missiles, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, Aug. 16). Missile Defense Agency chief Lt. Gen. Henry Obering called the low-power tests completed Aug. 23 a “critically important milestone” for the program. The Defense Department continues its effort to restore $50 million that the House Appropriations Committee cut from President George W. Bush’s original $549 million request for the Airborne Laser program’s budget.  The money was requested for fiscal 2008, which begins Oct. 1. The system would employ a laser mounted on a Boeing 747 to shoot down missiles in the early “boost phase” of flight. The prototype system fired its lasers more than 200 times during the low-power tests.  “Data analysis has verified ABL's performance is adequate to enter the program's next phase,” the Missile Defense Agency said. The agency next plans to install a high-power, megawatt-class chemical oxygen-iodine laser manufactured by Northrop Grumman.  The high-power system is expected to undergo an intercept test in mid-2009 using a mock ballistic missile as a target (Jim Wolf, Reuters, Aug. 31).   Back to top

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