U.S. President George W. Bush last night urged Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment efforts (Jim Watson/Getty Images). Bush Warns Iran On Uranium Enrichment Program U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday urged Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and warned that Tehran’s actions could lead to a confrontation with the United States (see GSN, Jan. 28). “Above all, know this:  America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf,” Bush said in his final State of the Union address...Full Story

State Department Official Heads for North Korea U.S. State Department official Sung Kim is scheduled to travel Thursday to North Korea, where he plans to urge regime leaders to move forward with the faltering denuclearization process, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 28)...Full Story

Brazil Seeks French Nuclear Submarine Technology Brazil could become the first Latin American nation to possess a nuclear submarine if it finalizes a deal to purchase military technology from France, the Brazilian Defense Ministry said yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 19, 2007)...Full Story

	Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Bush Warns Iran On Uranium Enrichment Program U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday urged Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and warned that Tehran’s actions could lead to a confrontation with the United States (see GSN, Jan. 28). “Above all, know this:  America will confront those who threaten our troops, we will stand by our allies and we will defend our vital interests in the Persian Gulf,” Bush said in his final State of the Union address. “Our message to the people of Iran is clear:  We have no quarrel with you, we respect your traditions and your history, and we look forward to the day when you have your freedom,” Bush said, according to Agence France-Presse. “Our message to the leaders of Iran is also clear:  Verifiably suspend your nuclear enrichment, so negotiations can begin.  And to rejoin the community of nations, come clean about your nuclear intentions and past actions, stop your oppression at home and cease your support for terror abroad,” he said (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Jan. 29). Meanwhile, officials from the five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations met with representatives of the body’s current set of 10 nonpermanent states yesterday to discuss a proposed sanctions resolution against Iran over its nuclear program, Reuters reported. Deputy Chinese envoy Liu Zhenmin told journalists that “it will take maybe a few weeks” for the body to vote on the resolution. The United States had sought a quick vote on the resolution after months of campaigning for the new sanctions, but European powers preferred to take additional time to build a unanimous consensus around the proposed measures, according to one U.S. official. Colin Keating, head of the independent watchdog group Security Council Report, said he was certain the council would pass the resolution.  Its limited punitive actions against Iran are unlikely to divide the body, although Indonesia and South Africa might propose some language adjustments. South African Ambassador to the United Nations Dumisani Kumalo said the council should wait for International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei to report on Iran’s progress in disclosing details of its nuclear activities before voting on the resolution. “I think the IAEA report is very important because they are … the experts,” he said.  “Let's see what they have to say” (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Jan. 29). U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said the resolution could open the door for future measures to pressure Iran to halt its disputed nuclear work, AFP reported. “The important thing is that it both deepens … sanctions against Iran and opens the possibility of new directions, like for instance the possibility of cargo inspections,” Rice said in a news conference. “But most importantly, it is a resolution that shows and will show Iran that it continues to be isolated from the international community, that it has no friends when it comes to its desires to pursue technologies that could lead to a nuclear weapon,” she said. Rice said the resolution would pave the way for new reprisals from the international community as well as the United States, which imposed unilateral sanctions against several Iranian banks last year. “That has made it difficult for many others to deal with Iran because the reputational and investment risk of dealing with an Iran … are quite grave” under the U.S. and Security Council sanctions, she said. “As to whether or not we can improve the state of U.S.-Iranian relations, that's something that I would put to Iran,” she said.  The United States has held out the prospects of diplomatic relations with Iran if Tehran halts its uranium enrichment program, which could produce a nuclear weapon ingredient (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Jan. 28). Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki yesterday warned that “serious consequences” would result if the Security Council votes to impose new sanctions on Iran. “If a resolution is passed … it will have serious and logical consequences and we will announce them later,” Mottaki told reporters (Agence France-Presse III/Spacewar.com, Jan. 28). Back to top       State Department Official Heads for North Korea U.S. State Department official Sung Kim is scheduled to travel Thursday to North Korea, where he plans to urge regime leaders to move forward with the faltering denuclearization process, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 28). The Bush administration is still waiting for Pyongyang to submit what it considers a sufficient declaration of the nation’s nuclear programs.  Kim said he would press for the Stalinist state to release the list “as quick as possible.” “The requirement is for a complete and correct declaration,” he said today during a stop in Seoul. The declaration is a major component of the second phase of the disarmament plan produced last year by the six nations involved in negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program.  It was originally scheduled to be delivered by Dec. 31. In return for giving up its nuclear programs, Pyongyang stands to receive energy, security and diplomatic benefits. A full declaration is “necessary in order for further progress to be made on all of the obligations,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday. Kim was expected to meet today with South Korean officials, before moving on tomorrow to China and then to North Korea for up to three days. “We’ll try to make progress on the six-party talks,” he said (Kwang-Tae Kim, Associated Press/Washington Post, Jan. 29). The six-party process remains intact and the United States is not prepared to threaten North Korea with penalties for failure to release the nuclear declaration, a high-level U.S. official told Reuters. That just takes you down a different road and I don’t think anyone is ready to take that road,” the official said. “We are really trying to make this work.  We feel … we’ve actually gotten some success from this process and we don’t want to give up just because we are a couple weeks off schedule,” he added (Arshad Mohammed, Reuters/New York Times, Jan. 28). Back to top       Brazil Seeks French Nuclear Submarine Technology Brazil could become the first Latin American nation to possess a nuclear submarine if it finalizes a deal to purchase military technology from France, the Brazilian Defense Ministry said yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 19, 2007). Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva last year granted $540 million in new funds for the country’s program to build a nuclear submarine — an effort formally started in 1979 — and its established uranium enrichment program, the Associated Press reported. During a trip to France last week, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim raised the possibility of buying a conventionally powered Scorpene-class submarine that would “serve as a model for the development of a nuclear submarine, which is the main objective of his visit,” spokesman Jose Ramos said. Brazil now maintains five conventionally powered submarines.  Ramos said the nation possesses nuclear reactors and can produce its own nuclear fuel, but it lacks the technology to build a nuclear submarine. “Any defense-related agreement that may eventually be signed with France must include the transfer of technology,” he said. If a nuclear submarine is built under such an agreement, then “Brazil will surely become the first country in Latin America to have one,” said Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association in Washington (Stan Lehman, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Jan. 28). Back to top       Nuclear Bombers to Fly in Russian Exercise Nuclear-capable Russian strategic bombers are expected to participate today in an Atlantic Ocean naval drill that began last week near the coastlines of France and Spain, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, Jan. 24). Six Tu-96 intercontinental strategic bombers, eight Tu-22 supersonic strategic bombers and two A-50 radar aircraft departed today from Russian airbases to take part in the drill with 24 other planes. “During the exercise pilots will master surveillance tasks, practice missile and bomb attacks on naval ships of an imaginary enemy, conduct air attacks and air patrolling missions,” said Russian air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky (ITAR-Tass, Jan. 29). Back to top       U.S. Urges India to Resolve Nuclear Impasse Warning of “practical problems” should delays continue, a U.S. official pressed Indian leaders yesterday to try to gain domestic political support for a bilateral nuclear trade agreement, the Indo-Asian News Service reported (see GSN, Jan. 25). “It is practical for India to complete the entire process this year,” U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford told reporters in New Delhi. The agreement has been slowed by criticism from key supporters of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government.  Four communist parties have threatened to remove their backing for Singh, thus forcing early elections, if he tries to implement the deal. The trade pact would enable India to purchase U.S. nuclear materials and technology in exchange for allowing international monitoring of the nation’s civil nuclear activities.  Before the deal can be implemented, the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group must agree to exempt India from long-standing guidelines that currently bar sales of key nuclear technologies to nations outside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that do not allow full international oversight of their nuclear activities.  Singh’s immediate hurdle, however, is to eliminate the communists’ political threat.  Once that obstacle is overcome, the rest of the deal conditions could fall into place quickly, Mulford said. “If [India] does not finish this time, it will have to wait for a new [U.S.] Congress and a new administration in the U.S.,” he said.  “There will be practical problems.” Mulford said the United States was ready to help, but would not meddle with Indian politics. “We are not pushing.  We are patiently waiting for India to complete its process and conclude a safeguards pact with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he said.  “The U.S. respects India’s political process.  It underlines our keen desire not to interfere in the domestic political process” (Mudassir Rizwan, Indo-Asian News Service/IndianMuslims.info, Jan. 28). Back to top       Barak, Musharraf Met in Secret, Officials Say Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf discussed the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran at an unplanned meeting in Paris last week, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2007). The two men met unexpectedly on Jan. 22 at a hotel where they were both staying, Israeli defense officials said.  Meetings between Pakistani and Israeli officials are rare because the countries have no formal diplomatic ties. Musharraf and Barak then met secretly for 20 minutes the next day, touching on a potential Iranian nuclear weapons effort. Israel and various world powers suspect that Iranian nuclear activities could be aimed at weapons development, but Tehran has maintained that its work is strictly intended for civilian energy purposes. Pakistan, which has closer political and trade ties with Iran, has defended Tehran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear energy while urging the international community to use diplomacy to resolve its nuclear tensions with the Middle Eastern country. Barak also addressed worries that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was vulnerable to tribal militants because of political chaos currently gripping the country, the defense officials said.  Musharraf reaffirmed his government’s stance that its nuclear weapons are secure. Israeli and Pakistani government spokesmen said little or nothing about the reported meeting, AP reported. “The [Pakistani] president was leaving and the defense minister of Israel entered the hotel lobby and it was a chance meeting,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq.  “I am not aware of any second meeting” (Matti Friedman, Associated Press/PR-inside, Jan. 28). Back to top       Cargo Scanning Program Needs Boost, GAO Says U.S. auditors last week urged the Homeland Security Department to improve its nuclear and WMD detection efforts at international seaports (see GSN, Oct. 17, 2007). The U.S. Container Security Initiative aims to scan all U.S.-bound cargo, and the program expanded its coverage to include 86 percent of incoming cargo containers in fiscal 2007, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office.  Radiation and other detectors have been installed at 58 major seaports by the department’s Customs and Border Protection division. Despite this progress, more efforts are needed to fully staff the cargo screening operations, to improve relations with host-country personnel, and to set standards for inspection processes, the study found.  These measures are particularly important to build confidence that WMD materials can be found. “CBP potentially lacks information to ensure that host government examinations can detect and identify weapons of mass destruction, which is important because containers are typically not re-examined in the United States if already examined at a CSI seaport,” according to the study’s summary.  More than 10 million containers enter the nation’s seaports annually, about 28,000 each day, the study says (U.S. Government Accountability Office release, Jan. 25). Back to top       Oak Ridge Sees Successful Reprocessing Research Early U.S. research into recycling nuclear power plant fuel has seen “spectacular success,” said a senior official at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee (see GSN, Nov. 30, 2006). The pilot-scale project to test spent nuclear fuel samples cost about $12 million last year as part of the Bush administration’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership initiative to promote nuclear energy (see GSN, Dec. 12, 2007). Oak Ridge workers have been dissolving spent fuel rods to study the nature of the fuel’s chemical components, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported yesterday. The GNEP effort calls for separating fissionable plutonium from spent fuel to mix into new batches of fuel.  Proponents have argued that the process would aid nuclear nonproliferation efforts by consuming weapon-usable materials. The three-year study plan at Oak Ridge calls for using about 25 kilograms of spent fuel, said laboratory associate director Dana Christensen (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, Jan. 28). Back to top

Work Progresses on Fort Detrick Biodefense Lab Construction of a Homeland Security Department biological defense laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., is 60 percent complete and is expected to be finished by the end of 2008, the Frederick News-Post reported Sunday (see GSN, July 31, 2006). Laboratory operations are not expected to begin until late next year at the $143 million National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, which is among a number of facilities that would constitute the National Interagency Biodefense Campus. The Homeland Security facility is expected to house 120 workers, roughly 20,000 square feet of Biosafety Level 3 laboratory space and about 10,000 square feet of Biosafety Level 4 space. Level 4 facilities conduct research on potentially lethal diseases that can go airborne and for which there are no treatments or vaccines. Once construction is finished, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to need several months to certify that the NBACC laboratories are ready for operations, the News-Post reported.  Administrative offices would open earlier. Facility researchers are now housed at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick.  Their responsibilities include conducting forensic analyses of biological incident sites, examining present and potential threats and producing a biological terrorism threat assessment every two years (Justin Palk, Frederick News-Post, Jan. 27). Back to top

Central African Republic Designates CWC Authority The Central African Republic has designated its Foreign Ministry as the country’s national authority for carrying out its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the treaty’s implementing organization said Friday (see GSN, Sept. 26, 2007). The national authority is responsible for bringing its government into compliance with treaty terms, including issuing mandated declarations and assisting the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in carrying out inspections or performing other duties. As of Thursday, only seven of the 183 CWC signatory nations did not yet have a national authority (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Jan. 25). Back to top

Japan, U.S. Spend Billions on Missile Defense Japan and the United States are spending billions of dollars on collaborative initiatives intended to counter the missile threat posed by North Korea, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 21, 2007). The effort includes a Joint Tactical Ground Station at the Misawa Air Base in northern Japan.  The facility and a nearby X-band radar (see GSN, Sept. 28, 2006) are designed to provide early warning capabilities that would give the allies time to bring down enemy missiles before they reach their targets. A U.S. Patriot air defense battalion is stationed at Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa and Japan is deploying its own Patriot systems (see GSN, Jan. 15). The two nations are also working together on sea-based defenses.  Japan and the United States are the only two countries to conduct missile intercept exercises using Standard Missile 3 interceptors launched from ships (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2007).  Tokyo in coming years hopes to place SM-3 interceptors on military vessels. “Japan is one of our strongest allies in the ballistic missile defense arena,” Brig. Gen. John Seward, deputy commanding general of operations at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency requested $8 billion in this fiscal year for development of a working warning and response system. However, Washington’s focus has been drawn increasingly drawn toward a potential Iranian missile threat to Europe or the United States, AP reported (see GSN, Jan. 28).  This comes even as North Korea boosts its strategic weapons development:  Pyongyang in 2006 conducted its first nuclear weapon blast and possesses missiles capable of reaching Japan. “Around Japan there are countries that could launch ballistic missiles against us,” said Japanese Defense Ministry spokesman Ro Manabe.  “But in Europe, they do not have an imminent threat like that.  In the near future, it may be possible that some countries, like Iran, may get that capability.  But there are such states currently in this region.  That is a basic and significant difference.” Despite its work with the United States, and the 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in the Asian nation, Japan must be prepared to provide its own missile defenses, Seward said. “Most assets in Japan are Japanese,” he said.  “The Japanese would have to defend themselves” (Eric Talmadge, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 28). Back to top

Bush Cuts Antiradiation Drug Distribution Rule The Bush administration has decided not to expand the distribution of an antiradiation treatment to U.S. residents living near nuclear power plants, a top White House science adviser announced last week (see GSN, Oct. 23, 2007). A 2002 law required the federal government to provide potassium iodide pills to people living within 20 miles of a nuclear plant, expanding on existing rules that require supplying the drug within a 10-mile radius.  The drug’s distribution is intended to prevent thyroid cancer in people exposed to radiation from a power plant accident or terrorist attack. The law, however, permits the president to waive the 20-mile distribution requirement if better cancer prevention tools are identified.  John Marburger, director of the White House Science and Technology Policy Office, invoked that provision on Jan. 22. “I have determined that a more effective preventive measure does exist for the extended zone covered by the act, namely avoidance of exposure altogether through evacuation of the potentially affected population and interdiction of contaminated food,” he wrote in his decision.  Evacuation, he said, would be “much more effective than the administration of [potassium iodide] in the proposed extended zone.” Marburger endorsed distributing the drug within a 10-mile zone and urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other agencies to improve such efforts. U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.), author of the now-waived law, complained strenuously about Marburger’s decision. “The Bush administration appears intent on politicizing every scientific decision possible, against the recommendations of the nation’s scientific experts and ignoring the clear intent of the law,” he said in a Friday release.  “It is inexcusable that the White House would decide to leave children and their families totally unprotected from a potential meltdown or terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant” (Greg Webb, Global Security Newswire, Jan. 29). Back to top       Chicago Police Receive Radiation Detection Training A Chicago Police Department helicopter unit is scheduled this week to receive federal training on detecting radiation that could indicate the presence of a radiological “dirty bomb” (see GSN, Nov. 16, 2007). The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration and the Homeland Security Department’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office are providing the training through a pilot program that could spread to other cities. “NNSA has years of experience in radiation detection using airborne detectors in our own Aerial Measurements System helicopters and airplanes,” NNSA Associate Administrator Joseph Krol said in a press release.  “We are looking forward to partnering with the Chicago police to help them to better understand and use these systems in the most effective ways possible.” In the course, law enforcement personnel use a helicopter-mounted system to search for a radiological source.  “This system detects gamma radiation and will help locate a potential dirty bomb,” the release states (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, Jan. 29). Back to top

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