U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad participated in an unauthorized dialogue with Iranian officials on Saturday (Joel Saget/Getty Images). U.S., Iranian Officials Debate Nuclear Program The U.S. envoy to the United Nations last week unexpectedly debated two top Iranian officials over Iran’s nuclear program during a World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, Jan. 29). Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad did not break from official U.S. positions during the 78-minute panel discussion that included Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and presidential adviser Mojtaba Samare Hashemi.  ..Full Story

Key State Ratifies Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Colombia yesterday ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, reducing a list of key nations whose participation is required for the pact to take effect (see GSN, Jan. 18)...Full Story

Bioterror Agent Mishandled at 254 Labs During Test More than 900 staffers at 254 U.S. clinical laboratories might have been exposed to the disease agent Brucella last year due to mishandling of material during a nationwide bioterrorism preparedness exercise, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today (see GSN, Oct. 5, 2007)...Full Story

	Wednesday, January 30, 2008

U.K. Buys WMD Protection Suits The British Defense Ministry announced yesterday that it had awarded a $13.1-million contract for 44,000 suits that would protect military personnel responding to a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapon attack (see GSN, Oct. 10, 2007). The suits supplied by British firm Remploy have been designed to fit over standard military uniforms and incorporate sealed respirators to protect troops from dangerous airborne agents. “Individual protection is of the highest priority and these suits will allow our troops to maintain the tempo of operations should there be a chemical, nuclear or biological incident,” said Ann Taylor, the United Kingdom’s defense equipment and support minister, in a press release. “This order … will build on improvements we have already made to the protection of our forces against nuclear, biological and chemical threats,” Taylor said. The British Defense Ministry has also purchased portable chemical agent sensors, truck-mounted biological detection gear, and tactical radiation detection and monitoring equipment in preparation for a possible WMD attack (British Defense Ministry release, Jan. 29). Back to top

U.S., Iranian Officials Debate Nuclear Program The U.S. envoy to the United Nations last week unexpectedly debated two top Iranian officials over Iran’s nuclear program during a World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, Jan. 29). Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad did not break from official U.S. positions during the 78-minute panel discussion that included Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and presidential adviser Mojtaba Samare Hashemi.  However, he violated rules prohibiting U.S. officials from engaging Iranian officials without advance permission. “Ambassador Khalilzad’s appearance with the Iranian foreign minister and presidential adviser was not authorized,” a State Department spokesman said, adding that officials would discuss the violation with Khalilzad. Some experts have theorized that the Bush administration is seeking dialogue with Iran on the nuclear standoff following the release of a U.S. intelligence assessment last month concluding that Tehran halted nuclear weapons development in 2003.  A spokesman for Khalilzad said the exchange cannot be considered part of such a dialogue. “The panel was not instigated by the State Department,” Khalilzad said in an e-mail response to questions following his appearance.  “It was a multilateral setting — in which we made our points and they made their points.  There were no handshakes, no side meeting.  We do it in (the U.N. General Assembly) and other multilateral settings.  No change in policy.” Khalilzad was a late addition to the panel discussion, joining following cancellations by two U.S. senators (Richter/Farley, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 30). The U.N. Security Council is considering new nuclear sanctions against Iran that would include inspections of deliveries thought to be carrying nuclear equipment as well as a travel ban on officials involved in Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, according to Agence France-Presse.  The five permanent members of the body and Germany agreed last week to the proposed measures. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that his country would not be deterred from its nuclear plans.  “Iranians … will not back down one iota in defense of their rights,” Ahmadinejad said in an address near the Bushehr nuclear power plant now under construction in southern Iran. “The nuclear issue was the most important challenge since the revolution but with the help of God and your resistance, it is ending in favor of the Iranian nation,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Jan. 30). The Bushehr plant is 93 percent complete and officials expect the facility to begin operating near the end of September, said Iranian nuclear energy production chief Ahmad Fayazbakhsh. The 1,000-megawatt power plant received the last shipment of an 82-ton nuclear fuel delivery from Russia earlier this week, the Iranian Students News Agency reported (Iranian Students News Agency, Jan. 30). Fayazbakhsh added that Russia plans to send roughly 1,900 metric tons of precision instruments, ventilation systems and other equipment for the Bushehr facility, AFP reported (AFP, Jan. 30). Back to top       Key State Ratifies Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Colombia yesterday ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, reducing a list of key nations whose participation is required for the pact to take effect (see GSN, Jan. 18). The 1996 treaty calls for global ban on all explosive nuclear testing, but it has been long delayed by the requirement that 44 specific nations must ratify the pact for it to enter into force.  With Colombia’s ratification, nine of those 44 nations remain outside the treaty:  China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States (see GSN, Sept. 18, 2007). While the nine have withheld ratification because they oppose the pact or are waiting for others, Colombia had said in recent years that it strongly supported the treaty but was restrained by constitutional issues. Ratifying the treaty would subject Colombia to paying dues to the treaty’s implementing organization, but officials have said the constitution prohibits funding an agreement that is not yet in force. At a press conference today in Vienna, Colombian Ambassador Rosso Jose Serrano Cadena did not detail how the legal problem was resolved.  A Vienna diplomat, however, speculated that Bogota had simply tired of being affiliated with the list of outsiders. “They probably feel that they have reached a point where they are unduly criticized for not having ratified the treaty,” the diplomat said.  “They have no political problems; they are very supportive of the treaty.” “All peace loving countries must ratify the CTBT,” Cadena said in a press release.  “We are sure that this will happen.” Treaty supporters today praised Bogota’s decision. “It is very welcome news, that Colombia is now a ratifying state,” said Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association.  “This moves us a step closer to entry into force.” Colombia was the last Latin American country in the 44-nation “Annex 2” list to ratify the treaty, leaving only five nations in the region that have not fully joined (Greg Webb, Global Security Newswire, Jan. 30). Back to top       U.S., South Korea Discuss North Korea Nuclear Deal Senior U.S. and South Korean officials met today in Seoul for talks on the faltering plan to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear programs, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 29). One day before he is scheduled to travel to Pyongyang, State Department senior Korea expert Sung Kim met with deputy chief nuclear negotiator Lim Sung-nam to discuss strategies for breaking the deadlock. “The two had useful talks ahead of (Kim’s) North Korea visit,” a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said. The two officials made no public statements. North Korea pledged last year to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for energy, diplomatic and security concessions from the other countries involved in the six-party talks.  However, progress in the second stage of denuclearization has stalled while the nations wait for a full declaration of Pyongyang’s nuclear programs.  Washington, in particular, has said a list provided last year was not sufficiently comprehensive. It remains to be seen if Kim will visit the Yongbyon nuclear complex, where the regime has slowed removal of nuclear fuel rods from its sole operating reactor.  State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he “wouldn’t rule out the possibility if (Kim) thinks it’s in his interest” (Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 29). U.S. Pacific Command chief Adm. Timothy Keating held out hope Monday for an end to tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the Yonhap News Agency reported. Intelligence and the ongoing six-party process “give us cause to be … hopeful, very cautiously hopeful, for a change in the security situation on the Korean Peninsula,” he said during a luncheon speech in Washington. Keating said, though, that “much has to happen” first.  Pyongyang must carry though on its nuclear declaration and disablement pledges and open its border, he said (Yonhap News Agency, Jan. 29). Back to top       Gulf Consortium, IAEA Plan March Meetings The Gulf Cooperation Council expects to begin working with the International Atomic Energy Agency in March to plan a shared nuclear power program for the six Arab nations, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 28). The consortium — made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — plans to hold meetings and seminars to discuss the project with U.N. nuclear watchdog officials, said Ahmad Khatayba, nuclear projects head for Qatar’s high environmental council. “We will set out the terms of reference of the studies in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and then go to international expert firms to compile detailed studies featuring implementation plans … that meet the Gulf states’ needs for 30 years,” Khatayba said. The consortium expects the implementation studies to be complete in 18 months, Khatayba said.  It remains too early to say when the consortium nations would begin constructing their first nuclear power plants, said Khaled bin Ghanem al-Ali, secretary general of the Qatari environmental council. At a meeting in Qatar earlier this week, representatives from the six nations discussed nuclear power’s feasibility for civilian applications such as electricity production and water desalination. “GCC states act as sovereign states, not in reaction” to the actions of neighboring states, said Abdullah al-Hashem, GCC assistant secretary general, in an apparent reference to Iran’s controversial nuclear program (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Jan. 29). Back to top       Outlook of U.S.-Indian Nuclear Trade Deal Hinges on November Presidential Election, Scholar Says Prospects for a U.S.-Indian nuclear trade agreement would probably fade if a Democrat becomes the next U.S. president, according to one deal-supporting scholar quoted yesterday by the Press Trust of India (see GSN, Jan. 29). The pact’s “best chances lie within the compass of what is left in the Bush administration because they have put their prestige on the line as this is one of the few positive things they can claim,” said Harold Gould, a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia. The pending pact would entitle India to purchase U.S. nuclear materials and technology, a transfer that has been barred over the past 30 years because of New Delhi’s refusal to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Stubborn adherence to that traditional nonproliferation regime could prevent the deal from advancing if Democrats take control of the White House after this year’s presidential elections, Gould said. “On the Democratic side, there are still a lot of these leftovers or the residuals of the old nonproliferation cult,” he said.  “I call them the nonproliferation Ayatollahs.” “There is much less chance of the civilian nuclear deal happening if the Democrats come in,” he added.  “There is a danger of time running out.” “The time to get the civilian nuclear deal passed is now, not after January 2009,” he said (Sridhar Krishnaswami, Press Trust of India, Jan. 29). Back to top

Bioterror Agent Mishandled at 254 Labs During Test More than 900 staffers at 254 U.S. clinical laboratories might have been exposed to the disease agent Brucella last year due to mishandling of material during a nationwide bioterrorism preparedness exercise, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today (see GSN, Oct. 5, 2007). A vaccine strain of Brucella abortus RB51 was sent to 1,316 facilities in fall 2007 during the Laboratory Preparedness Survey.  The twice-yearly exercise called for the laboratories to identify or eliminate multiple agents as possible bioterrorism materials. Written instructions included with the testing kits directed laboratory personnel to handle the samples using safety cabinets inside the confines of a Biosafety Level 3 facility.  However, not all workers handled the material safely, some going so far as to smell open culture plates while trying to identify the unknown material, according to documents. The weakened vaccine strain of Brucella, which is primarily an animal disease, could infect humans.  No laboratory workers have become ill and there was no risk to the public, according to health workers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating the incident. “We are all fortunate this recent failing was only a test.  Next time, we might not be so lucky,” said Representative John Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating safety at U.S. disease research labs (see GSN, Aug. 13, 2007). Samples taken from patients at hospitals or doctors’ offices are sent to clinical laboratories for testing.  That makes those facilities a crucial component in the U.S. ability to identify an act of bioterrorism or a natural disease outbreak, the Journal-Constitution said. While laboratories in this drill showed strong results in identifying the test material as a possible threat, the potential exposures proves the importance of developing and abiding by safety guidelines, CDC officials said. “We want laboratories to be aware and vigilant,” said CDC bioterrorism and response chief Lisa Rotz.  “This is an opportunity for us to go back and look into why these practices weren’t followed” (Alison Young, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 30). Meanwhile, operations began Friday at a Biosafety Level 3 facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the Contra Costa Times reported. Scientists at the new laboratory can now test pathogen detection devices using the corresponding disease agent rather than being forced to relocate to another site or use a weaker pathogen strain. “Having all the capabilities in one place speeds up the process by many, many months, if not years,” according to biochemist Eric Gard, head of pathogen research at Livermore. The laboratory has the second-highest biosafety rating, allowing it to handle anthrax and other deadly disease materials that can go airborne but can be countered through vaccines or treatments. The facility has extensive security and safety measures in place and the Energy Department says it poses no significant environmental threat. However, the watchdog group Tri-Valley CAREs plans to file another lawsuit in hopes of closing the facility. “I’m convinced that this laboratory poses a serious threat to health and safety,” said organization head Marylia Kelley, who said that Livermore scientists should study the pathogens at the Centers for Disease Control rather than their home base (Betsy Mason, Contra Costa Times, Jan. 29). Back to top       Man Charged for WMD Threat on Mass. Courthouse A 53-year-old man imprisoned on a firearms conviction has been indicted for allegedly threatening to launch a WMD attack on a federal court building in Springfield, Mass., the Boston Globe reported today (see GSN, Nov. 29). Looking into threats Michael Crooker had sent to a newspaper and his prosecutor while being held in July 2004, federal investigators uncovered an unspecified quantity of the toxin ricin that had been prepared for use in a biological weapon attack, said a nine-count indictment unsealed in federal court Monday (see GSN, July 30, 2007). Authorities also discovered castor beans and rosary peas, respective precursors to the toxins ricin and abrin, the indictment said.  The document did not note the location or lethality of the uncovered substances, nor did it suggest a motive behind the threats.  A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan did not give further details on the findings. Now serving a nearly 22-year prison sentence, Crooker could face life imprisonment if convicted of the new charges, which include one count of threatening to use a weapon of mass destruction and three counts of possessing toxins for use as a weapon (Jonathan Saltzman, Boston Globe, Jan. 30). Back to top

OPCW Inspects Blue Grass Chemical Weapons Chemical Weapons Convention inspectors gave a passing grade last week to the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, one of several U.S. chemical weapon storage sites, the Richmond Register reported (see GSN, Feb. 6, 2007). Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons visited the facility to ensure that all weapons remained present and stored in their correct place. “They do a 100-percent count on all the munitions and it has to be exactly correct,” said Dick Sloan, spokesman for Blue Grass Chemical Activity.  “It can’t be off any at all.  It’s a complete inspection with full disclosure.” Blue Grass Chemical Activity, which manages storage of chemical weapons at the depot, has to date undergone 12 OPCW inspections.  The organization grades only on a pass-fail basis (Ronica Shannon, Richmond Register, Jan. 29). Back to top

U.S. Radar in Czech Republic Would Not Serve as Early Warning System, U.S. Official Says A planned U.S. missile defense radar in the Czech Republic would serve primarily to guide missile interceptors and not to detect missile launches, a U.S. Missile Defense Agency official said yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 18). The radar would not operate constantly, said agency Deputy Director Patrick O’Reilly at a seminar in Prague, but rather would be activated after other systems had detected missile launches. The United States has been seeking to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and the radar in the Czech Republic, a process that would be completed by 2015 if all goes to plan, O’Reilly said. The long-range missile defenses would be incorporated into NATO missile defenses that would be designed mainly to defend against shorter-range threats, he said (Xinhua News Agency, Jan. 29). Back to top       Japan Deploys Third PAC-3 System Near Tokyo Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force today placed a Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile interceptor system near Tokyo at the Takeyama naval base, making it the country’s third operating PAC-3 system, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 15). Alongside the United States, Japan has been building up its missile defenses in response to a perceived missile threat from North Korea (see GSN, Jan. 29). The Japanese military plans to deploy a fourth PAC-3 system in the city of Kasumigaura before the end of March as part of a plan to protect the national capital region against incoming missiles, the official said. Japan expects to place PAC-3 interceptors at another eight bases by March 2011 (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Jan. 30). Back to top

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