Permanent U.N. Security Council members asked a top EU official to resume talks with Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, shown above, following the passage of new sanctions yesterday (Behrouz Mehri/Getty Images). Iran Sanctions Passed Despite Obstacles The effort to impose new nuclear penalties on Iran for its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities ended successfully yesterday after overcoming obstacles from Chinese and Russian trade interests and Washington’s own intelligence assessment, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, March 3; Wright/Lynch, Washington Post, March 4). The final U.N. Security Council resolution increases by 13 the number of individuals and entities subject to resolutions passed in December 2006 and March 2007 without increasing the severity of the penalties, the New York Times reported.  Previously, the council had placed travel and asset freezes on five officials and 12 firms; names added to the list included people involved with advanced enrichment centrifuge development and efforts to circumvent earlier sanctions (Hoge/Sciolino, New York Times, March 4). The resolution also calls for inspections of suspicious cargo entering and leaving Iran and demands that all countries “exercise vigilance” over transactions with Iran’s Bank Melli and Bank Saderat...Full Story

U.S. General Rejects Idea of Deep Nuclear Cuts By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A top U.S. general today rejected the notion of sharply reducing the nuclear stockpile to just 100 or so deployed weapons (see GSN, Oct. 30, 2007)...Full Story

China Developing New Missiles, U.S. Says China is developing a new generation of ballistic and cruise missiles that could be fired at aircraft carriers and other warships, according to an annual U.S. Defense Department report on the Chinese military released yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 1, 2006)...Full Story

	Tuesday, March 4, 2008

U.S. to Tighten Security on Private Jet Flights The U.S. Homeland Security Department plans this year to take additional steps to prevent small private jets from transporting weapons of mass destruction into the United States, USA Today reported (see GSN, Dec. 5, 2007). In an effort to prevent “a nuclear or (radioactive) dirty bomb or biological weapons” from being smuggled into the country, passengers and crew members of U.S.-bound private jets are set to soon be required provide identifying information to security officials one hour before takeoff to ensure they are not on terrorist watch lists, said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Chertoff said the agency might next require private jets and their occupants to be screened overseas by U.S. Customs officials. Homeland security analyst Randall Larsen expressed doubts about the plan. “Bono and Bill Gates would be prevented from smuggling a nuke into the U.S., but a terrorist with a nuke in a Gulfstream who takes off from a remote airfield in Africa or Latin America … would have no problem getting it to D.C.,” Larsen said.  “Let's just hope the terrorists fly out of (London's) Heathrow.” Chertoff brushed off the doubts, saying a jet that is not cleared by security officials “will not make it into the U.S. without being greeted by a couple of F-16s” (Frank/Hall, USA Today, March 4). Back to top       U.S. Antiterror Funds Spent Unwisely, Experts Say Some experts believe that the U.S. government is not making wise use of funds meant to protect the country against a terrorist attack, the Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 5). Money is too often directed toward “the threat of the month” rather than areas that would provide a wider defense blanket, said Cindy Williams, a security studies scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Williams spoke in the wake of the apparent discovery last week of ricin at a Las Vegas hotel (see related GSN story, today).  The U.S. Army has funneled millions of dollars toward development of a vaccine for the lethal toxin, which has been identified as a possible bioterror agent.  However, there have been no ricin-related deaths in the two decades the Army has spent working on the vaccine.  The $1.5 billion potentially needed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the treatment would cover homeland security funding for Utah and six nearby states for 15 years, the Tribune reported. “We’d be much better off beefing up our public health system,” Williams said. There is “a lot of money being focused on worst-case scenarios — for massive smallpox epidemics or massive use of anthrax — and you obviously have to prepare for those,” said biological and chemical weapons expert Jonathan Tucker of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, “but you also have to prepare for the most likely events, including small-scale attacks, because those are the ones that are likely to occur and have occurred in the past.” The hijackers of the aircraft used in the Sept. 11 attacks were armed with box cutters, while the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City involved detonation of a truck filled with fertilizer. Salt Lake City uses an “all hazards” approaching in determining how to spend its equipment and training funds, said emergency management director Michael Stever.  That means ensuring money helps prepare responders for a wide variety of emergencies, from a terrorist attack to a natural disaster. “You can’t throw a dollar at everything,” said national security expert Amos Guiora, a lecturer at the University of Utah law school (Matthew LaPlante, Salt Lake Tribune, March 3). Back to top

Iran Sanctions Passed Despite Obstacles The effort to impose new nuclear penalties on Iran for its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities ended successfully yesterday after overcoming obstacles from Chinese and Russian trade interests and Washington’s own intelligence assessment, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, March 3; Wright/Lynch, Washington Post, March 4). The final U.N. Security Council resolution increases by 13 the number of individuals and entities subject to resolutions passed in December 2006 and March 2007 without increasing the severity of the penalties, the New York Times reported.  Previously, the council had placed travel and asset freezes on five officials and 12 firms; names added to the list included people involved with advanced enrichment centrifuge development and efforts to circumvent earlier sanctions (Hoge/Sciolino, New York Times, March 4). The resolution also calls for inspections of suspicious cargo entering and leaving Iran and demands that all countries “exercise vigilance” over transactions with Iran’s Bank Melli and Bank Saderat. The council gave Iran 90 days to suspend its uranium enrichment program, the Post reported.  However, it is unlikely that U.S. President George W. Bush could push through additional sanctions in the remainder of his term. Efforts to pass a resolution to punish Iran for pursuing nuclear activities widely suspected of being military in nature experienced its greatest challenge when the U.S. intelligence community concluded Tehran had halted nuclear weapons development in 2003, current and former U.S. officials said. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns had pledged not to share any of his knowledge of the assessment during a Dec. 1 meeting where the five permanent Security Council member nations and Germany agreed on a broad outline for the resolution.  The future of the resolution was thrown into doubt when the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate’s conclusion was released two days later. "The NIE put a stake through the heart of diplomacy on Iran," said Bruce Riedel, a Brookings Institution fellow and former high-level CIA and national security official.  "It pulled the rug out from under them in every way.  The administration now can't go to war and can't even apply much pressure." Rushing to control the damage, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley urged their counterparts in China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom not to withdraw their support for the sanctions.  The U.S. officials argued that the assessment focused on Iran’s nuclear past and not its current uranium enrichment that could produce a nuclear weapon ingredient. “There was a real concern at the beginning about whether we'd lose the consensus for a sanctions resolution and whether we would be able to hold the coalition together,” a high-level administration official close to diplomatic efforts told the Post.  "We didn't get into substance.  We just wanted to find out:  Will they stay with us or not?" After two days, Russian and Chinese officials told Burns that they would not abandon the effort.  However, Washington had to give up proposed penalties against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the elite al-Quds force and two major banks to win agreement on the draft at a Jan. 22 meeting in Berlin.  “The international community has spoken with one voice again today,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said following the resolution’s passage yesterday.  “Iran has a choice to make:  It can reap the benefits of cooperation with the rest of the world or it can continue to isolate itself and suffer the consequences of the additional sanctions imposed by the United Nations.” The resolution undermines Iran’s right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to conduct peaceful nuclear energy programs, said Iranian U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee (Wright/Lynch, Washington Post, March 4). "Any irrational and unlawful act will not help resolve Iran's nuclear issue.  It will complicate the dealings around this issue and it will become more difficult," Iranian deputy atomic energy chief Mohammad Saeedi said, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse I/News.com.au, March 3). Russia today called on Iran to halt uranium enrichment activities, Reuters reported. “We expect Iran's leadership to analyze thoroughly the declaration by the six foreign ministers as well as the contents of the adopted resolution, and opt in favor of meeting demands by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Security Council," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "This resolution is a serious political signal to Tehran about the need to cooperate with the U.N. Security Council and fulfill the demands of the IAEA's management," it added. "It is also important that the six countries should indeed demonstrate their readiness to serious cooperation with Iran," according to Moscow (Reuters, March 4). John Sawers, British ambassador to the United Nations, said yesterday that the permanent Security Council members and Germany want EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to restart talks with top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, AFP reported. “We have asked Javier Solana to meet with Dr. Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran's supreme national security council,” Sawers said in a statement issued by the six powers following passage of the sanctions resolution. “We remain committed to an early negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and we reaffirm our commitment to a dual-track approach,” the statement said, offering to expand a 2006 package of economic and trade incentives for Iran’s suspension of uranium enrichment. “Our proposals will offer substantial opportunities for political, security and economic benefits to Iran and to the region," the statement said.  “We urge Iran to take this opportunity to engage with us all and to find a negotiated way forward.” “We reiterate our recognition of Iran's right to develop, research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in conformity with its NPT (Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty) obligations,” the nations said, while also expressing disapproval over Iran’s lack of compliance with the Security Council and the U.N. nuclear watchdog, “in particular by expanding its enrichment-related activities” (Agence France-Presse II, March 3). IAEA Board of Governors Meanwhile in Vienna, Iranian officials warned that yesterday’s Security Council resolution would not achieve its goal. “Iran will never give up its inalienable rights in using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and will not suspend its nuclear activities including enrichment,” Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters in Vienna at a meeting of the agency’s governing board. He said the resolution was a U.S. effort to provoke Iran into isolating itself. “We are going to disappoint Americans that hoped after each resolution in New York that Iran would withdraw from [the] Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and stop its cooperation with the IAEA,” he said.  “We will not do that, neither suspend our activities, neither suspend our full cooperation with the IAEA.” Iran could, however, decide to hold back information that Tehran feels is out of the agency’s purview, in particular data connected to recently publicized allegations of nuclear weapon research. “We have already done whatever we were supposed to do,” Soltanieh said. Early last week, the agency delivered a briefing to the board which featured potentially damning documents found on a laptop reportedly taken from Iran.  The information included references to Iranian plans to dig a nuclear test shaft, to design a nuclear-capable missile re-entry vehicle, and to conduct shock-wave studies that would have nuclear trigger applications. Iran has complained that the agency exceeded its mandate by investigating these allegations, which in any case are based on “forged and fabricated” source material, Soltanieh said. Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei, however, has asserted that the agency has the authority to check into potential weapon activities and yesterday said his inspectors have a long way to go toward clarifying the laptop accusations. Soltanieh, however, suggested that Iran would not help. “We gave a final assessment and additional information, confidential information,” he said.  “We have to put an end to [the] endless dirty games. … We cannot continue this.” Board Resolution One immediate effect of the Security Council resolution was to kill a European effort to pass a resolution at the Vienna board meeting.  European powers had drafted a resolution calling on Iran to boost its cooperation with the agency, but failed to find support among other key board members, according to one Western diplomat in Vienna. “That resolution is dead,” said the diplomat.  “The Russians only wanted one resolution” out of the Security Council or the IAEA board, the diplomat added. In addition, board members belonging to the Nonaligned Movement would have opposed the European measure. “We don’t think there is sentiment for a draft resolution … that will really damage the environment of cooperation and confidence building that had prevailed between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the agency,” said Cuban Ambassador Norma Goicochea Estenoz.  “Now is really important to give more support to the director general and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the implementation of the work plan, and we are really committed to that endeavor and we do believe that the spirit of confidence building and cooperation is the one that has to prevail.” If the European powers had introduced their resolution, the NAM nations would have introduced an opposing declaration, said the Western diplomat. “That would have been a real mess,” the diplomat said (Greg Webb, Global Security Newswire, March 4). Back to top       U.S. General Rejects Idea of Deep Nuclear Cuts By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A top U.S. general today rejected the notion of sharply reducing the nuclear stockpile to just 100 or so deployed weapons (see GSN, Oct. 30, 2007). Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, who as head of U.S. Strategic Command is responsible for the nation’s nuclear targeting plans, told reporters he is comfortable with nearly 6-year-old Moscow Treaty limits that would cap the U.S. and Russian arsenals at between 1,700 and 2,200 deployed warheads each. “I don’t think there’s much magic about those numbers” associated with the Moscow Treaty, said Chilton, adding that he believes further reductions remain possible.  However, the U.S. nuclear arsenal must be large enough to deter potential adversaries from hostilities and to retain a capability to hit an array of targets around the globe, he said. Chilton linked the idea of a smaller atomic inventory to making the weapons more reliable.  Echoing arguments the Bush administration has made to modernize the stockpile with a new Reliable Replacement Warhead, he said simpler designs might allow the Defense Department to maintain fewer weapons in reserve as a hedge against a potential discovery that one aging weapon or another would not function as expected (see GSN, Aug. 1, 2007).  The U.S. stockpile of reserve nuclear weapons is estimated at nearly 5,000 warheads. However, Chilton has said he anticipates nuclear weapons would be around at least through the remainder of this century.  For the time being, deep cuts would be unrealistic, he said. “You could go out and say, ‘Well, let’s go down to 100,” said Chilton, who became the strategic commander in October.  “Do I feel like I could do my job with 100 today?  I would say no.” The general’s comments come amid renewed debate over a proposal by a bipartisan group of former high-level U.S. government officials for the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons (see GSN, Feb. 27). “I am not in favor of unilateral disarmament,” Chilton said today.  “So long as we possess nuclear weapons, it is our responsibility … to make sure that we are ready to use them, because that is the deterrent force that we provide.” The general said the stockpile is populated with “absolutely powerful and terrible weapons,” and noted he would like to see his children grow up in a nuclear-free world.  Chilton added, though, “I also want them to grow up free.  And as long as we have other nations out there with nuclear capability … that threaten our freedoms, then I think we need to have a nuclear deterrent force that can do the mission of preserving our freedoms.” Back to top       China Developing New Missiles, U.S. Says China is developing a new generation of ballistic and cruise missiles that could be fired at aircraft carriers and other warships, according to an annual U.S. Defense Department report on the Chinese military released yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 1, 2006). “I think the biggest thing for people to be concerned about, really, is the fact that we don’t have that kind of strategic understanding of the Chinese intentions,” said Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary David Sedney.  “And that leads to uncertainty.  That leads to a readiness to hedge against the possibility that China’s development will go in ways that the Chinese right now say it won’t.” In 2007, Beijing’s defense spending fell somewhere between $97 and $139 billion, more than twice the amount declared in its official $45 billion defense budget, Agence France-Presse reported.  Some funds are being used for “counterspace” measures to defend against  the potential space-based armaments of another nation, the report says.  The report expresses concern about a Chinese antisatellite demonstration that targeted a low-orbiting weather satellite in January 2007 as well as civilian space programs that could be tapped for military use (see GSN, Nov. 15, 2007). To gain the ability to hit warships “from great distances,” China is working on a modified version of the CSS-5 medium-range ballistic missile, which has a range of 930 miles, the report says. China’s military advantage over Taiwan continues to grow, the report says.  Beijing had between 990 and 1,070 short-range ballistic missiles aimed across the Taiwan Strait last November, along with 490 military aircraft within striking distance of Taiwan (Jim Mannion, Agence France-Presse/Google News, March 4). The report adds that a new generation of transportable Chinese ballistic-missile submarines and mobile ICBMs “will create new command and control challenges for China’s leadership, now confronted with a different set of variables related to release and deployment authorities,” the Washington Times reported. The Pentagon noted that China’s military “has only a limited capacity to communicate with submarines at sea and the PLA Navy has no experience in managing [a nuclear missile submarine] fleet that performs strategic patrols.” China’s strategic missile forces have experienced control “issues” related to mobile missile launchers, the report says, noting scenarios in recent drills “in which missile batteries lose communication links with higher echelons and other situations that would require commanders to choose alternative launch locations.” “Pentagon concerns over China’s command and control of nuclear forces are growing,” said one Pentagon official, adding that the concerns of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates were shared by his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld. China has kept its procedures for handling and firing nuclear weapons shrouded in secrecy.  Its arsenal is made up of about 130 nuclear warhead missiles that  include 20 CSS-4 ICBMs. The Pentagon report reveals that China has deployed roughly 10 road-mobile DF-31 long-range nuclear missiles and could begin operating as many as five Jin-class ballistic missile submarines holding between 10 and 12 JL-12 long-range missiles. Nuclear weapons policy and strategies are “an area that really needs a lot more discussion” between Beijing and Washington, Sedney said, noting that the United States might open related discussions with China within two months (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, March 4). In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang accused the Pentagon of distorting facts and meddling in China’s domestic affairs, Reuters reported. “This U.S. report advocates the China threat theory and is seriously not in accordance with the facts and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” Qin said at a press briefing. “We demand the U.S. abandons Cold War thinking and correctly recognizes China and China’s development and revises the mistaken ways of the report,” he said.  “We are extremely dissatisfied” (Ben Blanchard, Reuters, March 4). Back to top       Hopes Drop for Rapid North Korean Disarmament North Korea’s rhetorical assault this week on a military exercise involving South Korea and the United States doused hopes for rapid movement to close down the regime’s nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 3). Pyongyang said yesterday that the “Key Resolve” exercise undermines the six-nation process aimed at shuttering its nuclear activities.  It made the now-standard threat to strengthen its “deterrent,” the code word for North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. The statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry came amid faltering progress on the 2007 denuclearization agreement and only days after the New York Philharmonic performed in Pyongyang. Only when Pyongyang stops issuing such declarations will outsiders know that a “revolution has begun in North Korea,” said expert Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul.  That is not likely to happen in the near future, he said. “Just one concert will do more or less nothing,” Lankov said.  “It’s good, but it’s just a small drop; there should be many such drops.” However, there was a sign of possible movement in the weekend visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang, AP reported.  Ambassador Liu Xiaoming “conveyed the regards” of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Kim.  Beijing hosts the six-party talks and has been key in the U.S. effort to press the regime toward nuclear disarmament (Burt Herman, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, March 3). Meanwhile, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met today with his South Korean counterpart in the negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported. Hill and Chun Young-woo “exchanged opinions on the six-party talks” during their meeting near Seoul, said a South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman.  The negotiations involve China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 4). Back to top

CDC to Test Suspected Ricin from Las Vegas Hotel The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to test a substance found at a Las Vegas hotel to determine if it is the toxin ricin, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, March 3). The federal health agency in Atlanta received a sample of the material yesterday, said spokesman Von Roebuck.  “We’re going to look at it to confirm that it is indeed ricin,” he said. Roebuck could not say how long it would take to test the material. The substance was found last week by the cousin of a man who had been staying at the Extended Stay America hotel.  Authorities recovered several vials from the hotel room of Roger Von Bergendorff, along with guns, a book containing a ricin recipe and castor beans, which are used to produce the potentially lethal material.  Authorities also examined the Riverton, Utah, home of Von Bergendorff’s cousin and several nearby storage spaces. Von Bergendorff has been hospitalized since mid-February for a respiratory ailment that could be related to ricin exposure.  Authorities said he is unconscious.  “The patient’s condition hasn’t changed.  It’s still critical,” said Naomi Jones, spokeswoman for Spring Valley Hospital in Las Vegas (Ace Stryker, Associated Press/KOLOTV.com, March 3). Field tests of the material indicated that it contained ricin, United Press International reported today.  However, a spokeswoman for the National Guard’s 92nd Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team said its findings were preliminary. “The mobile lab rolls in when requested by law enforcement,” said Capt. April Conway.  “Their job is to take the first cut of what (any substance found) is.  They tell the first responders, ‘We think you’re dealing with ricin, or whatever it is. … The aim is to protect first responders.” While a field test might indicate the presence of ricin, the sample is often not carrying enough toxin to be poisonous, said protein chemistry specialist George Smith. “You can grind castor beans into powder, and that will contain a tiny amount of ricin,” he said. There is no way of knowing how much of a threat the material found at the hotel represented, experts said. “We don’t really know anything at this point,” said biological weapons specialist Milton Leitenberg (Shaun Waterman, United Press International/Washington Times, March 4). Back to top

North Korea Still Seeks Missile Exports, U.S. Says A new U.S. intelligence report says that North Korea remains intent on reaping revenue through missile exports, the Yonhap News Agency reported today (see GSN, Feb. 28). The regime has seen a drop in sales linked to its heightened isolation on the world stage, according to the declassified report released yesterday by the U.S. deputy national intelligence director. “North Korea remains committed to selling missiles and related technology to foreign customers,” giving those nations a boost in the development of longer-range weapons, the report says. “Although sales have declined to most customers due to North Korea’s increasing international isolation, its relationships with Iran and Syria remain strong and of principal concern,” it adds (see GSN, Jan. 30, 2007, and Feb. 22). “We remain concerned about North Korea’s potential for exporting nuclear materials and technology,” the report says, restating the U.S. intelligence community’s “moderate confidence” that the regime today is operating a uranium enrichment program (see GSN, Feb. 28). North Korea is both an importer and exporter of missile materials, according to the report.  While “nearly self-sufficient” in the development and production of ballistic missiles, Pyongyang “continues to procure needed raw material and components from various foreign sources,” it says. North Korean missiles being deployed today possess a greater range and sophistication than older models, the assessment says (Yonhap News Agency, March 4). Back to top

Democrats to Examine U.S. Missile Defense Funding Democratic lawmakers are showing signs that they intend to try to reduce spending on U.S. missile defense initiatives, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 5). Representative John Tierney (D-Mass.) said he plans up to five hearings beginning tomorrow to study whether present funding levels should be maintained. “We should explore the idea of slowing the funding on this thing until we know it is going in the right direction,” said Tierney, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. The Bush administration has requested $10.5 billion for missile defense activities in the upcoming fiscal year.  The system includes radars, missile interceptors deployed in Alaska and California, sea-based defenses and technology that remains under development, including a laser that would be installed on aircraft.  Supporters say the defenses are needed to counter missile threats posed by nations such as Iran and North Korea (see related GSN story, today). Democrats have expressed doubts about the missile shield and whether the testing to date has involved sufficient realism to indicate it would provide actual protection against enemy missiles. Tierney during the first hearing would focus on the missile threat facing the United States and allied nations, AP reported.  The second session planned for early March would look at missile defense costs. The increased scrutiny comes as the Bush administration attempts to seal agreements to place missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic (see GSN, March 3).  Russia has objected to the plan. “You could look into what you are doing in the Czech Republic and Poland,” Tierney said.  “Why are we having a big international spitfire on an issue that isn’t appropriately tested and [at] the point of development anyway.” The Missile Defense Agency expects the attention and is glad to send top officials before Congress, said spokesman Rick Lehner. “We meet with lawmakers and staff almost every week,” he said.  “This is probably the most scrutinized program within the Department of Defense” (Desmond Butler, Associated Press/Miami Herald, March 4). Back to top

China Moves Radioactive Material for Olympics China has received U.S. aid in moving radioactive material away from planned sites for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Canadian Press reported yesterday (see GSN, March 3). U.S. nuclear experts visited Beijing last fall and in mid-December to help relocate radioactive items, sources close to the project said.  They said the move appeared to be part of an effort to secure research and medical devices containing material that could be used in a radiological “dirty bomb.” “I think the worry is that if terrorists were able to take explosives, let's say, and target a radioactive source that's located at or near an Olympic site venue and blow up that facility … then that could be a huge international event,” said Charles Ferguson, a science and technology scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations. Counterterrorism officials have taken similar steps in the past to secure radioactive materials before major sporting events such as the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, Ferguson said. “They contact hospitals, universities in those cities to figure out where are the powerful radioactive sources,” he said. “It's not that these things have a high probability of getting loose or falling into the hands of bad actors or terrorists, but they’re just taking precautions.  Especially for something as high-profile as the Summer Olympics.” The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has said it is operating “a cooperative effort with Chinese authorities in support of the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” Canadian press reported.  However, U.S. and Chinese officials have offered next-to-no comment on details of their joint effort (Bailey/Bronskill, Canadian Press/Yahoo!News, March 3). Back to top       “Dirty Bomb” Material in Use Across Canada                                          Irradiation devices containing what a U.S. study called a potential radiological “dirty bomb” ingredient remain in use in nearly 100 Canadian hospitals, universities and blood banks, the Canwest News Service reported Friday (see GSN, Feb. 21). The machines contain cesium chloride, a “highly dispersible” form of radioactive cesium 137, according to a February report by the U.S. National Research Council.  The National Academy of Sciences body has called for the devices to “be replaced in the United States and, to the extent possible, elsewhere.” Uses for the devices include irradiating blood prior to transfusion.  Canada currently has 94 of the devices in use, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission told Canwest.  The board said it monitors the “sealed sources” of cesium chloride in the machines on a “cradle-to-grave” basis, tracking “where they are located and when they are transferred between locations.” Natural Resources Canada said it plans this week to respond to the U.S. report’s call to replace the machines. MDS Nordion, a top Canadian nuclear medicine firm, has sold about 400 cesium chloride irradiators in the United States, the U.S. study says.  The company said it has sold 65 of the machines in Canada (Randy Boswell, Canwest News Service, Feb. 29). Back to top

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