U.S. Response:  House Passes Bill to Share Security Information

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday voted 422-2 in favor of the Homeland Security Information Sharing Act, which would increase information sharing and cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies (see GSN, June 21).

“I was pretty optimistic that we’d have a strong vote,” Representative Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), who introduced the legislation, said.  “We had talked to folks on both sides of the aisle.  Quite honestly, we had worked this thing so hard and gotten language that people would be happy with that I was optimistic it would pass.”

The bill would permit federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to share terrorist background information with each other, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  It also would connect six regional storehouses of state and local law enforcement information (Melanie Eversley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 27).

Under the bill, the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency would be required for the first time by law to cooperate with each other.  The legislation also would make it easier for federal agencies to remove classified information from intelligence materials so they could be shared with state and local officials (Eilperin/Miller, Washington Post Service/Miami Herald, June 27).

The White House released a statement yesterday in support of the House legislation.  The statement, however, also expressed concerns over some provisions in the bill that might limit the government’s ability to share information with intelligence agencies and national security officials, as well as privacy concerns (Eversley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

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International Response:  G-8 to Spend $20 Billion on Russian Disarmament

In an effort to decrease the risk that terrorists could acquire Russian plutonium, the Group of Eight countries agreed yesterday to a U.S. proposal to spend $20 billion over the next 10 years to help secure such material, German delegation sources said, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, May 20).

Under the plan, which has been called “10 plus 10 over 10,” the United States will provide $10 billion over the next 10 years and other G-8 countries will match that amount for a total of $20 billion.  If the G-8 countries fail to provide the total amount, they will call for donations from other countries, the German sources said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is attending the G-8 summit in Canada, endorsed the plan (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo.com, June 27).

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan would provide $200 million “for the time being” yesterday at a luncheon with other G-8 leaders.  He said half that amount would be earmarked to establish an international organization for disposing of surplus plutonium.

Many believe that Japan will face pressure to offer more money, according to the Kyodo News Service.

Koizumi also expressed displeasure with Russia’s lack of cooperation regarding a project Japan started in 1993 to help decommission Russian nuclear weapons (see GSN, May 30).  Japan says most of the money it set aside for the programs has not been spent, partly because Russia refuses to provide certain military data (Kyodo News Service/BBC Monitoring, June 27).

Agreement on Transport Security

The G-8 countries also agreed to a U.S.-driven plan to improve transportation security.

“The G-8 committed to accelerated action on prescreening people and cargo, increasing security on ships, planes and trucks and enhancing security in airports and seaports,” a White House release said.

Some of the specific provisions of the agreement include commitments to transmit passenger information in advance, identify and prescreen high-risk containers and develop ways to improve transporting hazardous materials in trucks (White House fact sheet, June 26).

Other Anti-Terrorism Measures

The G-8 countries also released a fact sheet describing several ways in which they have increased cooperation since Sept. 11 to combat terrorism and improve security (see GSN, May 14).

They proclaimed support for the U.N. counterterrorism conventions (see GSN, June 26).  G-8 members are working to reach consensus on the U.N. Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, to implement the 12 U.N. counterterrorism conventions and to finalize the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, according to the fact sheet.

The countries also reaffirmed their commitment to several other counterterrorism tactics:  cutting funding to terrorists, disrupting terrorist communication networks, ending terrorists’ ability to operate in Afghanistan and providing political stability to the country, improving the safety of travel, preventing terrorists from finding a sanctuary — such as improving borders controls and immigration procedures, and assessing threats and preparing for the unexpected (State Department release, June 26).

For further information, see:

G-8 Summit site (Canada)

U.N. Conventions on Terrorism

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U.S. Response:  Gas Masks Begin to Arrive at U.S. Capitol

The first of a shipment of 20,000 gas masks arrived at the U.S. Capitol yesterday (see GSN, June 26).  The masks are meant to allow members of Congress, staff and tourists to evacuate the Capitol complex in case of a chemical or biological weapons attack.

Hour-long training sessions are to begin next week to instruct congressional employees on how to use the new masks, Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said.

The masks can block anthrax spores or toxic fumes for two minutes to an hour, depending on the temperature in the room and the rate a person is breathing, Gainer said.  The masks are ineffective, however, against radiological agents, he said.

The masks will be stored in each congressional office and at each entrance to the Capitol and congressional office buildings, according to the Associated Press.  Capitol police officers will be trained to quickly give instructions on how to put on the masks, which will only be distributed in the event of an alert (Leslie Miller, Associated Press/Philadelphia Inquirer, June 27).

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Threat Assessment:  Mossad Assesses Middle Eastern WMD Capabilities

The Israeli intelligence service believes that Iran, Iraq, Syria and Libya are all interested in acquiring weapons of mass destruction and have already found limited success in some cases, said Ephraim Halevy, director of the Mossad, yesterday during a meeting in Brussels of the NATO North Atlantic Council (see GSN, April 19).

Iran

Mossad believes Iran is increasing its efforts to develop long-range missiles that are more advanced than its current Shahab 3, which has a range of 3,000 kilometers, Halevy said (see GSN, June 6).  Iran is attempting to develop “missiles with longer ranges, which could reach Europe and in the future, even North America,” he said (see GSN, May 8).

Halevy also said that Iran is developing “weapon-grade nuclear capabilities,” but did not provide details (see GSN, June 25).  Iran’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons combined with attempts to develop advanced ballistic missiles “should be a subject of constant attention of everyone of us in this hall,” he said.

Iran’s observance of the Chemical Weapons Convention is only a cover for the development of dual-use systems that could quickly be converted to produce weapons, Halevy said.  Iran is also conducting research into biological weapons, he added (see GSN, June 13).

Iraq

It must be assumed that Iraq has attempted to develop nuclear weapons ever since U.N. weapons inspectors left the country in 1998, Halevy said (see GSN, June 20).

“As you know, on the eve of the Gulf War, Iraq was on the verge of obtaining nuclear capability,” Halevy said.  “They were months away from producing fissile material.”

Mossad has some evidence that Iraq is also attempting to develop biological and chemical weapons, as well as the missiles needed to deliver them, Halevy said (see GSN, June 10).

“We have partial evidence that they have renewed their production of VX and possibly anthrax,” he said.  “As to delivery systems, we have sufficient evidence to affirm that they are sparing no effort to preserve their residuary capabilities and to augment them with new ones.”

Syria and Libya

Israel has been monitoring Syria’s efforts to acquire North Korean Scud-type ballistic missiles and to manufacture such missiles, Halevy said.  Most of Syria’s missiles are armed with conventional warheads, but “the Syrians also have B and C [biological and chemical] capabilities with relevance to surface-to-surface missiles.”

Syria has been able to produce sarin nerve agent and is examining production of VX nerve agent, Halevy said.

He urged the council members to carefully monitor Libya, which is developing long-range ballistic missiles with North Korean assistance.

“Libya has often been mentioned as a country striving to achieve nuclear capability,” Halevy added (Amir Oren, Ha’aretz, June 27).

For further information, see:

UNMOVIC

U.N. Resolution 687 (Sanctions Regime)

CWC Text

OPCW

States Parties

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U.S.-Russia:  Senate Passes Nonproliferation Amendment

By Kerry Boyd
Global Security Newswire

The U.S. Senate approved an amendment yesterday to address the risk that terrorists could acquire radioactive materials for a dirty bomb (see GSN, May 10).  The amendment would not, however, actually provide any new funds, according to an analyst.

The amendment to the fiscal 2003 defense authorization act would expand U.S. existing nonproliferation programs in the former Soviet Union to additional countries and broaden the programs’ scope, to a broad range of radioactive materials that could be used in radiological weapons (see GSN, May 13).

“It’s now clear that our nuclear nonproliferation programs should extend far beyond the states of the former Soviet Union,” said Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), an amendment cosponsor.

The amendment would authorize spending $100 million to renew and build existing programs and create new initiatives, according to a Domenici press release.

“This new amendment expands and strengthens many of the programs established earlier to further reduce threats to global peace,” Domenici said.

Provisions include:

*         $40 million to accelerate efforts to modify highly enriched uranium into nonweapon-grade material;

*         $20 million to work with other countries to develop an international program for safeguards and technologies to prevent nuclear proliferation, including $5 million for the Energy Department to increase efforts to protect nuclear power plants and facilities in other countries and $10 million to develop proliferation-resistant fuel cycles;

*         $15 million for new research and programs to address the threat of nuclear or radiological attacks, including offering assistance to any country dealing with lost radioactive sources or a dirty bomb incident;

*         $15 million for the International Atomic Energy Agency;

*         $5 million to extend the International Materials Protection, Control and Accounting program to countries beyond the former Soviet Union states; and

*         $5 million to help other countries develop stronger export controls on WMD-related items.

The Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation said yesterday that, although the amendment would authorize the Energy Department to shift $100 million in fiscal 2003 nonproliferation funds to new nonproliferation and nuclear security efforts, it would not provide new funds.

“This amendment is a step in the right direction, but funding for the new programs should not come at the expense of other vital, existing nonproliferation programs,” said Steve LaMontagne, an analyst at the center.

The amendment recognizes the “threats to U.S. security posed by nuclear and radiological terrorism” and tries to shift some money to allow the United States to explore ways to address those threats LaMontagne told Global Security Newswire today.  While pursuing those important goals, however, the United States should not undercut efforts already underway, he said.

Domenici’s amendment follows legislation he proposed last month to expand nonproliferation programs in Russia, particularly providing funds to dispose of surplus plutonium and weapon-grade uranium and studying the risk that terrorists might use a dirty bomb (see GSN, May 23).

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Russian Testing:  Defense Minister Visits Testing Site

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov today visited the Novaya Zemlya archipelago — the site of Russia’s primary nuclear weapons testing ground (see GSN, May 28).

Ivanov said the purpose of the visit was to familiarize himself with the condition of the site.  Russia has no plans to resume testing nuclear weapons, he added.

“We will see in what condition the test ground is now, what problems it faces, in what conditions the millitary are living there and what should be done to preserve the testing ground in a normal condition,” Ivanov said (RIA/BBC Monitoring, June 27).

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Anthrax:  Former USAMRIID Scientist Studied Envelope Attack

Steven Hatfill, the former biological weapons defense scientist whose apartment the FBI searched this week, commissioned a study in 1999 examining a potential anthrax attack using a spore-filled envelope opened in an office, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN, June 26).

The study examined the risks of anthrax spores spreading through the air and the decontamination measures that would be needed after various types of attacks, according to the Sun.  William Patrick, a former scientist in the U.S. offensive biological weapons program, prepared the study and submitted it to Hatfill and another researcher at the defense contractor where Hatfill then worked (see GSN, Jan. 25).

Investigators have also learned that Hatfill, while attending medical school in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, lived near a school called Greendale School, according to the Sun.  The return addresses on some of the letters used in last fall’s anthrax attacks listed a Greendale School at a false address in New Jersey, the Sun reported.  During his time in Zimbabwe, Hatfill also witnessed one of the largest outbreaks of anthrax among humans — an estimated 10,000 cases from 1979-1980.

FBI agents have searched a public storage facility in Florida that Hatfill rented, the Sun reported.  The facility is located in Ocala, Fla., near a farm owned by Hatfill’s parents.

Hatfill is one of several scientists that the FBI has investigated, bureau officials said.  He consented to the search of his apartment and no incriminating evidence has yet been found, though anthrax tests are still not complete, they said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, June 27).

Hatfill previously worked in the virology division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., said USAMRIID spokesman Chuck Dasey.  The virology division developed defenses against biological weapons for military personnel, he said.  Hatfill’s primary work at USAMRIID did not involve him working with anthrax, though he could have had access in laboratories shared with bacteriology scientists, Dasey said (Gretchen Parker, Associated Press, June 27).

FBI Motives

The FBI might have decided to conduct a highly public search of Hatfill’s apartment as either a move to appease Congress or as an attempt to jump-start the bureau’s “Amerithrax” investigation, a microbiologist said.

“The intent was clearly to put his name in the public eye.  The only question is why,” the scientist said.  “It was either strictly for show — a bone tossed to Congress and the media — or they want to put pressure on him by starting a public investigation to stimulate the stalled nonpublic investigation.”

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who was one of the targets of the anthrax-filled letters, said he still has several questions for the FBI on its handling of the investigation.

“I have asked for another briefing by the FBI on the anthrax investigation,” Daschle said.  “I don’t know if one has actually been set yet.  I hope it has, because I have a lot of questions.”

The FBI’s reluctance to share information is frustrating, said a source close to Daschle.

“In light of yesterday’s news, and in light of everything else that’s going on, we feel we don’t know where things stand,” the source said (Hartford Courant, June 27).

For further information, see:

CDC Frequently Asked Questions on Anthrax

FBI Amerithrax Investigation

GSN Anthrax Attack Chronology (Dec. 12, 2001) 

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U.S. Plans:  Senate Restores $800 Million in Funding

By Bryan Bender
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate late yesterday unanimously approved a compromise that would restore more than $800 million to missile defense programs removed in committee, while urging the Bush administration to use the extra money for fighting terrorism instead of the ballistic missile threat.  It was reached after haggling over missile defense funding stalled Senate action for two days on President George W. Bush’s $379 billion defense spending request for next year (see GSN, May 13).

After administration officials threatened a presidential veto of the defense authorization bill if the $7.5 billion funding request for missile defense in fiscal 2003 was not fully met, the Democrat-led Senate agreed to allow the Pentagon to use savings expected from lower-than-expected inflation to restore the $814 million removed earlier this year by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Meanwhile, a separate measure was passed that stated the fight against terrorism should be the top priority for the extra funds, but ultimately left the decision on how to spend the money to the White House.

The debate underscored the philosophical differences that remain between the administration and congressional Democrats over the necessity to develop and deploy national and battlefield missile defenses as soon as possible.  The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee fully funded the administration’s request.  Republicans contend that the proliferation of ballistic missiles among states such as North Korea, Iraq and Iran, with alleged terrorist ties, require immediate defenses.

“We have to forewarn our citizens today with regard to the weaponry available,” Senator John Warner (R-Va.), ranking minority member of the Armed Services Committee, said during debate.  He said the United States must take steps “to put in place defenses such as our technologies can provide.”

Many Democrats, however, believe many missile defense technologies are too immature to justify deployment in the near future and there is sufficient funding in the president’s request to continue development.  At the same time, they believe terror attacks using means other than missiles are much more likely.

“How could anyone think that we are more likely to be a target of a ballistic missile attack than another terrorist attack?” Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle asked.

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Radiological Weapons I:  New Bill Seeks Better Oversight of Radioactive Materials

By Bryan Bender
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers want to expand the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority to include monitoring radioactive materials used in a variety of commercial and medical activities, and are now considering legislation to require the agency to regulate materials that could become the source of a terrorist radiological weapon (see GSN, June 26).

The Dirty Bomb Prevention Act of 2002, proposed this week by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in both houses of Congress, would require the commission to recover lost or stolen radioactive materials, reinstitute a nationwide tracking system that was discontinued in 1984, tighten export controls and levy fines for industrial facilities, hospitals or food irradiation plants that do not properly handle or dispose of such materials.

The bill, which would amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, also calls on the National Academy of Sciences to study whether some industrial and research entities could replace their radioactive materials with nonradioactive materials.

“The danger is clear:  The materials are located in thousands of locations across this country and abroad, and we are not ready,” Markey said yesterday.  “Today, we aren’t ready to detect the radiation in a package being shipped here from abroad.  We aren’t ready to detect radiation in the subways, highways, malls and stadiums of America.  We can’t even figure out which sources are lost because they aren’t tracked using serial numbers.”

The act is one of a flurry of recent proposals seeking to improve the security of tens of thousands of radioactive items worldwide that authorities fear could be stolen by terrorist groups and used along with conventional explosives to contaminate civilian areas, cause mass panic and sow economic instability. Earlier this week the International Atomic Energy Agency announced a new working group including the United States and Russia that will seek to safeguard such materials in the former Soviet Union (see GSN, June 25).

While former Soviet countries are thought to have the largest number of unregulated radioactive materials — such as cobalt-60, strontium-90, cesium-137 and iridium-192 — the United States also has security procedures considered to be inadequate and in recent decades has even loosened some of its controls.

The commission estimates that more than 1,500 radiological items have been lost or stolen in the United States since 1996 and nearly 800 have yet to be located (see GSN, May 6).  The new legislation would require that all sealed sources — radioactive materials requiring shielding — be given a serial number for tracking purposes.  Doing so would reinstate a practice discontinued in 1984 when the threat of a radiological detonation was considered low and the program deemed to be no longer necessary.  “FedEx and Lands End seem to do a better job at tracking clothing purchases than the NRC does at tracking radioactive materials,” Markey said.

To further improve the nationwide monitoring of radiological materials, the new legislation would for the first time institute a national policy governing the regulation of radiological sources. Currently, 34 of the 50 states have agreements with the commission to cooperate on radiological controls.  “There needs to be a national policy,” Clinton said.

To provide incentives to commercial users of radiological materials to institute improved security precautions, the new measure would also levy heavy financial penalties against lax institutions.  Currently, fines are no higher than $3,000. Clinton said a “dramatic increase is called for.”

The task force called for in the bill would also recommend more rigorous controls to ensure radioactive materials exported overseas are not resold or otherwise improperly released to third parties, the legislation states.

Before the commission can begin to implement a more secure and reliable tracking system, officials acknowledge that accounting for materials missing inside the United States must come first.  “We have got to get caught up,” Clinton said.

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Radiological Weapons II:  GAO Advises Agencies to Consolidate Assistance

By Kerry Boyd
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The United States should create a comprehensive plan for assisting other countries to prevent smuggling of nuclear materials, congressional investigators said in a report released yesterday (see GSN, June 26).

The General Accounting Office report says assistance from a range of U.S. agencies often helps combat nuclear smuggling.  Officials from 17 recipient countries said the aid has been useful, sometimes providing the only equipment and training to detect radioactive materials.

The GAO investigators also discovered, however, that because U.S. agencies do not coordinate their assistance efforts, U.S.-provided equipment often sits unused and recipient countries often do not report findings of nuclear material, it is difficult to determine whether programs are effective, they said in the report.

The report notes that the U.S. State Department has placed anti-smuggling advisers in several recipient countries during the last two years, regardless of which agency is carrying out a particular program.  The secretary of state should also work with other U.S. agencies to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent nuclear smuggling, the GAO said.  Officials need to identify a set of common goals and priorities, the report says.

The report also recommends that agencies consolidate efforts within their own organizations.  The Energy Department should move its radiation detection activities into one office, instead of the two that currently conduct such work, and the State Department should consolidate its border security and nuclear smuggling activities into one office, according to the report.

The investigators also called on the secretaries of energy, defense and state to cooperate to fully account for U.S.-provided equipment, and follow up by tracking the uses and effects of the equipment.

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Nuclear Waste:  NRC Fines Nuclear Plant for Losing Fuel Rods

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the owners of a Connecticut nuclear power plant $288,000 this week for failing to account for two missing fuel rods (see GSN, May 6).

Northeast Utilities, the former owners of the plant, told the commission in 2000 that two fuel rods from one of the plant’s reactors could not be accounted for, according to Reuters.

The NRC said there are no signs that the fuel rods were stolen, but the commission decided to levy a fine against the current owners of the plant, Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, which has 30 days to respond, according to Reuters.

“Notwithstanding the fact that there was no realistic threat past or present to the public health and safety, the loss of highly radioactive fuel rods is unprecedented and is a very significant violation,” the NRC said in its letter to Dominion (Reuters/Planet Ark, June 27).

Dominion said Tuesday that it does not plan to contest the fine.  Northeast has agreed to reimburse the full amount as part of a 2001 agreement associated with the sale of the plant, known as the Millstone Power Station.

In an investigation in 2000, Northeast concluded that missing fuel rods from the station’s Unit 1 spent fuel pool had been cut into segments in 1979 and shipped with other waste to a low-level radioactive waste facility between 1985 and 1992, according to Dominion.  The NRC, which conducted an independent review, agreed with Northeast’s explanation and determined that Dominion is in control of all the remaining used fuel at Millstone, Dominion said (Dominion release, June 25).

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