Russian Response:  Atomic Energy Officials Meet, Discuss Security

Senior Russian Atomic Energy Ministry officials met Monday to discuss the security of Russian nuclear sites and facilities, according to Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev (see GSN, Oct. 30).

The meeting focused on the transportation of nuclear fuel to power plants both in Russia and abroad, according to ITAR-Tass.  The officials also discussed security measures at foreign nuclear power plants being built by Russian personnel, Rumyantsev said.  One such project is the Bushehr plant in Iran (see GSN, Oct. 22).

While Rumyantsev praised the ministry’s efforts to maintain security at Russian nuclear sites, he added that the recent Chechen takeover of a Moscow theater has prompted new security requirements.

The ministry’s security improvement effort “continues at all times and is well funded,” Rumyantsev said.  But “the latest developments in Moscow have forced the Russian nuclear industry to bring in considerably stricter requirements for the protection of Russia’s nuclear facilities” (German Solomatin, ITAR-Tass, Oct. 30 in FBIS-SOV, Oct. 30).

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U.S. Response:  Customs Strengthens Container Security Initiative

New regulations will require international shippers to provide information on U.S.-bound cargo 24 hours before the cargo is loaded at its port of origin, the U.S. Customs Service announced Wednesday (see GSN, Oct. 28).

The regulation stems from the Container Shipping Initiative to identify and investigate high-risk cargo before it reaches the United States.  U.S. authorities are trying to strengthen security at the country’s ports, especially from attacks or smuggling involving weapons of mass destruction.

“Terrorists pose an immediate and substantial threat to the global trading system.  This threat is not just to American lives, but to American livelihoods as well,” said Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner.  “With this rule, Customs can better protect the American people and the global trading system as a whole from the threat of nuclear terror using sea containers.”

The rule becomes effective 30 days after yesterday’s publishing, but the Customs Service has announced it will wait 60 days to begin enforcement (U.S. State Department release, Oct. 31).

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Threat Assessment:  Chechen Militants Threaten Nuclear Plant Strike

An envoy for Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov has warned of future Chechen attacks on Russian targets, possibly including Russian nuclear power plants, Reuters reported today (see GSN, related story today).

“We cannot guarantee that there will not be another group on Russian territory,” Akhmed Zakayev told Reuters.  “Terrorist acts are possible.  We cannot exclude that the next such group takes over some nuclear facility.  The results may be catastrophic, not only for Russian society and for Chechen society but for the whole of Europe.”

Russian authorities could have ended the recent Chechen takeover of a Moscow theater peacefully through negotiations rather than through a raid that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 hostages, Zakayev said (see GSN, Oct. 28).  The Chechen militants involved in the takeover had presented “concrete demands of a political nature:  to stop the violence, to pull out the Russian troops,” he said.

Next time, however, Chechen militants might bypass negotiations for a course of direct action, Zakayev said.  Russia would only have itself to blame for future attacks because it has done little to end the war in Chechnya, he said.

“What happened in Moscow was a gesture by desperate people, the result of the continuing war in Chechnya.  These are people who have been subjected to violence, humiliation, who have lost their relatives,” Zakayev said (Reuters/Planet Ark, Oct. 30).

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U.S. Response:  Public Health System Has Improved, Experts Say

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — While the United States has improved its public health capabilities to respond to a future terrorist strike in the year following the Sept. 11 attacks, it has been less successful in addressing international and sociological components of terrorism, the American Public Health Association said in a report released this fall (see GSN, Oct. 3).

Styling its report as a school report card, the association gave grades of B or higher to U.S. efforts to improve public health capabilities in several areas.  The association praised U.S. efforts to strengthen public health infrastructure by increasing funding for public health programs and developing new laboratories in which analysts can test for chemical and biological agents (see GSN, Oct. 16).

The association also concluded, however, that the United States still lacks a baseline set of performance goals with which to measure public health preparedness, and it lacks cooperation at regional levels, with readiness being lower in rural areas than in major urban centers.

The United States has increased potential access to medicines and vaccines following a terrorist attack and educated health professionals and the public about possible consequences of terrorism, according to the association (see GSN, June 7).  While medical schools have begun teaching more bioterrorism-related information, experts still disagree over how to integrate such information into curricula, the report says.

The association reported progress in addressing mental health needs of those affected by terrorism and in creating a capability to collect data on mental health-related consequences of terrorism.  U.S. officials have also better ensured protection of the environment and food and water supplies, the report says.  Thousands of facilities, however, use and store chemical agents that might pose risks to the general population in the event of a release, the association said (see GSN, Aug. 1).

The association gave a grade of C — the lowest in areas related to the U.S. public health system — to the progress made in delineating roles and responsibilities among public health agencies, law enforcement entities and first responders.  The U.S. General Accounting Office has determined that officials have so far failed to achieve any highly integrated approach to securing the country against possible threats, the association report says.  Potential response roles in the event of an attack have also been poorly defined among state and local law enforcement and emergency personnel, according to the association (see GSN, Oct. 25).

International and Sociological Factors

The association harshly criticized the apparent lack of progress in addressing sociological and international concerns.  It gave one of the lowest grades, a D, to U.S. efforts to control and eliminate weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, Oct. 8).  The association criticized decisions in 2001 and 2002 to reject a protocol to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention and to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.  It also criticized delays in destroying the U.S. chemical weapons arsenal as mandated by the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The association praised the the swift accomplishments of the war in Afghanistan, which overthrew the Taliban regime.  The United States has made less progress, however, in providing humanitarian assistance to international populations affected by terrorism and in promoting human rights, the report says.

The association gave another D grade to U.S. efforts to address poverty and social injustices that could lead to terrorism, and it gave an F grade to progress in preventing hate crimes and protecting civil liberties.  The latter grade is based, in part, on the Operation TIPS program, proposed by the U.S. Justice Department, which would recruit civilian informants for surveillance purposes, the report says.  The association also criticized the establishment of military tribunals for suspected terrorists, the classification of two U.S. citizens as “enemy combatants” and their subsequent detention on terrorism suspicions and the detention and deportations of U.S. aliens following the Sept. 11 attacks (see GSN, June 12).

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International Response:  China Agrees to Allow U.S. Inspectors at Ports

China has agreed in principle to join the U.S. Container Security Initiative, in which the United States is working to station its Customs Service inspectors at non-U.S. seaports, U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner said Friday (see GSN, Sept. 30).

“I am very pleased that the Chinese government has agreed in principle to join with the United States in the Container Security Initiative,” Bonner said in a press statement.  “This is an important step, not only for the protection of trade between the U.S. and China, but for the protection of the most critical component of the world trading system as a whole — containerized cargo.”

U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin announced China’s decision during their meeting Friday in Crawford, Texas, according to a Customs press release.  U.S. officials have already made arrangements to station inspectors at ports in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada (U.S. Customs Service release, Sept. 25).

For further information, see:

Fact sheet on U.S. Container Security Initiative

U.S. Customs Container Security Initiative Information

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