North Korea:  U.S. Lawmakers Say Pyongyang Is “Ready to Deal”

Several U.S. lawmakers who recently traveled to Pyongyang said North Korea is “ready to deal” with the United States to resolve the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, June 3).

Six U.S. representatives, led by Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), visited North Korea and presented Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun with a plan to defuse the crisis.

“His response was, ‘It’s very positive.  It’s exactly what we are looking for,’” said Weldon.

He also said that the delegation “had some ideas that might help our negotiators,” noting that he would discuss those with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The delegation was confident the North Koreans were ready to sit down at the negotiating table.

“They are certainly ready to deal,” said Representative Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 4).

The mission was difficult because the delegation wanted to hold meaningful discussions without undermining the hardline stance of U.S. President George W. Bush, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

“Everything is on the table,” Weldon said.  “They are concerned that America may not be willing to negotiate with them, that we do not want to recognize their legitimacy,” he added.

Some experts said North Korea might misunderstand the visit, the Inquirer reported.  North Korea has insisted on direct talks to resolve the situation and officials in Pyongyang might have interpreted this visit as one-on-one negotiations.  Bush has insisted on a multilateral format to resolve the crisis.

“These states can be so paranoid and their windows so narrow that they can easily misconstrue,” said Tom Henricksen, a foreign policy expert at Stanford University (Chris Mondics, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 4).

Troops Set to Move

Meanwhile, the United States intends to relocate 6,000 of its 7,000 Seoul-based military personnel, the Korea Herald reported today.

The personnel will be moved south of the capital, according to the commander of U.S. forces in Korea, Gen. Leon LaPorte (Kim Hyung-jin, Korea Herald, June 4).

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Iran:  Putin’s Promise Could Slow Iranian Nuclear Ambitions

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent promise to prevent the transfer of nuclear material to Iran until Tehran agrees to tougher nuclear inspections met with approval from some nonproliferation experts, USA Today reported today (see GSN, June 3).

“It’s a move in the right direction,” said Michael Eisenstadt, a Middle East expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  “It will slow down this particular route” to acquiring nuclear weapons, he added.

Putin reportedly made the promise to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell last month and repeated it when he met with U.S. President George W. Bush this week during the Group of Eight summit in Evian, France (Barbara Slavin, USA Today, June 4).

Bushehr Delayed

The Bushehr nuclear reactor, which Russia is helping to build in southern Iran, is behind schedule, Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said yesterday.  The reactor will be finished in 2005, a year later than expected, he said (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 3).

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India:  Russia to Curtail Nuclear Aid to India, Report Says

Moscow officials have told India that Russia will reduce its support for Indian nuclear and space programs, Pakistani newspaper The News reported Monday (see GSN, Feb. 14).

The move came after pressure from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which seeks to stem the proliferation of nuclear technology and material, The News reported (see GSN, May 28).  India is urging Russia to continue its technology transfers, according to a diplomatic source.

“The Indians still hope to get the smuggling of the prohibited material to continue as the issue would be raised by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with Russian President [Vladimir] Putin during his stay in St. Petersburg,” the diplomatic source said (Islamabad The News, June 2 in FBIS-NES, June 2).

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United States:  Congressman Wants More B-2 Bombers

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee last week said the United States needs to invest in slimmed-down versions of the B-2 stealth bomber (see GSN, Jan. 2, 2002).

Claiming the nation’s bomber force is too small, Representative Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said the production of additional B-2s should be considered until a next-generation bomber is developed.  One possibility, he said, was to create a “B-2 ‘Chevy’” — a bomber that would be cheaper to produce because it would not be outfitted for use in a nuclear war environment.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved spending $314 million on the B-2 fleet next year in its version of the 2004 defense authorization bill, $85 million more than the Bush administration had requested (see GSN, May 23).

Hunter also said the B-2 should be outfitted with precision-guided weapons.  One project under way is the development of a small-diameter bomb that would be as effective as the larger, 1,000-pound bombs the B-2 now carries, the Daily News reported.  Under that plan, the B-2 would go from carrying 16 1,000-pound bombs to carrying as many as 80 500-pound bombs, each capable of hitting separate targets (Jim Skeen, Los Angeles Daily News, June 2).

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International Response:  G-8 Urges North Korean, Iranian Nuclear Transparency

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

EVIAN, France — The Group of Eight yesterday called on both North Korea and Iran to address the growing concerns surrounding their nuclear efforts.

In a declaration released yesterday, the G-8 nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — harshly criticized North Korea’s uranium enrichment and plutonium production programs, as well as Pyongyang’s failure to abide by its International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement.  Such actions “undermine the nonproliferation regime and are a clear breach of North Korea’s international obligations,” the G-8 said.

The G-8 called on Pyongyang to “visibly, verifiably and irreversibly” end its nuclear weapons efforts as a first step to finding a peaceful solution to the crisis surrounding North Korea’s relaunched nuclear program.

In less harsh language, the G-8 also pledged to “not ignore the proliferation implications of Iran’s advanced nuclear program.”  Group members emphasized the need for Iran to fully comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and called on Tehran to sign the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, which would give the agency the authority to monitor Iranian nuclear activities more closely.

“We offer our strongest support to comprehensive IAEA examination of this country’s nuclear program,” the G-8 said in its declaration.

Beyond focusing on North Korea and Iran’s nuclear efforts, the G-8 also emphasized the need for broader nonproliferation measures, such as the creation of national WMD-related export control systems and national standards for the safe and secure storage of WMD-related materials.  In addition, group members also recognized the importance of several international nonproliferation conventions, such as the NPT, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention, and called on all countries to join these agreements.

“We recognize that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their means of delivery poses a growing danger to us all,” the G-8 said.  “Together with the spread of international terrorism, it is the pre-eminent threat to international security,” it said.

French President Jacques Chirac today denied implications that the G-8 nonproliferation declaration opens the way for possible military action against Iran or North Korea.  While the declaration calls for “other measures ... in accordance with international law” if necessary to combat nonproliferation, to interpret this as permitting military action is “extremely audacious,” Chirac said at the close of the G-8 summit.

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Iran:  Russia Halts “Nuclear Exports” to Tehran

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country would stop “all nuclear exports” to Iran until Tehran agrees to more stringent inspections of its nuclear facilities, BBC News reported today (see GSN, June 2).

Putin made the declaration to other leaders at the Group of Eight summit in France, and the move follows a tough G-8 declaration calling weapons of mass destruction the “pre-eminent threat” to safety.

Russia wants Iran to sign the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but Iran has refused to do so until international sanctions are lifted.  Iranian official have said Iran should receive more advanced nuclear technology because it is a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (BBC News, June 3).

The G-8 leaders said they would not “ignore the proliferation implications of Iran’s nuclear program.”  They also said they could use inspections and export controls to check potential Iranian proliferation and, “if necessary, other means in accordance with international law.”

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said, however, that U.S. President George W. Bush will not invade Iran.

“Bush made a clear statement that the idea of an armed operation by American forces in Iran is completely without foundation,” Berlusconi said.

A senior Bush administration official said France, Germany and Russia, all nations that opposed the war with Iraq, facilitated the strong declaration.

“Iran’s going to be on the griddle,” the official said, adding, “this statement confirms it” (Tagliabue/Bumiller, New York Times, June 3).

Meanwhile, Russia continues to negotiate an agreement with Iran to return spent nuclear fuel from the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russian assistance in Iran, the Moscow Times reported.

Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev yesterday said that Moscow and Tehran are close to a deal on the return of the nuclear fuel, and the text of the agreement “is practically ready” (Simon Saradzhyan, Moscow Times, June 3).

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North Korea:  U.S. Plans South Korean Redeployment

The United States is planning a major redeployment of its forces in South Korea, despite a plea from South Korean leader Roh Moo Hyun to avoid major military moves until the current nuclear standoff has been resolved, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 7).

Visiting Seoul, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said a U.S. troop realignment should not be linked to the nuclear issue.

“What we are talking [about], in terms of the future of the alliance we have undertaken with our Korean allies, is how best to enhance, and shape and align our forces and the forces of our allies to most effectively provide for deterrence from attack.  It is not something which should wait until the nuclear problem is solved, as though it is going to weaken our posture.  On the contrary, it is going to strengthen our overall posture,” Wolfowitz said.

Wolfowitz, who traveled to Japan yesterday to meet with officials there, also said North Korea “is teetering on the edge of economic collapse,” and “that, I believe, is a major point of leverage” (Howard French, New York Times, June 3).

U.S. officials said that a redeployment would involve a move south, away from the heavily fortified demilitarized zone.

“Our present posture sacrifices a good deal of military capability for the symbolism of having some American soldiers up on the DMZ,” a defense official said yesterday.  “That means that if North Korea were to attack, we would spend a lot of the first period of time reorganizing and regrouping in order to start hitting back,” the official added (Sonni Efron, Los Angeles Times, June 3).

Wolfowitz, who also asked South Korea to boost its defense spending, said new technology enabled a redeployment.

“You can achieve an effective military force at much greater distance than you could before, and often with much smaller numbers of forces,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, the U.S. missile defense chief, will visit Japan later this month, according to Wolfowitz.  While it is unclear what Japan seeks in terms of missile defense, Kadish will visit “to discuss technical aspects,” Wolfowitz added (Hans Greimel, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, June 3).

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United States:  Energy Department Completes First Review of Pit Production Facility

The U.S. Energy Department yesterday released a draft environmental impact statement for a full-scale plutonium “pit” production facility.  The study examined alternatives for manufacturing up to 450 pits annually at one of five possible locations by 2020 (see GSN, Sept. 20, 2002). 

A plutonium pit is the first-stage of a thermonuclear weapon and is a hollow sphere about the size of a softball, according to the Associated Press.

After a 14-year break in production, officials at the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory this year manufactured a new pit that meets new production standards (see GSN, April 23).

“This issue is an important one, since it deals directly with the national security of the U.S. and our ability to keep our nuclear stockpile safe, reliable and secure,” Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said.

Last year, Energy announced plans for a facility to build plutonium triggers, and officials were to choose between locations in New Mexico, Nevada, Texas and South Carolina.  The environmental review did not narrow that list, but it did provide details on the production plans, which could be in full swing by 2020.

The plant, which officials hope will produce 125, 250 or 450 triggers each year, is projected to cost $2.2 to $4.4 billion and would operate for 50 years (Josef Hebert, Associated Press/Boston Globe, June 3).

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U.S.-Russia:  Moscow Treaty Enters Into Force

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

The U.S.-Russian Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty entered into force yesterday when U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged instruments of ratification during a meeting in St. Petersburg.

Also known as the Moscow Treaty, the pact calls for the United States and Russia to deploy no more than 2,200 strategic nuclear warheads each by the end of 2012.  The U.S. Senate approved the treaty in March (see GSN, March 7), and Russia’s legislature completed its approval process last week (see GSN, May 28).

“Today we mark an important achievement in the relations between the United States and Russia,” Bush said yesterday during a press conference at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg before heading to Evian, France, for a meeting of the Group of Eight.  “This treaty reflects the new strategic relationship that is emerging between our nations,” he said.

The United States and Russia now plan to create a bilateral implementation committee for the treaty, Putin said.  He also said he and Bush have developed instructions to help further a dialogue between the two countries in “all areas of our comprehensive agenda.”

One area of increased future cooperation is in missile defense efforts, Bush said, adding that missile defense is “essential to the security of both our nations.”    

“We will intensify efforts to confront the global threats of terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, that threaten our peoples and freedom-loving peoples around the world,” Bush and Putin said in a joint statement.

In Russia, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, the State Duma, delayed consideration of the Moscow Treaty’s ratification to register its disagreement with U.S. policy regarding Iraq.  Putin yesterday denied, however, that U.S.-Russian relations had been irreparably damaged by the Iraq crisis, adding that the treaty reaffirms the “strategic partnership” being developed between the two countries.

“We are aware of the questions being raised as to whether the relations between the United States and Russia will withstand the test of time,” Putin said.  “Today, we reiterated … our resolve to continue with our strategic partnership for the benefit of our nations and the entire world.  I must say that the fundamentals between the United States and Russia turned out to be stronger than the forces and events that tested it,” he added.

The diplomatic dispute that arose between the United States and France during the Iraq crisis was likely to be a topic of discussion between Bush and French President Jacques Chirac during a brief one-on-one meeting the two leaders scheduled for today in Evian, Chirac spokeswoman Catharine Colonna said yesterday.

During the meeting, Chirac would likely reiterate French rationales for opposing the war in Iraq during the U.N. Security Council debate on the issue that has contributed to tensions that have lasted into the present, Colonna said.  She added, however, that any discussions on Iraq would likely focus on future efforts to rebuild the country.

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North Korea:  U.S. Lawmakers Say North Korea Admits Reprocessing Nuclear Fuel Rods

North Korea claims to have nearly completed reprocessing 8,000 rods of spent nuclear fuel — the first step toward creating multiple nuclear weapons — according to U.S. lawmakers who recently visited North Korea (see GSN, May 30).

“They admitted to currently having nuclear capability and weapons.  They admitted to having just about completed the reprocessing of 8,000 rods,” said Representative Curt Weldon (Pa.), the second-ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

Weldon said the United States must take action soon to deal with North Korea.

“It’s got to be short because the nuclear time is ticking in the North as they develop weapons,” Weldon said (Seo Hyun-jin, Korea Herald, June 3).

The delegation — also composed of Representatives Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) and Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) — met with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-Gwan and the chairman of the North Korean assembly, Choe Thae-Bok (Korea Times, Seo Soo-min, June 2).

Chinese President Hu Jintao told U.S. President George W. Bush that North Korea has backed off earlier demands that U.S. diplomats meet Pyongyang’s representatives in direct talks to resolve the nuclear standoff, USA Today reported (Judy Keen, USA Today, June 2).

Following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Bush called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear aspirations.

“We strongly urge North Korea to visibly, verifiably, and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear weapons program,” Bush said.  “The United States and Russia are determined to meet the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them,” he added (Financial Times, June 1).

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Iran:  Tehran Conditions More Nuclear Oversight on End to Sanctions

Iran said Friday that it would only be willing to accept more stringent nuclear oversight if economic sanctions were lifted (see GSN, May 30).

“If sanctions are lifted and we are allowed access to nuclear technology, we are fully prepared to sign any new additional protocol,” Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Friday.  U.N. officials have been pushing Tehran to adopt the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which would increase the agency’s power to inspect and monitor Iranian nuclear activities.

Kharrazi also suggested that Washington could help Iran’s nuclear development, even though U.S. officials have criticized Russian nuclear assistance to Iran and accused Tehran of secretly developing nuclear weapons.

“Russia has helped us a lot to build the Bushehr nuclear power plant to produce electricity,” Kharrazi said, referring to the joint nuclear project in southern Iran.  “Western countries can also participate in tenders we are planning to offer for the construction of more nuclear plants,” he added (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/London Guardian, June 1).

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obliges Washington to assist Tehran with peaceful nuclear development.

“The question of sanctions has to be resolved first.  We will not sign any other international accord while the West does not respect its obligations outlined by the NPT, and does not help us with (peaceful) nuclear technology as the NPT obliges them to,” said spokesman Hamid Asefi (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 2).

Russian officials echoed the invitation.

“There is enough room for everyone,” said Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev.  Iran is planning to build five more nuclear reactors and the United States is welcome to take part, he said.

“We have made this proposal to our American colleagues several times during discussions on the expert level, and they have been saying they need to think about it,” according to Rumyantsev (Beirut Daily Star, June 1).

The IAEA, meanwhile, said that it is not yet clear if Iran’s expanding nuclear program is intended to develop nuclear weapons.

“Building these facilities does not automatically mean this is a weapons program, because they can have peaceful applications in a nuclear program dedicated to producing electricity,” said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei (Reuters/Washington Post, May 31).

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United States:  Canceling B-1 Bomber Retirement Could Cost $1 Billion

Recalling 23 B-1B Lancer bombers from the brink of retirement may add more than $1 billion to the U.S. Air Force’s budget through 2009, Aerospace Daily reported today (see GSN, May 8).

Under a plan pushed by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld two years ago, 32 of the 92 bombers were slated for retirement.  Since that time, however, congressional armed services committees have approved proposals to keep 23 of the retired airplanes in circulation, according to Aerospace Daily.

“This is our last chance to halt the retirement of B-1s, since many are scheduled to be sent to Arizona by the end of this fiscal year,” Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said, noting that Rumsfeld’s decision to cut back on the number of bombers was made before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Under the proposals made by Congress, more than $20 million has been set aside in fiscal 2004 to reconstitute the 23 B-1s to operational status, Aerospace Daily reported.  Air Force officials, however, claim that they will need an additional $1 billion over the next six years to maintain a fleet of 83 bombers.  It’s “funding that is simply not available,” an Air Force spokesman said.

“In general, the Air Force believes our decision to consolidate the B-1 fleet down to 60 fully mission-capable aircraft resulted in significant improvements in overall fleet combat capability, and for the first time a robust, fully funded modernization program,” the spokesman said (Stephen Trimble, Aerospace Daily, June 2).

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U.S.-Russia I:  Russian Parliament Approves Moscow Treaty; Entry Into Force Imminent

The upper house of the Russian parliament today approved the U.S.-Russian Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 20; Associated Press, May 28).

“The Federation Council was the last of the steps that the legislative branch needed to take to formalize the Moscow Treaty’s adoption and ratification,” said Arms Control Association research analyst Christine Kucia.  She expected U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin to exchange the instruments of ratification and bring the treaty into force this weekend when the two leaders are scheduled to meet in Russia before traveling to the Group of Eight summit in Evian, France.

The Federation Council approved the treaty by a vote of 140-5 with two abstentions, according to Interfax.  The treaty calls for the United States and Russia to deploy no more than 2,200 strategic nuclear warheads by the end of 2012.

Earlier this year, the Russian Duma, or lower house, delayed passage of the treaty to protest the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but it eventually approved the pact earlier this month (see GSN, May 14; Associated Press).

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Iran:  Russia Links Bushehr Fuel to IAEA Additional Protocol

Western officials have said that Russia will not provide fuel for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant unless Tehran agrees to accept additional International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, the Financial Times reported yesterday (see GSN, May 27).

By signing the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, Iran would give the agency the authority to access any Iranian nuclear facility, according to the Times.  Currently, Iran is only obligated to allow the IAEA to inspect sites Iran has declared (Guy Dinmore, Financial Times, May 27).

A top Russian Atomic Energy Ministry official was quoted today by Interfax as reiterating Moscow’s call for Iran to sign the Additional Protocol, saying such a move would “dispel doubts concerning the existence of a military nuclear program in Iran” (Interfax/BBC Monitoring, May 28).

Moscow is concerned about “serious unresolved questions in connection with Iran’s nuclear research,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov said after a meeting this week with Iran’s Ambassador to Russia, Gholamreza Shafei.

Russia’s concerns over Iran’s nuclear efforts began several months ago, when an Iranian opposition group revealed that Tehran was allegedly working to construct a secret uranium enrichment facility.

Russian officials were “embarrassed and concerned” that Iran had apparently carried out a secret program while they had been saying Tehran was doing no such thing, said Rose Gottemoeller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a leading Iranian opposition group, yesterday revealed that Iran has allegedly begun building two smaller uranium enrichment sites designed to both complement larger sites and to replace them if necessary.  A U.S. official said, however, that Washington could not verify the group’s claim and that it “should be taken with some skepticism.”

“They’ve been right before, but they’ve been way off base before too,” the official said (Richter/Miller, Los Angeles Times, May 28).

Iran No Longer Needs Foreign Aid, Pentagon Says

Meanwhile, a draft U.S. National Security Decision Directive currently being examined by top Bush administration officials says Iran’s nuclear program is so far advanced it no longer needs foreign aid, according to Newsday.

The directive is primarily based on U.S. Defense Department intelligence analyses, according to a source that received a classified briefing on the directive.  The directive indicates that Iran’s nuclear efforts can no longer be halted by applying pressure on countries that have aided Iran’s nuclear program in the past, such as Russia, the source said.

“The assessment (being reviewed) at the National Security Council is that they (Iran) have passed the point of no return in terms of getting outside assistance to enable them to have a nuclear weapons program,” the source said.  “In other words, they have everything in hand to do it on their own if the Russians stopped tomorrow,” the source added.

The CIA, however, has not come to the same conclusion as the Pentagon, the source said, adding that senior CIA, Pentagon and State Department officials would work out their differences before presenting the directive for adoption.  Such a meeting had been scheduled today but was postponed, according to Newsday (Knut Royce, Newsday, May 28).

Tehran and Washington Trade Barbs

Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is only for civilian use — a claim the United States has rejected.

“The United States rejects that argument as a cover story,” White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said yesterday.  “Our strong position is that Iran is preparing, instead, to produce fissile materials for nuclear weapons,” he said (Bob Deans, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 28).

Iran today criticized the United States for its allegations.

“Any concern over countries’ noncompliance with weapons of mass destruction instruments needs to be dealt with through international cooperation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi said before a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Tehran.  “The resort to force, or directing unverified accusations … will only undermine the current international arrangements,” Kharazi said, adding that the IAEA was the “only competent authority” on the issue (Stefan Smith, Agence France-Presse, May 28).

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North Korea:  Pyongyang Repeats Nuclear Reprocessing Claim

North Korea yesterday repeated an earlier claim that it had begun reprocessing more than 8,000 spent fuel rods, a key first step in producing nuclear weapons (see GSN, May 27).

“As far as the issue of reprocessing spent fuel rods is concerned, the D.P.R.K. made it clear on April 18 that it was successfully carrying out the work of reprocessing over 8,000 spent rods at the final stage,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Pyongyang also rejected reports that North Korean nuclear scientists had defected to the West or that China had cut off oil to North Korea to force multilateral talks in Beijing (Korean Central News Agency, May 26 in FBIS-CHI, May 26).

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has rejected a North Korean offer to hold bilateral talks with the United States.

“I’ve been reading those statements and we always examine closely whatever they say, but we are still committed to multilateral talks, expanded multilateral talks, if there are going to be future talks the way we want to do it,” Powell said (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, May 28).

Diplomats from Japan, the United States and South Korea will meet in Seoul next month to discuss North Korean nuclear development and present Pyongyang with a unified front (Daily Yomiuri, May 28).

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U.S.-Russia II:  Washington Awards Contracts to Replace Russian Plutonium Production Reactors

The U.S. Energy Department has selected two U.S. companies to help shut down three Russian plutonium production reactors, the Wall Street Journal reported today (see GSN, March 6).

Washington Group International and Raytheon Technical Services have been directed to build two coal-fired power plants near three nuclear reactors at Seversk and Zheleznogorsk in Siberia.

The reactors were built primarily to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, but they also produce energy for neighboring towns and cities, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.  That energy production needs to be replaced before the nuclear reactors can be shut down, a move Abraham described as “critical.”

The coal-fired energy plants will take five years to build, after which the nuclear plants will be shuttered, the Journal reported.

The $466 million dollar award is intended to close down plants that are “considered to be among the highest risk reactors in the world,” according to the Energy Department (John Fialka, Wall Street Journal, May 28).

Russia will be responsible for dismantling the reactors, according to agreements signed in March (see GSN, March 12).  The plants produce enough plutonium to make two nuclear warheads every three days, Energy Daily reported today.

Russian officials have hesitated to close the reactors and lose jobs, while the U.S. Congress has been reluctant to pay for the replacement plants, according to Energy Daily.  Abraham has pushed the deal and Russia is ready to embrace the project, Energy Department officials said.

“The Russians want to shut these down as much as we do,” said Kenneth Baker, acting deputy administrator for nonproliferation in the National Nuclear Security Administration.  “They are just as scared as we are of terrorist attacks,” he added (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, May 28).

Abraham told Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev that the contracts should be in place by the end of June.

“The selection of the contractors is another significant step in advancing the Bush administration’s nonproliferation programs,” Abraham said.  “Russia and the United States have enjoyed a good relationship on this program and we look forward to continued progress,” he added (Energy Department release, May 27).

Russia will also build a plant at Seversk to transform weapon-grade plutonium to mixed oxide fuel, Interfax reported Monday.

Construction on the $1 billion plant will begin in early 2005, according to Siberian Chemical Plant Director General Vladimir Shidlovsky (Interfax, May 26 in FBIS-SOV, May 26).

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International Response:  Nuclear Suppliers Group Agrees to Amend Guidelines

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — An organization that establishes export control regulations for nuclear trade has agreed to update a section of its guidelines concerning components that could be used to produce a nuclear reactor, a U.S. State Department official told Global Security Newswire yesterday (see GSN, May 23).

During an annual plenary meeting held last week in South Korea, the 40-member Nuclear Suppliers Group agreed to update the primary coolant pump entry on the group’s trigger list, the State official said.  Under group guidelines, members agree to only export items listed on the trigger list if they first receive assurances that the item will not be used to develop a nuclear weapon. 

The group also proposed several new entries for the trigger list, which should be finalized by the end of the year, the State official said, noting that the group agreed to work to improve the clarity and understanding of its guidelines.

During the meeting, group members also discussed the threats posed by Iran and North Korea, according to the State official.  The group expressed concern about Iran’s nuclear program, calling on Tehran to address unanswered questions about its nuclear activities.  They also discussed the crisis surrounding North Korea’s relaunched nuclear efforts and called on group members to increase their efforts to prevent Pyongyang from acquiring materials and technologies that could be used in its nuclear program.

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United States:  Planned Attack on Nuclear Facility Described in Court

Al-Qaeda supporters planned a 2001 attack on U.S. soldiers at a Belgian military base that houses nuclear weapons, a trial in Brussels was told Monday (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2002).

During a November broadcast interview, former Tunisian professional soccer player Nizar Trabelsi said he had planned to attack the base.  Trabelsi is one of 23 defendants in the case, Agence France-Presse reported.

The trial began last Thursday and the defendants could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of a range of charges, including planning to attack U.S.-related targets.

“The attack was due to happen between midday and 1 o’clock and target the canteen of the base,” Judge Claire De Gryse said, citing testimony in the case.

A Belgian Army spokesman said the base houses U.S. military personnel who are trained to equip “planes with nuclear means in the event of an attack” (Agence France-Presse, May 26 in FBIS-WEU, May 26).

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Iran I:  Opposition Group Alleges Iran Has Backup Uranium Enrichment Sites

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — A leading Iranian opposition group today claimed that Iran has built two previously unknown uranium enrichment facilities — components in Iran’s alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapons capability by 2005 (see GSN, May 23).

At a press conference today, representatives of the National Council of Resistance of Iran provided detailed information about the two Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, located near the villages of Lashkar-Abad and Ramandeh about 40 kilometers west of Tehran.  Construction of both sites began in 2000 and they are close to completion, said council spokesman Alireza Jafarzadeh.  The sites, each containing several centrifuges, are heavily guarded, said council representative Soona Samsami. 

“The revelation of these two key sites and their function in the mullahs’ nuclear setup [has] exposed new dimensions of just how far they have advanced along the perilous path to the acquisition of the nuclear bomb,” Samsami said.

The council is the political arm of the People’s Mujahedin, also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq, which the U.S. State Department has formally identified as a terrorist organization.  Mujahedin-e Khalq is a Marxist-influenced group that conducted terrorist attacks in the 1970s that killed U.S. military and civilian personnel in Iran, has a long history of attacks against the Iranian clerical regime and advocates a secular government, according to a Federation of American Scientists fact sheet.

The Lashkar-Abad and Ramandeh sites are designed to complement a larger uranium enrichment facility near the city of Natanz, the existence of which the council disclosed last year, Samsami said (see GSN, May 9).  These sites are also intended to replace the Natanz facility in case it is attacked pre-emptively in an action similar to the 1981 Israeli air force operation, which destroyed Iraq’s Osiraq nuclear reactor.  The new facilities were also intended to operate clandestinely if Iran were forced to close Natanz because of increased international intervention, she said. 

The development of smaller nuclear-related sites, such as those in Lashkar-Abad and Ramandeh, is part of a two-fold strategy to help ensure the survivability of Iran’s nuclear program by adding a redundancy aspect, according to Samsami.  This strategy also includes the “showcasing” of the Bushehr nuclear reactor, currently being constructed for Iran by Russia, and using the public attention the Bushehr project receives to help provide cover for the development of other sites, Samsami said.

The information concerning the two new uranium enrichment sites was obtained through “highly placed” People’s Mujahedin of Iran sources within Iran, Samsami said, adding that similar sources have previously provided information on Iran’s biological weapons and ballistic missile programs (see GSN, May 16).

A senior U.N. official was quoted today by the New York Times as praising the information the council has previously released.

“This organization has been extremely on the mark in the past,” the U.N. official said.  “They are a group that seems to be privy to very solid and insider information,” the official added.

Both the Lashkar-Abad site and the Ramandeh site are operated by the Noor-Afza-Gostar Company, one of several alleged front companies employed by the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Samsami said.  The company’s board of directors includes Reza Aghazadeh, AEO director general; Jamshid Sabbaghzadeh, the company’s chief executive officer and an adviser to Aghazadeh; and Mohammad Saeedi, deputy CEO and head of the AEO’s international affairs department, according to Samsami.  The fact that several senior AEO officials sit on the board of the Noor-Afza-Gostar Company indicates the importance of the company to Iran’s nuclear efforts, Samsami said.

The council has made its information on the Ramandeh and Lashkar-Abad nuclear sites — which includes the exact addresses of both — available to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Bush administration, Jafarzadeh said,  urging the IAEA to move quickly to immediately inspect the two sites before they could be modified.

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Iran II:  Russia Plans to Continue Nuclear Assistance

Russia will continue to build an Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr, CNN.com reported today (see GSN, May 23).

“Russia does not see any reason now to review its stance and its role regarding construction of the first nuclear reactor,” said Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev.  “We will continue to fulfill our duties despite the fact that our position on this question is different to Washington’s official view,” he added (Reuters/CNN.com, May 27).

Iran has said it has the right to a nuclear energy program and maintained that it will continue its nuclear development.  Iranian President Mohammed Khatami said restrictions on its international trade must be dropped before Iran would agree to additional inspections by the the International Atomic Energy Agency (Mark Forbes, Sydney Morning Herald, May 27).

The European Union is also increasing pressure on Iran to drop its alleged nuclear weapons program, an effort that Iran denies.  Union officials said they could use trade negotiations to pressure Tehran, the Financial Times reported.

“We have to combine our approaches and work more sympathetically to get a clear message to Iran that it is in their interests to change,” said Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou (Judy Dempsey, Financial Times, May 27).

U.S. lawmakers said Sunday that Washington must exert pressure to depose Iran’s government, but not by force.

“Isolating the bad guys and taking the levers of power away from them is what’s got to happen,” said Representative Peter Goss (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, during an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation (William Mann, Associated Press/Chicago Tribune, May 26).

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North Korea:  Pyongyang Might Be Softening, South Korean Official Says

North Korea might be ready to negotiate a deal to resolve the nuclear standoff on Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s top foreign policy adviser said recently (see GSN, May 23).

Ban Ki-moon said there are signs that North Korea is taking a softer stance on nuclear talks.  North Korea’s failing economy also leaves Pyongyang with little choice but to negotiate, according to Ban.

“The only way or option available to them is to negotiate with the international community with whatever they might have,” he said (Channel NewsAsia, May 27).

South Korean Vice Minister for Finance and Economy Kim Gwang-lim said Seoul would slow food deliveries to the North if Pyongyang escalated the current standoff.  During inter-Korean talks on economic cooperation last week, South Korea agreed to provide its neighbor with 400,000 tons of rice this year to help ease chronic food shortages in the impoverished North.

Asked by lawmakers if rice shipments would continue if cross-border relations deteriorated, Kim said “the government would then have to adjust the speed of delivering the rice” (Sang-hun Choe, Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle, May 27).

Seoul’s ambassador to Washington, meanwhile, said there is no chance of one-on-one talks between North Korea and the United States.  Last Saturday, North Korea indicated it was willing to accept multilateral talks after direct talks with the United States.

“There is no possibility of Washington accepting bilateral talks (with Pyongyang),” said Han Sung-joo.  “The United States finds it difficult to deal with Pyongyang in a bilateral setting because the nuclear concern affects Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing,” he added (Seo Hyun-jin, Korea Herald, May 27).

Bush, Koizumi Show United Front

A nuclear North Korea is unacceptable to U.S. President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the pair said during last week’s Texas summit.

“We will not at all tolerate the possession, the development or the transfer of nuclear weapons by North Korea.  North Korea must promptly and completely dismantle all nuclear weapons development programs in a verifiable manner,” Koizumi said (White House transcript, May 27).

North Korea warned, however, that Japan will “meet a fatal fiasco” if it continues to walk in lockstep with Washington, Channel NewsAsia reported.

“The Japanese authorities are well advised to bear in mind that if they continue acting blindly to the tune of the U.S. out of their senses, they will only meet a fatal fiasco,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (Channel NewsAsia II, May 27).

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Russia:  Moscow to Launch Converted SS-19 ICBM June 30

Russia is scheduled to conduct a group satellite launch June 30 using a converted SS-19 ballistic missile, a spokesman for the Khrunichev space center said last week (see GSN, May 19).  The launch of the Rokot space launch vehicle, set to take place at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, will deliver eight satellites into orbit (ITAR-Tass, May 22 in FBIS-SOV, May 23).

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