Iran:  Tehran Considering Allowing Greater Nuclear Scrutiny

Iran is conditionally prepared for more intrusive International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring of its nuclear activities, a top Iranian official said yesterday (see GSN, July 1).

Tehran “is ready to sign the Additional Protocol to the agreement on nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, but only in an atmosphere of transparency and trust regarding the participants of this document,” said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran’s nuclear agency.

It was not clear what conditions need to be satisfied before Iran agrees to the additional inspections.  According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, however, Iranian officials have already said they will sign the agreement.

“There are plans to sign this protocol in the near future,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said yesterday.  “This has been agreed upon with Iran,” he added (Jim Heintz, Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, July 1).

Meanwhile, Iran plans to ask Russia to participate in the building of additional nuclear facilities, ITAR-Tass reported today.  Russia is currently building a nuclear plant in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr.

“We have plans for building, alongside the Bushehr nuclear power plant, several others having a total capacity of 6,000 megawatts, and we are inviting Russia to take this opportunity,” Aghazadeh said.

He said that Moscow and Tehran were also close to signing an agreement on the return of spent Russian nuclear fuel from Bushehr.

When the new plant is commissioned, Russian technicians will help train Iranian scientists, according to Aghazadeh.  Iran has already sent 700 nuclear specialists to study at Russian nuclear facilities, he said (ITAR-Tass, July 2).

United Kingdom Will Not Attack Iran

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said Monday that there is no chance of the United Kingdom taking part in an attack on Iran.

“No one should ever compare Iran with Iraq in terms of their political systems or their danger,” he said (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Austin American-Statesman, July 1).

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North Korea:  Seoul Faces Heat Over Report on Pyongyang’s Nuclear Weapons

South Korean opposition leaders yesterday called on the government to disclose information that led to a Tuesday New York Times report on allegedly new North Korean nuclear warhead development (see GSN, July 1).

The report identified a North Korean site allegedly used to develop the conventional explosives used to trigger nuclear weapons, according to the Times.

“The New York Times report is shocking,” said Park Jin, spokesman for the opposition Grand National Party.  “The government should not conceal any key information that can seriously affect our national security,” he added.

The National Assembly has directed its intelligence, foreign affairs and defense committees to hold special meetings to look into the report (Charles Whelan, Agence France-Presse, July 2).

“Our government is not in a position to say something (about it),” said an official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

The response from U.S. officials was similarly muted.

“We don’t comment on reports like this that are sourced — allegedly sourced — to intelligence information,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

The development, however, may not represent new information, Yonhap News Agency reported.  In his book on the Korean Peninsula, veteran journalist Donald Oberdorfer said North Korea had tested powerful conventional explosives as a step toward nuclear testing.

“They (North Koreans) did test apparently some non-nuclear high explosive devices which potentially help trigger nuclear explosions,” Oberdorfer said in a 2000 interview (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, July 2).

Officials Plan July 9 Meeting

Diplomats from North and South Korea plan to hold three-day cabinet-level meetings in Seoul beginning July 9, the Korea Times reported (Kim Ki-tae, Korea Times, July 2).

South Korea, Japan and the United States are holding talks today in Washington to discuss their approach to North Korea, the Korea Herald reported.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and Japanese Director General of Asian and Oceanic Affairs Yabunaka Mitoji will most likely discuss the future of two nuclear reactors being built in North Korea as part of the now defunct 1994 Agreed Framework.

Japan will probably suggest a temporary halt in reactor construction, the Korea Herald reported.  The United States is pushing for the suspension of the project altogether (Kim So-young, Korea Herald, July 2).

U.S. Unlikely To Attack

Kenneth Quinones, a former U.S. negotiator with Pyongyang, said that a military strike on North Korean nuclear facilities could cause ecological disaster.

“Unfortunately, the surgical strike concept simply cannot function,” said Quinones, who is now the Korean affairs director at the International Center in Washington.  “I don’t think the United States is planning to attack.  They are not really focusing on a military option,” he added.

Quinones cautioned, however, that a small misunderstanding could lead to a larger military conflict.

“As tension increases and the channel of communications declines, the prospect of a small incident exploding into a major one increases,” he said (Shigemi Sato, Agence France-Presse, July 2).

A North Korean official, however, said that Pyongyang might abandon the armistice that ended the Korean War 50 years ago.

Korea is at “the crossroads of war or peace,” said the North Korean military representative at Panmunjom, a border village where representatives from each country meet.

“It is, in fact, hardly possible to preserve the cease-fire in Korea by the unilateral efforts of the Korean People’s Army side,” the representative said (Soo-jeong Lee, Associated Press, July 1).

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United States I:  Review Says Sandia Obstructed Probe Into Security Breach

Sandia National Laboratories managers impeded two internal investigators who were probing various security breaches at the New Mexico facility, according to an independent review (see GSN, June 25).

The investigators were focusing their investigation on an employee who allegedly gained access to sensitive computer files and took photographs of sexual encounters in restricted laboratory areas.

The review — completed by Norman Bay, a former U.S. attorney for New Mexico — noted, however, that managers did not obstruct probes into the loss of a set of master keys to laboratory facilities, videotapes of guards sleeping at work or a security guard stealing computer equipment.

The review also concluded that the investigators did not face any type of retaliation during or following the investigation.

Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sharply criticized the report, calling it “80 to 90 percent pure whitewash.”  The senator said the Bay report was part of a Sandia culture that attempted to cover up problems and “shoot the messenger” (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, July 2).

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United States II:  Navy Receives Minisubmarine for Use on Converted Tridents

The U.S. Navy has taken delivery of an advanced minisubmarine designed to be installed on converted Trident-class ballistic missile submarines, Defense Week reported Monday (see GSN, June 16).

The Naval Sea Systems Command last week received the first Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS), which is designed to attach to an attack submarine or a converted Trident-class submarine, Defense Week reported.  Currently, two Los Angeles-class attack submarines are capable of carrying the ASDS, which will allow SEAL commando teams to travel further distances while limiting exposure to cold water.

The ASDS completed its operational evaluation in May, but the U.S. Special Operations Command, which will be the final user of the system, is waiting for the final evaluation results before taking delivery of the system.

The ASDS program has faced a number of technical difficulties, such as flawed battery cells and a loud propeller, as well as schedule delays since it was launched, according to Defense Week.  The U.S. General Accounting Office said in a report issued earlier this year that the costs for the program had more than tripled since it began and that it was six years behind schedule (Nathan Hodge, Defense Week, June 30). 

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Iran:  ElBaradei to Visit Tehran This Month

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has agreed to a one-day visit to Iran for discussions on the controversy over Tehran’s nuclear development, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, June 30).

“Mohamed ElBaradei will arrive in Tehran on an official visit on July 9,” said Iranian atomic energy agency spokesman Seyed Khalil Mousavi (Agence France-Presse, July 1).

The IAEA confirmed that ElBaradei is planning to visit, but said that no date has been agreed on (Parisa Hafezi, Reuters, July 1).

The visit is in response to an Iranian invitation “to discuss the implementation of nuclear safeguards,” according to a statement from the agency.

Iran’s nuclear chief, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, visited Moscow yesterday and that his country’s nuclear cooperation with Russia was in line with international law and “rather transparent.”

“Nuclear ties between Russia and Iran have bright horizons,” Aghazadeh said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 1).

Moscow’s Foreign Ministry said that Russian officials urged Tehran to sign the Additional Protocol to allow more intrusive IAEA monitoring of Iranian nuclear activities (Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times, July 1).

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in Tehran for talks yesterday, said Iran must “unconditionally and quickly” sign the protocol.  Iranian officials did not agree to further inspections, but Hassan Rowhani, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told Straw that Tehran invited ElBaradei to clear up “technical problems” over international inspections (Azadeh Moaveni, Los Angeles Times, July 1).

Japan Oil Contract Delayed

Japan, meanwhile, apparently gave in to U.S. pressure to delay an imminent oil contract with Iran, Reuters reported today.  The $2 billion agreement to develop Azadegan — one of the world’s largest untapped oil fields — was due to be signed soon.

“Crude oil is very important for Japan, but on the other hand, the nuclear development issue has turned into a big international concern,” said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda.  “We will make a final decision looking at future developments,” he added (Reuters/PlanetArk, July 1).

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Russia I:  Strategic Submarines Made No Patrols Last Year, U.S. Navy Says

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — For the first time in decades, the Russian Navy sent no strategic missile submarines on patrol last year, according to data released by U.S. naval intelligence.

Likely explanations include low funding, safety concerns and a view in Moscow that the United States no longer poses a strategic threat warranting the patrols, analysts say.

“Why bust a gut to get your subs out to sea if finances aren’t there, if there are particular safety considerations, if there is not a particular threat you are trying to deter with your sub patrols?” said Joshua Handler, a former Princeton University researcher.

Peter Huessy of the U.S. National Defense University Foundation said the figures suggest Moscow “can’t very well be worried about us attacking them.”

“Would you keep all your subs in port if you were worried about being attacked?” he said.

However, Hans Kristensen, a consultant to the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the exact cause remains uncertain. 

“What’s unclear, obviously, is whether this is something that reflects a decision, or whether they are being forced to do this because of technical problems or prioritization,” he said.

“They could have decided that these things are just not the priority anymore,” said Kristensen, who obtained the latest figures from the Office of Naval Intelligence through the Freedom of Information Act and recently published them in the July/August issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

Downward Trends

Combining the new information with earlier data collected by Handler, Kristensen said the number of Russian strategic submarine patrols decreased since the end of the Cold War from 37 in 1991 to 13 in 1997, and to none in 2002.

The number of attack and cruise missile submarine patrols also decreased from 18 in 1991 to 13 in 1997, and to one in 2001 and three last year.

The trends follow a decrease in the operational availability of Russian strategic submarines, according to Kristensen.  Russia currently has 14 operational nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, down from 62 in 1990, he writes in the Bulletin.

The Bulletin says Russian ballistic missile submarines did participate in exercises last October that involved intercontinental ballistic missile, cruise missile and antiballistic missile tests (see GSN, Oct. 25, 2002).

“But that is qualitatively different from disappearing for a month or two under the Arctic ice pack,” Handler said.

Kristensen said Russian submarines have the capability of launching from port, but said that option is not ideal.

“They can’t hit all the targets they want to hit from port.  And also they are very well vulnerable obviously when they lie there,” he said.

Handler said the Russians might put submarines on patrols if they felt it was essential for security.

“Sure, they don’t have the money, and the subs might be a little bit more unsafe than ours, but they obviously do not feel their national security is collapsing by virtue of having no sub patrols,” he said.

The patrol estimates come amid signs of decreasing strategic tensions between the United States and Russia, but the Russian patrol reductions have not been mirrored by the United States.

Kristensen said the United States deploys 14 strategic submarines, which perform an average of 3 1/2 patrols per year, each lasting about 70 days followed by in-port maintenance and training.

Hair-Trigger Concerns

A recently released RAND study suggested that deteriorating Russian strategic capabilities might increase the risk of a U.S.-Russian nuclear confrontation.

It concluded that Russia’s shrinking strategic forces and weak early warning system are increasing the U.S. strategic superiority, prompting Russia to keep its mostly land-based forces on high alert, possibly increasing the likelihood of an accidental or unauthorized launch (see GSN, May 22).

The study said financial reasons, as well as U.S. submarine tracking abilities, have led Russia to operate its strategic submarines close to Russian waters.

It recommended keeping U.S. strategic missile and attack submarines away from Russia, saying the strategic submarines enable the United States to strike Russia in as little as 10 to 15 minutes.

The Bush administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, announced in January 2002, indicated that the United States intends to keep its strategic triad of bombers, submarines and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles in operation, but four Trident ballistic missile submarines will be removed from strategic service and nearly 4,000 sea-, land- and air-launched strategic warheads will be removed from their delivery platforms.

Citing improving Russian relations, the review set a goal of taking all but 2,200 of its 6,000 deployed strategic warheads off their delivery platforms by 2012.  The policy was codified in the U.S.-Russian Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, which entered into force one month ago (see GSN, June 2).

Russia relies principally on its land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles for deterrence, Kristensen said.  He said U.S.-Russian abandonment of the never-implemented START II Treaty in favor of the new treaty has enabled Russia to continue to deploy the bulk of its strategic forces on multiple-warhead ICBMS.

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North Korea I:  Pyongyang Developing Small Nuclear Warheads

North Korea may be developing small nuclear warheads to arm missiles aimed at Tokyo and U.S. forces in Japan, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, June 30).

The information is contained in a recent intelligence assessment that Washington has passed along to Japan, South Korea and other allies.  U.S. satellites have identified a nuclear testing facility at a North Korean site called Youngdoktong, according to CIA officials.  The site has equipment to explode conventional explosives that could compress a plutonium core to initiate a nuclear explosion.

The compact weapons could be developed in under a year, according to the assessment.  Intelligence officials warned, however, that the timeline is based on “a best guess rather than a solid estimate.”

White House officials are also concerned that North Korea is building five or six potentially miniature nuclear weapons, the Times reported.

“This would give them the range they never had before and the chance to spread their threat far beyond South Korea,” said a senior Asian official (David Sanger, New York Times, July 1).

U.S. Wants KEDO Project Halted

Washington does not want the Korean Energy Development Organization to continue to build nuclear reactors in North Korea while the nuclear standoff continues, KEDO Executive Director Charles Kartman told South Korean officials yesterday.

“He said that the nuclear crisis is closely linked to the light-water reactor project,” said Wi Sung-lac, director general of North American affairs at the Foreign Ministry.  “He said the North’s acceptance of the multilateral talks … would help deal with the light-water reactor project,” Wi added (Seo Soo-min, Korea Times, July 1).

Militarizing South Korea

The United States has recently sent $11 billion in military equipment to South Korea, the Christian Science Monitor reported today.

“This is a great deal of new military equipment,” said Seongho Sheen, a research fellow with the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu.  “Although the U.S. government has repeatedly said it has no intention of attacking, from the North Korean perspective it looks like the U.S. is preparing for war,” Sheen added.

The equipment includes Patriot missile defense systems and precision-guided munitions (Robert Marquand, Christian Science Monitor, July 1).

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North Korea II:  Weldon Peace Plan Draws Mixed Reviews

By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — A plan to defuse the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula received support from Congress today but criticism from the State Department (see GSN, June 30).

Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) yesterday publicly released his two-stage, 10-point plan.  He has already presented the plan to U.S. and U.N. officials in Washington and to North Korean officials during a visit to Pyongyang at the end of May.

“Very solid, it has a great foundation,” said Representative Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas), who was part of the congressional trip to Pyongyang.  Ortiz said he believes the plan had a good chance of succeeding, and he encouraged the State Department to use it to open dialogue with North Korea.

“We should be trying to negotiate from a position of strength, which we have,” he said.

North Korean officials have publicly announced they are developing nuclear weapons and privately told the United States that they already have them.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher would not directly discuss the merit of Weldon’s plan yesterday, but he appeared to dismiss it when he said that Washington will not pay North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program.  As part of the first phase, Weldon said U.S. allies should provide up to $5 billion in annual aid if North Korea is willing to renounce its nuclear weapons program and allow inspections of its nuclear activities.  The plan calls for most of the money to come from Japan and South Korea.

“We have made very, very clear our position.  We are not going to pay to get the North Koreans not to do something that they shouldn’t have been doing to begin with,” Boucher said.

Weldon’s plan also calls for a one-year nonaggression treaty as part of the first stage.  If North Korea meets its obligations, the nonaggression treaty would become permanent and Pyongyang’s nuclear infrastructure would be dismantled within two years, according to the plan.  The plan also calls for diplomatic overtures from both sides.

Boucher refused to comment on the idea of a nonaggression pact.

Ortiz said that he does not see the aid to North Korea as a payoff to end nuclear weapons development.

“I see this as avoiding a war,” he said.

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Russia II:  France Pledges $46 Million to Address Russian Nuclear Fleet

France is donating more than $46 million to a fund that addresses hazards from the deteriorating Russian nuclear fleet in the Barents Sea, the European Bank announced yesterday (see GSN, May 22).

The money will be used to address environmental, safety and security problems associated with the nuclear fleet.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development manages the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership Support Fund, which addresses the decommissioned Barents Sea fleet.  A bank official said the fund is part of the Group of Eight’s efforts to address weapons of mass destruction (see GSN, June 6).

The bank’s French director, Jean-Pierre Landau, said Paris wants the fund to become “the central player in this priority area for the G-8 partnership.”

The fund now has more than $185 million, the EBRD reported (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development release, June 30).

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Russia III:  Rokot Vehicle Launches Nine Satellites Into Orbit

Russia launched nine satellites into orbit yesterday using a converted SS-19 ballistic missile, Press Trust of India reported (see GSN, May 27).

The launching of the Rokot space-launch vehicle from the Plesetsk cosmodrome delivered the Canadian MOST and Czech MIMOSA satellites into orbit, as well as the mock-up module of Russia’s new generation Monitor.  The other six satellites launched belong to Japan, Denmark and the United States (Press Trust of India, June 30).

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North Korea:  U.S. Ambassador Says Reactor Work Probably Will Stop

The United States will most likely oppose continued construction on two nuclear reactors in North Korea, the U.S. ambassador to Japan said today (see GSN, June 25).

“It’s a little hard for me to understand how you complete those reactors on one hand, and urge the North Koreans to dismantle their nuclear capability on the other hand,” Howard Baker said.  “My guess is that if … they do not decide to engage in dismantlement of their weapons program, it is unlikely that the United States would support the completion of those reactors beyond the commitments that we’ve undertaken in the framework agreement,” he added.

Baker also warned that the threat from North Korea is serious.

“I wonder if the North Korean government understands what a deadly serious game they are playing,” he said (Shingo Ito, Agence France-Presse, June 27).

Japan, however, is not in favor of suspending the reactor work.  Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said that more negotiations are needed before the reactor project is curtailed.  (Gary Schaefer, Associated Press/London Guardian, June 27).

The project is likely to come to a halt because the United States must sign a protocol to provide water supply tanks to the reactors, the Korea Times reported Wednesday.

“Even if the parties involved find a way to continue the project … the issue of providing water supply tanks to the nuclear plants (which requires the approval of the U.S.) is bound to emerge again,” said a South Korean official.

A South Korean administration official said Washington has already asked for work on the reactors to stop.

“The U.S. has asked for a stop, citing technical issues including provision of parts, so it is becoming more difficult to insist on continuing the project,” the official said.

Some South Korean officials, however, said they want the project to continue.

“Every day we are spending $1 million.  Continuing the project would mean we wouldn’t antagonize the North further in the short term, and also have our invested sum deducted from South Korea’s share once the nuclear issue was resolved and (the parties involved) start discussing aid to the North,” said another official said (Seo Soo-min, Korea Times, June 25).

A senior South Korean official at the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) said the project will most likely be suspended.

“We hope the project will continue, but a suspension may be inevitable now that components cannot be supplied,” the official said. “South Korea will discuss the future of the reactor project with other KEDO member countries — the United States, Japan and the European Union.,” the official added.

KEDO Executive Director Charles Kartman is scheduled to visit Seoul Saturday to discuss the reactor work (Seo Hyun-jin, Korea Herald, June 27).

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Pakistan:  Nuclear Weapons Are Securely Controlled, Musharraf Says

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has said his country’s nuclear weapons are safely under governmental control, the Times of India reported today (see GSN, June 26).

“We are committed to nonproliferation, we are not proliferating at all, our strategic assets are under excellent strong custodial control, there is no chance of this apprehension of the world that they will fall into wrong hands,” Musharraf said.

Musharraf also said there is no proof that Pakistan has provided North Korea with nuclear technologies, as has been alleged.

“In the conventional or the unconventional side we have no linkages whatsoever between Pakistan and North Korea.  It’s story of the past, we have closed this chapter,” he said (Times of India, June 27).

Musharraf said yesterday, however, that Pakistan did purchase shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles from North Korea during a recent 10-month period of heightened tensions between Pakistan and India.

“We realized that there is an imbalance in the air especially,” Musharraf said.  “And we thought that can be neutralized by having more surface-to-air missiles, shoulder-fired, conventional, which we purchased for our own security,” he added.

Musharraf also said yesterday that he hopes the United States would sell sophisticated military equipment to Pakistan, including F-16 fighters and Predator unmanned aerial vehicles.  He warned, however, that Pakistan could look for other sellers if the United States refuses.

“Pakistan will not compromise on its strategy of minimum deterrence,” Musharraf said.  “So we obviously will look everywhere to maintain the strategy of minimum deterrence.  Wherever it may be in the world, we will look for it,” he added (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, June 27).

Meanwhile, Indian officials have expressed both concern and relief after a meeting earlier this week between U.S. President George W. Bush and Musharraf at Camp David.  During a joint press conference following the meeting, Bush announced a proposal for a five-year, $3 billion economic and security assistance package to Pakistan.

Both the Camp David meeting and the U.S. assistance proposal represent an upgrade in U.S.-Pakistani relations, officials said.

The time-frame on the proposal, which would not take effect until 2005, and certain “conditions,” such as addressing proliferation concerns, however, were indications that the U.S. aid proposal is not a “blank check,” officials said (Amit Baruah, The Hindu, June 27).

India yesterday rejected a suggestion made by Musharraf that the United States should involve itself in a “road map” for peace to resolve the conflict over the disputed region of Kashmir.

“We have repeatedly said there is no third party role in the bilateral dialogue ... There is no space for a third party at the table,” Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said (The Hindu, June 27).

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Russia:  Russia and Norway Set to Sign Agreement on Russian Submarine Disposal

Russia and Norway are expected to sign an agreement Monday on Norwegian funding of the disposal of two Russian nuclear submarines (see GSN, June 26).

Under the agreement, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry will pay more than $5.7 million each to two Russian shipyards, Russian Deputy Atomic Energy minister Sergei Antipov said yesterday.  The agreement was supposed to be signed last month, but was delayed because of Russian insistence that Norway also fund the removal of nuclear waste from the submarines, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse, June 27). 

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United States:  Energy Department Discusses Potential Plutonium Pit Plant

A new plutonium plant that would produce triggers for nuclear weapons will have safety features not available when the contaminated Rocky Flats facility was built in Colorado, U.S. Energy Department officials said yesterday (see GSN, June 3).

The officials held a meeting yesterday in Amarillo, Texas, to discuss a possible plant to produce the triggers, or “pits.”  A new plant would begin production in 2020, and the United States says the prospective facility must produce at least 125 pits every year to maintain the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

The Energy Department is considering sites in Amarillo; Carlsbad, N.M.; Los Alamos, N.M.; the Nevada Test Site; and South Carolina’s Savannah River.  The government has been unable to produce pits at full capacity since 1989 when the Rocky Flats plant was shut down for safety and environmental reasons, according to the Amarillo Globe-News.

A new pit facility would focus on safety and environmental concerns, according to Jay Rose, the project’s environmental impact statement manager.  The plant would have an improved fire-suppression system and safer waste disposal plan, Rose said (Rohloff/McBride, Amarillo Globe-News, June 27).

However, some groups have said that the United States does not need to build such a facility, the Environment News Service reported Tuesday.

In a letter delivered to Congress Tuesday, a coalition of several community and government watchdog groups said a new plant would “waste billions of taxpayer dollars, threaten global nuclear nonproliferation efforts and create further environmental contamination and health risks for workers and community members.”

The letter was signed by 120 groups, including the Union of Concerned Scientists, Council for a Livable World and Greenpeace International (Environment News Service, June 24).

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United States:  Abraham Calls for “Immediate Corrective Action” to Improve Security at National Laboratories

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham yesterday directed the National Nuclear Security Administration to take “immediate corrective action” to improve security at the U.S. national laboratories (see GSN, June 23).

“The Department of Energy views security as the critical responsibility of the national laboratories, and we treat any lapse or failure as significant,” Abraham said in a press statement.  “Therefore, I have directed NNSA Administrator [Linton] Brooks to launch a comprehensive security overhaul at the national labs and to put in place any immediate changes he deems necessary,” he added.

One of the three national laboratories — Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico — announced yesterday new management changes prompted by an independent investigation into allegations that internal security investigations were blocked or that investigators experienced retaliation.

Among the management changes, which are effective immediately, was the resignation of Dave Nokes, Sandia vice president for national security and arms control, according to a laboratory press release.  Nokes resigned at Sandia President C. Paul Robinson’s request, the release said.  He will be replaced by Al Romig, currently Sandia vice president for science, technology and partnerships, with a replacement for Romig to be announced soon.

“Changes, especially when unexpected, are particularly difficult,” Robinson said in a statement, “but they hopefully serve to assure continued public confidence and support for Sandia and all our programs.  This has been a very trying experience.  I know the changes we’re making today will make us stronger.”

GAO Criticizes NNSA Security Program Management

Meanwhile, the U.S. General Accounting Office released a report yesterday criticizing the NNSA for failing to effectively manage its safeguard and security program that oversees security at the three national laboratories, as well as the four U.S. nuclear weapons production sites (see GSN, June 16).

According to the May report, congressional auditors found that the NNSA had failed to be “fully effective” in its management of the safeguards and security program in four key areas — defining clear roles and responsibilities for site offices, assessing sites’ security activities, oversight of contractors’ corrective action plans and staff allocation. 

“As a result, NNSA cannot be assured that its contractors are working to maximum advantage to protect critical facilities and material from individuals seeking to inflict damage,” the report says.

Brooks told a House Government Reform subcommittee yesterday, however, that he was confident that security at NNSA sites was effective in preventing potential terrorists from gaining access.

Since the NNSA’s creation in 2000, the agency’s management structure has been in “a state of flux,” with a full implementation of a revised management structure not expected to be completed until September 2004, the GAO report says.  This “flux” has had an effect on the agency defining site offices’ safeguards and security responsibilities, it says. 

The lack of a functional management structure, and the resultant confusion over responsibilities, has led to inconsistencies among NNSA sites as to how to conduct security assessments, according to the report.  Three of the seven sites use an Energy-required survey approach to assess security, which is a comprehensive review lasting two weeks.  The remaining sites, however, instead rely on a surveillance approach, which uses a smaller number of NNSA officials to oversee one or more aspects of a contractor’s security activities throughout the year.  These sites have been able to use the surveillance approach, the report says, because the NNSA has not issued guidelines on complying with Energy policy on conducting surveys while it conducts the management reorganization.

In addition, the GAO also found that NNSA contractors often do not conduct Energy-required analyses when preparing corrective action plans to fix security flaws, according to the report.  Out of 43 such plans reviewed between 1999 and 2002, less than half included a required root cause analysis, and less than 25 percent included required risk assessment or cost-benefit analyses, the report says.

“Potential opportunities to improve physical security at the sites are not maximized because corrective actions are developed without fully considering the problems’ root causes, risks posed or cost versus benefit of taking corrective action,” the report says.

The NNSA is also facing shortfalls in both security staff and expertise, the GAO report says.  Officials at five NNSA sites said they either have or expect to have between two and six vacancies for positions to oversee contractors’ security and safeguards activities, it says.  The report found that many such vacancies occur because staff members are reluctant to be relocated to areas seen as less desirable and because the NSSA has frozen hiring activities because of budget constraints.

In its report, the GAO made several recommendations to improve security management, such as the formalization of the responsibilities of site offices to conduct oversight and the use of the survey approach at all sites to conduct security assessments.  The GAO also recommended that the NNSA ensure that contractors develop corrective action plans based on root-cause, cost-benefit and risk-assessment analyses; and that the agency develop a plan to allocate security staff at sites to provide effective long-term oversight.

During yesterday’s National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations Subcommittee hearing, Brooks said he agreed with most of the issues the GAO raised in its report and its recommendations.

“I believe the GAO did concentrate on the right things.  I believe most things in life are a question of management, and this is clearly a question of management,” Brooks said.  “If we do not get the management of safeguards and security right, we will not ever fix the problem,” he said.

Brooks said, however, that he disagreed with the GAO’s recommendation that the survey approach to conducting security assessments should be the only method used at NNSA sites.  He defended the surveillance approach, calling it “equally effective,” and said Energy policy should be modified to legitimize the use of the surveillance method.

Brooks also said the NNSA had developed several new measures to help improve security, which the agency would soon formally announce.  The new measures include increased U.S. and contractor security experts and directives to site managers to increase surveillance and to file periodical reports to Brooks himself.  In addition, the NNSA plans to systematically re-examine a number of external reviews conducted on the agency to determine if recommendations were implemented, as well as create two panels to review physical security problems and personnel concerns, Brooks said.  The panels will be headed by outside experts, he added.  

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Iran:  Washington Works Through U.N. to Stifle Tehran

After heavily criticizing the United Nations over the crisis in Iraq, U.S. officials are attempting to use U.N. channels to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, the Washington Post reported Monday (see GSN, June 24).

Many of the other options available to Washington, including possible military action, are unattractive to U.S. officials, the Post reported.

A senior State Department official described a recent report on Iran’s nuclear development from the International Atomic Energy Agency as “factual” and “devastating.”

Iran has a “lot of explaining to do,” the official added (Michael Dobbs, Washington Post, June 23).

Iranian Opposition Alleged to be Terrorists

A classified report, prepared three weeks ago by France’s intelligence agency, said that an Iranian opposition group was planning attacks in France against Iranian government targets.

French authorities last week arrested 150 members of the People’s Mujahedin, also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq, which the U.S. State Department has formally identified as a terrorist organization.  Most of the suspects were released, however, because of a lack of tangible evidence of terrorist plotting.

The group allegedly had plans to attack Iranian embassies and assassinate former members of the group who are now linked with Tehran (Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, June 23).

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North Korea:  Reactor Construction Will Likely End Soon

Construction of two light-water nuclear reactors in North Korea will most likely be suspended, a South Korean official said today (see GSN, June 20).

“The issue in point is when and how to halt (the project),” the official said.  The reactors are being built as part of the defunct 1994 Agreed Framework, under which North Korea agreed to halt nuclear weapons development.

“As the United States is demanding a halt, we’re finding it more difficult to say that the project should continue,” the official added.

Seoul is pushing for a small continuation of construction, even as Washington and Pyongyang are locked in a nuclear standoff.  U.S. officials are pushing for a complete halt to the work (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, June 25).

Former Presidential Aides Indicted

Two former South Korean presidential aides and a leading business executive have been indicted on charges that $100 million was transferred to Pyongyang before a 2000 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

The South Korean president was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, largely as a result of the 2000 meeting.

Independent counsel Song Doo-hwan handed down the indictments against Park Jie-won, a former chief of the presidential staff, and Lim Dong-won, a former head of the South Korean intelligence service.

Chung Mong-hun, the chairman of Hyundai Asan, was also indicted.

“In pre-summit talks, the government promised to provide $100 million to North Korea, and Hyundai group was asked to transmit the money for the government,” Song said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 25).

Anniversary Marked With Rhetoric

North Korea marked the 53rd anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War by criticizing the U.S. presence on the Korean Peninsula.

“The U.S. seeks to fish in troubled waters by driving South Korea as cannon fodder or a shock brigade in its aggression of the D.P.R.K.,” said the state-run Korean Central News Agency (Agence Presse-France, June 25).

Pakistani Nuclear Aid A “No-Go”

During a meeting yesterday, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and U.S. President George W. Bush discussed U.S. allegations that Pakistan provided nuclear aid to Pyongyang.

“He basically made it clear that he understood that any sort of contacts in any sort of military-related field, whatever they are, are a ‘no-go’ area,” said a senior Bush administration official (Agence France-Presse II, June 25).

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CTBT:  Oman Ratifies Treaty

Oman ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty June 13, according to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, bringing the total number of treaty ratifiers to 102 (see GSN, May 12).

Oman is not one of the 44 nations that must ratify the treaty before it can enter into force.  Of those 44 nations, 31 have ratified the treaty (CTBT Organization release, June 25).

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