U.S. Needs Better Defenses Against China, Panel Says

You can misuse American nuclear technology and secretly develop nuclear weapons; you can test those weapons; you can build a nuclear arsenal in defiance of the United Nations resolutions, and you will be welcomed as someone exhibiting good behavior with an agreement with the United States of America,
—U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), during debate on the U.S.-Indian nuclear trade deal.

U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) defended a civilian nuclear trade deal with India that the Senate is expected to vote on today (Alex Wong/Getty Images). Senate Vote Expected Today on Indian Nuclear Pact The U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on a deal that would allow civilian nuclear trade between the United States and India for the first time in three decades, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 30). The pact would allow India to buy U.S. nuclear fuel and equipment in exchange for allowing international inspectors to visit its civilian nuclear facilities. ..Full Story

Activity Reported at North Korean Nuke Test Site There appears to be heightened activity at the site where North Korea conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 2006, the Korea Herald reported (see GSN, Sept. 30)...Full Story

U.S. Needs Better Defenses Against China, Panel Says An advisory panel to the U.S. State Department is urging the United States to prepare missile defenses and other countermeasures against the increasing nuclear and conventional power of China, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, March 5)...Full Story

	Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Senate Vote Expected Today on Indian Nuclear Pact The U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on a deal that would allow civilian nuclear trade between the United States and India for the first time in three decades, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Sept. 30). The pact would allow India to buy U.S. nuclear fuel and equipment in exchange for allowing international inspectors to visit its civilian nuclear facilities. Military sites would remain closed to inspections under the arrangement, which the House of Representatives backed on Saturday (Foster Klug, Associated Press I/Google News, Sept. 30). Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) spoke in favor of the agreement during debate today, contending that “compelling geopolitical reasons” exist for its endorsement. He cited India’s location near Afghanistan, China and Pakistan, AP reported. Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) argued that the deal would advance Washington’s nonproliferation and national security goals while cementing “a strategic partnership with a nation that shares our democratic values and will exert increasing influence on the world stage." The agreement received notable criticism from Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.). "Never has something of such moment and such significance and so much importance been debated in such a short period of time and given such short shrift," Dorgan said, adding that the deal "will almost certainly expand the production of nuclear weapons by India" while undermining the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. "This message is: you can misuse American nuclear technology and secretly develop nuclear weapons; you can test those weapons; you can build a nuclear arsenal in defiance of the United Nations resolutions, and you will be welcomed as someone exhibiting good behavior with an agreement with the United States of America," he said. "What message does that send to others who want to join the nuclear club?" (Foster Klug, Associated Press II/Google News, Oct. 1). A proposed Senate amendment to the agreement’s implementing legislation states that if India detonates a nuclear bomb in the future, the U.S. presidential administration must verify the absence of U.S. equipment and nuclear material in the test, the Associated Press reported. An additional proposal would require the United States to cut off all nuclear trade with India if the Asian nation conducts a nuclear weapon detonation. The agreement “would be a way to solidify what has been an extraordinary period in which U.S.-Indian relations have reached the kind of deepening that is really appropriate for two of the world's largest and great democracies," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told journalists (Klug, AP I). Rice and other U.S. officials have sought to persuade lawmakers in meetings and telephone conversations that the deal contains adequate measures to prevent it from supporting India’s nuclear weapons program, Agence France-Presse reported today. “We're all done with that (providing reassurances),” one State Department official said. “Obviously, if there needs to be any further reassurances of materials provided, we will do it." "We're not guaranteed that it's going to happen, obviously, but we're optimistic, and we've worked hard to sell this agreement to Congress," the official added (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Oct. 1). Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday said his government would pursue civilian nuclear trade deals with EU nations in addition to an agreement reached this week with France, the Press Trust of India reported. "Today we signed a bilateral agreement in this area with France and we expect to finalize agreements with other European partners too," Singh told European business leaders (Press Trust of India, Sept. 30). Back to top Activity Reported at North Korean Nuke Test Site There appears to be heightened activity at the site where North Korea conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 2006, the Korea Herald reported (see GSN, Sept. 30). The report came as Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill led a U.S. diplomatic team to Pyongyang in hopes of fixing the troubled North Korean denuclearization process. “Recently, we have spotted smoke at several places near the nuclear test site in Punggyeri, North Hamgyeong Province. We are closely paying attention to the moves to find out whether the North is intending to restore the site,” one South Korean military official told the newspaper. The smoke could be produced by incineration of clothes and equipment used as North Korea prepared to make the site operational again, according to intelligence officials. It could also be an indicator that Pyongyang intends to abandon its 2007 agreement to dismantle its nuclear complex in return for economic, diplomatic and security benefits from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States (Jin Dae-woong, Korea Herald, Oct. 2). However, the Yonhap News Agency reported that other sources indicated that the seeming activity might be a ruse intended to increase the pressure on the United States. Repairs at the site were apparently finished following the first nuclear blast on Oct. 9, 2006, the sources said (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Oct. 1). North Korea has made several moves toward denuclearization since last year, including halting operations at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, conducting disablement at three key facilities and submitting a declaration with details of its nuclear work and materials. However, the regime in recent weeks has reversed course, removing equipment from storage at Yongbyon, barring international monitors from its plutonium processing facility, and announcing its intention to resume operations at the site. The moves appear to be a response to North Korean frustration that it has not been removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and with the Bush administration’s demand that it accept a protocol for verification of its nuclear activities. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il also reportedly suffered a stroke last month, leading to speculation that hard-line military elements were now directing the nation’s nuclear policy. Hill intends to deliver a less-stringent verification proposal, the Herald reported. “Assistant Secretary Hill carries a proposal which has a softened mandate, but accords with its verification principle including a sampling examination and a free access to undeclared facilities. But, we don't know how North Korea will react to it,” said one diplomatic source in Seoul (Jin, Korea Herald). Hill entered North Korea late this morning and arrived a few hours later in Pyongyang, the Associated Press reported. This is his third trip to the Stalinist state. Details of the reported amended verification plan remain vague. A high-level U.S. official said the plan calls for North Korea to provide details of its nuclear program first to China, which would hold them until after the Bush administration had taken Pyongyang off the terrorism list (Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Oct. 1). Under that plan, North Korea could assert that Washington had met its demand for delisting before the regime accepted the verification plan, Agence France-Presse reported. State Department spokesman Robert Wood would only say yesterday that Hill had “some ideas on how to move this process forward.” Hill’s schedule calls for traveling to China on Friday and then to Japan. That could change if necessary, the State Department said (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Oct. 1). Back to top Russian Nuclear Bomber Approached British Coastline A nuclear-capable Russian bomber flew within 20 miles of British airspace in late 2007, shocking military officials who were unable to intercept the aircraft, the London Sun reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 19). The Tu-160 “Blackjack” departed from Russia’s Engels air base and approached the city of Hull from over the North Sea, British defense officials confirmed. British radar detected the Russian jet late in its flight and the only four fighter planes available to respond were on other missions, allowing the bomber to fly within 90 seconds of British shores despite what the Defense Ministry called a “multilayered” system for tracking and responding to incursions by foreign planes. “The Russians made us look helpless” one Royal Air Force pilot said. “The Blackjack could have got even closer. It was a disaster — it basically gave the Russians the green light to fly wherever they want” (Tom Newton Dunn, London Sun, Sept. 30). Back to top U.S. Dedicates HEU Storage Site The United States dedicated a new facility Monday for storing highly enriched uranium at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported (see GSN, Sept. 10). The opening of the $549 million Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, attended by roughly 1,000 people, marked a new phase in an effort aimed at securing U.S. nuclear-weapon fuel against any terrorist threat, U.S. officials and contractors said. “It’s one of the most secure places on the face of the Earth as far as … trying to enter,” said Ron Wantland, an engineer in charge of the Y-12 plant’s operational security group. Workers now plan to begin adding and checking various capabilities at the site, which was built using 91,000 cubic yards of concrete and more than 5,800 tons of reinforcing steel. The facility can still be retooled in the future to counter any “credible” terror risk, said Butch Clements, vice president for safeguards, security and emergency services for Y-12 contractor B&W Technical Services. “It ensures that our protective force goes home at the end of the day and the adversary doesn’t,” he added. The facility would begin storing uranium in 2010 if it receives required endorsements as expected (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, Sept. 30). Back to top Report Calls for International Enrichment Centers U.S. and Russian researchers have called on the international community to ensure a steady nuclear fuel supply to the growing number of nations developing civilian atomic energy capabilities, the U.S. National Academies said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 7). Such a step — through means that could involve installation of a limited number of international facilities for uranium enrichment, spent fuel management and other activities — is necessary to discourage countries from developing indigenous uranium enrichment capabilities that could be used to produce nuclear-weapon materials, states a new report by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences. All countries drawing fuel from such an enrichment network should adhere to international inspection regimes, and strict security measures must be maintained at the sites to ensure they do not become a source of knowledge for countries that could seek to develop nuclear weapons, the report says. It adds that international enrichment centers still might only have a “modest” effect on nations desiring their own enrichment capabilities. The report also urges all countries to stop stockpiling plutonium and to place firm limits on nuclear fuel reprocessing, an effort that can produce unneeded plutonium (U.S. National Academies release, Sept. 30). Back to top U.S., South Korea to Partner on Nuclear Security The United States and South Korea yesterday agreed to increase cooperation in their effort to prevent rogue nations or terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear material, equipment, technology or know-how, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced (see GSN, Sept. 2). The nations signed an agreement permitting the U.S. agency and the South Korean Education, Science and Technology Ministry to share data and best practices; work together in training customs personnel and others on recognizing potentially dangerous material; and cooperate in improving export control licensing and communications with relevant private firms. “The signing of this arrangement for cooperation reinforces the U.S.-South Korean partnership to prevent nuclear proliferation,” NNSA Deputy Administrator William Tobey said in a statement. “International collaboration plays a critical role in the global fight against illicit trafficking and proliferation, and the United States through the NNSA will continue to build and expand partnerships to reduce the risk of smuggling dangerous nuclear and radiological material and related equipment.” The South Korean ministry and the NNSA International Nonproliferation Export Control Program have collaborated in this sector since 2004 (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration release, Sept. 30). Back to top U.S. Provides $3.1M for Nuclear Detection Research The U.S. Homeland Security Department yesterday announced the latest set of universities to receive federal funding for research on detection of nuclear and radiological materials that could be used in acts of terrorism (see GSN, Feb. 23, 2007). “It is our intention that our efforts through the Academic Research Initiative, combined with the support efforts of other federal agencies, to help cultivate the nuclear scientists and engineers of the future,” Vayl Oxford, head of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, said in a press release. “We will continue to expand our support in the coming years to demonstrate long-term, stable funding for innovative ideas that advance nuclear detection capabilities and build the nation’s intellectual capital.” The agency for fiscal 2008 divided $3.1 million among nine institutions — Texas A&M University, Purdue University in Indiana, Washington State University, the University of California at Berkeley, the Naval Postgraduate School in California, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the University of California at Santa Barbara and the California State University East Bay Foundation. Homeland Security and the National Science Foundation established the Academic Research Initiative last year. It is set to provide up to $58 million in grants over five years for research on strengthening detection capabilities for nuclear weapons, special nuclear material, radiological “dirty bombs” and similar dangers (U.S. Homeland Security Department release, Sept. 30). Back to top

Fewer Anthrax Vaccine Doses Still Effective Providing three doses of anthrax vaccine proved just as effective in producing immunity in clinical testing as a regimen of four shots, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 29). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study of 1,005 U.S. vaccine recipients over six months. Researchers now want to see whether there is any difference in the immune response between people who receive four shots over 3 1/2 years and those who receive eight vaccine doses. “Depending on the data at the end of the study, we have the potential to halve the doses that a person needs to get,” said CDC researcher Conrad Quinn. The findings ultimately could allow more people to receive a finite amount of anthrax vaccine in the event of a biological terrorism incident. “If you have a certain amount of vaccine and now you don't have to give all of that to complete one series, you have more vaccine,” Quinn said. Emergent BioSolutions of Maryland produces the only anthrax vaccine currently licensed for use in the United States. The treatment requires six doses over 18 months and has been linked to side effects, Reuters reported. Quinn also reported that side effects could be lowered by using the muscle of the upper arm as the injection site instead of under the skin (Will Dunham, Reuters/Yahoo!News, Sept. 30). Back to top FBI Refuses to Disclose Anthrax Suspect Documents No fewer than 15,000 pages of FBI records on the man accused as the lone perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax mailings will remain off-limits to the public until the case is formally closed, the McClatchy News Service reported yesterday (see GSN, Sept. 25). The FBI has located a “significant number” of undisclosed records deemed relevant in its investigation of Bruce Ivins, formerly a veteran microbiologist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., FBI records management chief David Hardy wrote in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by McClatchy. The FOIA law generally loosens restrictions on information about deceased people — Ivins committed suicide in July as federal prosecutors prepared charges against him — but investigators were not ready to disclose the documents due to “investigative leads” that remained open in the case, Hardy wrote in a letter to the news agency. Hardy referred to the need to guard confidential sources, law enforcement procedures, privacy concerns and fair trial rights of suspects as reasons the FBI has withheld the documents. The bureau has received eight requests to date for documents on Ivins. When the Justice Department closes the investigation, the FBI will release the records on a “rolling basis as soon as practicable,” Hardy wrote. "There's virtually no chance of getting FBI records in this case until they decide to close" the case, said Lucy Dalglish, head of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "This is a situation where it's probably going to be years before we figure out what they've got" (Marisa Taylor, McClatchy News Service/Miami Herald, Sept. 30). Back to top

Research Panel Backs Waste Transport From Blue Grass A U.S. research panel yesterday recommended that waste produced from neutralization of chemical warfare materials at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky be transported to another location for disposal, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2007). The recommendation by the National Research Council follows the example set by the Newport Chemical Depot in Indiana, which shipped hydrolysate wastewater from VX nerve agent disposal to an incinerator in Texas. A shorter disposal schedule is among the benefits of moving the waste, according to the NRC report. It said, though, that “the off-site option may be unattractive for other reasons.” The depot has begun construction of the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant, which is now expected to complete disposal of VX and mustard agents in 2023. The U.S. Congress has demanded that the Defense Department’s entire arsenal of chemical weapons be destroyed by 2017 (Lexington Herald-Leader, Sept. 30). U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Saturday that he had secured another $30 million for operations at Blue Grass in the fiscal 2009 continuing resolution, which would ensure the government can operate until lawmakers pass annual budget bills. The fiscal year began today. The Defense Department’s Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program, which is preparing for disposal operations at Blue Grass and the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, is now set to receive roughly $430 million for fiscal 2009. That would be the most money it has received in a budget year. “This funding will help ensure that the Department of Defense complies with the 2017 deadline for the safe disposal of the chemical weapons at the Blue Grass Army Depot,” McConnell said in a press release (U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell release, Sept. 27). Back to top

U.S. Needs Better Defenses Against China, Panel Says An advisory panel to the U.S. State Department is urging the United States to prepare missile defenses and other countermeasures against the increasing nuclear and conventional power of China, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, March 5). Beijing’s "major objective is to counter U.S. presence and U.S. military capabilities in East Asia through the acquisition of offensive capacities in critical functional areas that systematically exploit U.S. vulnerabilities,” according to an unfinished report from the International Security Advisory Board. “Using superior U.S. military technical capacities, the United States should undertake the development of new weapons, sensors, communications and other programs and tactics to convince China that it will not be able to overcome the U.S. militarily,” the panel said in a draft document obtained by the newspaper. ....