The headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. The agency’s Board of Governors is expected to begin meeting Thursday to discuss Iran’s nuclear program (IAEA). Europeans Drafting Strong Resolution Criticizing Iran British, French and German officials are composing a harshly worded resolution that would criticize Iran for hiding its nuclear development for almost two decades, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, Nov. 14)...Full Story

North Korea Reaffirms Willingness to End Nuclear Program North Korea reaffirmed that it is willing to halt its nuclear activities if the United States drops its “hostile policy” toward the reclusive dictatorship, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, Nov. 14)...Full Story

No Sign of Iraqi Efforts to Provide Terrorists With Banned Weapons, Expert Says A military and intelligence expert has said that the Iraq Survey Group, which is currently searching for evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, has found no evidence so far to suggest that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime ever tried to provide terrorist groups with weapons of mass destruction, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 14)...Full Story

	Monday, November 17, 2003

No Sign of Iraqi Efforts to Provide Terrorists With Banned Weapons, Expert Says A military and intelligence expert has said that the Iraq Survey Group, which is currently searching for evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, has found no evidence so far to suggest that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s regime ever tried to provide terrorist groups with weapons of mass destruction, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 14). The finding was made in a report released Friday by Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Cordesman based his report on briefings over the past two weeks with chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq David Kay and other U.S. civilian and military officials in Iraq. “No evidence of any Iraqi effort to transfer weapons of mass destruction or weapons to terrorists,” Cordesman wrote of a briefing with Kay. “Only possibility was Saddam’s Fedayeen (his son’s irregular terrorist force) and talk only,” the report says. The threat that Hussein might have provided weapons of mass destruction to terrorists was cited by the Bush administration in its effort to justify war, according to the Washington Post. Last week, Defense Undersecretary Douglas Feith defended that stance during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations (see GSN, Nov. 14). “The idea that we didn’t have specific proof that he was planning to give a biological agent to a terrorist group,” Feith said, “doesn’t really lead you to anything, because you wouldn’t expect to have that information even if it were true. And our intelligence is just not at the point where if Saddam had that intention that we would necessarily know it” (Walter Pincus, Washington Post, Nov. 16). Meanwhile, U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has said that there is also no evidence that Hussein transferred any WMD stockpiles to Syria, according to Reuters. “I’ve seen reports, as everyone has,” Rice said in an interview Friday with WTVT-TV in Tampa, Fla. “We don’t have any evidence at this point that that’s what happened,” she said (Reuters/New York Times, Nov. 14). Back to top       U.S. State Department Recommends Aiding Iraqi Scientists In an effort to prevent Iraqi scientists from transferring their knowledge to other countries or terrorist organizations, the U.S. State Department has proposed a project to help the scientists conduct peaceful research projects in Iraq, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Nov. 10). The Science, Technology and Engineering Mentorship Initiative for Iraq would use a three-stage approach, the first of which would pay Iraqi scientists about $450 for each submitted research proposal, according to AP. State Department planners have estimated that about 750 Iraqi scientists would submit research proposals, 75 percent of which would be viable. The department estimated that the program would cost about $16 million in its first year, with most of that going to fund-approved research projects, AP reported. A Nov. 3 draft proposal for the project says the funding would support “that part of the Iraqi (scientific) community committed to peaceful professional activities not associated with weapons of mass destruction.” Officials in the State Department and in one Defense Department agency said they had called for plans to be created prior to the war to aid Iraqi scientists, but that senior military planners had ignored their calls. “Brain flight was a capital concern for us but nothing was in place,” said one official involved in the project. “By the time it fell to us, there was no mechanism to track or restrain scientists,” the official said (Dafna Linzer, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 17). Back to top

Europeans Drafting Strong Resolution Criticizing Iran British, French and German officials are composing a harshly worded resolution that would criticize Iran for hiding its nuclear development for almost two decades, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, Nov. 14). It is unlikely, however, that the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors will send the Iranian nuclear issue to the U.N. Security Council, according to Reuters. The board is scheduled to begin meeting Thursday. “It would be extremely difficult, or simply impossible, to reach a consensus on noncompliance (with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty),” a diplomat in Vienna said. Most board members, the diplomat added, favor “a strongly worded resolution that sends a very strong message” to Iran. Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, said that “things could very easily get out of control” if the issue is sent to the Security Council (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, Nov. 14). Such a move “could lead to consequences that none of us would like to witness,” Salehi said. Iran’s failure to disclose aspects of its nuclear program over the past 18 years came as the result of “mistakes,” he said. “I think the majority of the board members think that way, the overwhelming majority,” Salehi added (George Jahn, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 15). Iran’s top national security official, Hassan Rohani, is set to meet with senior European Union officials in Brussels today in preparation for the IAEA board meeting. “The talks will focus on Iran’s nuclear activities and bilateral relations,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. “The Islamic republic’s steps in building trust and transparency have been widely welcomed, and more discussions will make the atmosphere clearer,” he added (Agence France-Presse, Nov. 17). Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said today that Iran has opened its nuclear program to world scrutiny and should not be sanctioned. “Sanctions are unacceptable as nothing has been discovered,” he said. “Iran has shown everything it has (in the nuclear field). It is hard to imagine Iran still has something to disclose,” he added (Agence France-Presse II, Nov. 17). Back to top       North Korea Reaffirms Willingness to End Nuclear Program North Korea reaffirmed that it is willing to halt its nuclear activities if the United States drops its “hostile policy” toward the reclusive dictatorship, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, Nov. 14). “North Korea is willing to realistically abandon nuclear development at the phase when the U.S. hostile policy towards North Korea is removed and threats against North Korea is eliminated,” a North Korean spokesman said (Jae Suk Yoo, London Independent, Nov. 17). Pyongyang also said today that it is looking toward the next round of six-nation talks on the nuclear crisis. “We maintain the invariable stand to seek a negotiated peaceful solution to the nuclear issue,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said. “As the D.P.R.K. declared more than once, it is ready to abandon in practice its nuclear program which the U.S. is concerned about at the phase where its hostile policy is fundamentally dropped and its threat to us removed in practice,” the spokesman added (Korean Central News Agency, Nov. 17). At the next round of talks, U.S. officials are expected to propose the removal of nuclear material from North Korea, the Kyodo News Agency reported (Jung-Ahn Kim, Dong-A Ilbo, Nov. 16). U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly arrived in Japan yesterday for talks on the upcoming summit. “The discussion was excellent. We discussed every conceivable subject and we didn’t decide on any of them,” Kelly said. He met with senior Japanese officials, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. “It’s all about preparation and things we need to talk about for (the) six-way talks,” Kelly added (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 17). U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, meanwhile, said the United States was planning to pull its forces in South Korea back from the demilitarized zone to put them in a better position to react to a North Korean offensive. “We understand that weakness can be provocative,” Rumsfeld said at a press conference with his South Korean counterpart Cho Young-kil. “Neither of our governments would do anything that would in any way weaken the deterrent and the capability to defend,” he added (Robert Burns, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 17). A member of the European Parliament, meanwhile, met last month with Kim Yong-nam, the chairman of North Korea’s Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly. Glyn Ford said Saturday that North Korea has “absolutely no problem” with the European Union taking part in the talks that have so far included six nations, including North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. Ford also said that North Korea appears willing to bargain with their nuclear deterrent. “It’s clear that North Koreans genuinely fear a pre-emptive strike by the United States. Whether that’s likely to happen or not, it is certainly a factor in their own decision-making process,” he said. “They seem to be willing to negotiate away their nuclear capability in exchange for such a security agreement,” he added (Asia Pulse, Nov. 17). Back to top       New Safety Measures Ordered for Planned U.S. MOX Facility The U.S Energy Department has ordered increased safety standards for a planned facility that will convert weapon-grade plutonium into mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel for civilian nuclear power plants, Energy Daily reported today (see GSN, May 15). The department has ordered contractor Duke Cogema Stone & Webster, which will build the MOX fuel facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, to ensure that radiation protection standards can be met as close as several hundred feet away. Duke Cogema had previously proposed that the strict radiation standards be set at the border of the site, about five miles away from the plant, according to Energy Daily. A department spokesman has said that the change is not expected to have any “significant impacts” on the plan to build the MOX facility, which still needs U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, disagreed with that assessment. “The plant will have to be redesigned from top to bottom to put into place the additional safety measures that will be needed,” he said in a statement (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, Nov. 17). Back to top

U.S. Scientists Warn CIA of New “Designer” Biological Agents A panel of U.S. scientists has warned that advances in genetic engineering could lead to the creation of “designer” biological weapons, according to a CIA report described by Agence France-Presse today (see GSN, Oct. 27). The report, dated Nov. 3, describes a closed seminar held by the National Academy of Sciences at the agency’s request, according to AFP. During the seminar, scientists warned that new biological weapons could include binary agents that would consist of two separate and harmless agents that would become deadly when combined, the report says. They also warned of agents that could become harmful when combined with a typical treatment, such as a virus designed to cause flu-like symptoms and then turn deadly when the infected person takes aspirin. The scientific panel also warned of a “stealth” virus that could lie dormant in the infected for long periods of time and of engineered biological agents that could resist antibiotics, according to the CIA report. “The resulting diversity of new BW agents could enable such a broad range of attack scenarios that it would be virtually impossible to anticipate and defend against,” the report says (Maxim Kniazkov, Agence France-Presse/News.com (Australia), Nov. 17). Back to top       Homeland Security Officials Display Biowatch System U.S. Homeland Security Department officials Friday unveiled their new $60 million Project “Biowatch” air-monitoring system, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 22). Biowatch includes almost 500 air-monitoring stations covering 31 U.S. cities and half the nation’s population, according to AP. The system has yet to raise a false alarm, said Parney Albright, an assistant secretary for Homeland Security (see GSN, Oct. 10). Although Homeland Security officials did not name the cities that are covered by Biowatch, local authorities have said that Washington, New York, Chicago, Houston, Boston, San Francisco and San Diego are included (Ted Bridis, Associated Press/Miami Herald, Nov. 15). Technicians collect air samples at least once a day from the monitoring stations and bring them to laboratories for analysis. The program costs about $2 million per city, much of which is spent on labor, according to Albright (Deborah Charles, Reuters, Nov. 14). Some critics have said Biowatch cannot detect small releases, is useless against indoor attacks and allows too much lag time between an attack and the sample analysis (see GSN, July 11). “Unless it’s a major atmospheric release of large quantities of material, I do not think it would be hard at all for Biowatch to miss an attack,” said Calvin Chue, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins University. Albright acknowledged the system’s shortcomings, but said it could still help minimize casualties from an attack. “It won’t save everyone,” Albright said. “By the time we get the hit confirmed, the people who are going to be contaminated have already been contaminated,” he added (Bridis, Associated Press/Miami Herald). Back to top

Top Iraqi Missile Scientist Fled to Iran, U.S. Officials Say U.S. officers involved in the search for Iraq weapons of mass destruction have said that Iraqi missile scientist Modher Sadeq-Saba al-Tamimi, believed to be the head of prewar Iraq’s long-range missile program, has fled to Iran, the Associated Press reported today (see related GSN story, today). U.N. weapons inspectors spoke with al-Tamimi, who specialized in missile engines, a week before Operation Iraqi Freedom began, according to AP. It is believed that the scientist crossed into Iran at least two months after U.S. troops captured Baghdad, said two U.S. WMD investigators. “Dr. Modher was declared by Iraq to have been one of the principal figures in their missile programs,” U.N. spokesman Ewen Buchanan said (Dafna Linzer, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 17). Tehran today, however, denied that the Iraqi scientist had traveled to Iran “This report is completely baseless,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 17). Back to top

European Coalition Awards $3.5 Billion Missile Defense Contract Working through an international consortium, France and Italy last week awarded a $3.5 billion contract to defense firms MBDA and Thales for development and production of the SAMP/T Block 1 ballistic missile defense system, Aviation Week & Space Technology reported today (see GSN, Oct. 14). “With this system there is no longer any gap whatsoever with the U.S.,” said MBDA Chief Executive Officer Marwan Lahoud. The contract includes the delivery of 18 missile defense batteries to France and Italy. The system is anticipated for use in support of new European and NATO rapid-reaction forces (Taverna/Nativi, Aviation Week& Space Technology, Nov. 17). The U.S. Defense Department, meanwhile, might fund Germany’s portion of the Medium Extended Air Defense System for 2004, Inside the Army reported. Officials decided to merge the MEADS development — which is a cooperative effort with the United States, Germany and Italy — with the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 missile interceptor program. The countries are attempting to write a new memorandum of understanding to govern the MEADS development phase, but the German parliament will probably not fund the fiscal 2004 development without the new document in hand. If the U.S. Army covered Germany’s 2004 cost, Germany would be expected to “backfill” the money in the next fiscal year, Inside the Army reported. The recent merger made “it virtually impossible for the three governments to complete negotiations in time to meet” budget cycles, said a source. “Here we are in mid-November and there’s not a lot of time to negotiate,” the source added (Emily Hsu, Inside the Army, Nov. 17). Back to top

Czech Police Seize Radioactive Materials Czech police Friday arrested two Slovak residents who attempted to sell them about 7 pounds of radioactive material, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Nov. 3). Initial tests of the seized material indicated traces of thorium and uranium, according to Pavel Pittermann, a spokesman for the Czech nuclear safety office. The head of the office, Dana Drabova, said the material probably originated from the former Soviet Union. The undercover arrest occurred in the city of Brno, about 125 miles southeast of Prague, police spokeswoman Blanka Kosinova said in a statement. The two suspects could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of illegal production and possession of radioactive material, AP reported (Karel Janicek, Associated Press/Washington Post, Nov. 16). Back to top       New Findings Could Affect U.S. Nuclear Waste Facility Plan Two teams of U.S. Energy Department-funded scientists have discovered that buried spent fuel rods could experience previously unknown chemical reactions — a finding that could affect the department’s plans to build a long-term nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the San Francisco Chronicle reported today (see GSN, Nov. 12). Over the past year, scientists at the University of California-Davis and the University of Notre Dame have found that as spent fuel rods are exposed to groundwater, the resulting chemical reactions would create new forms of uranium minerals, according to the Chronicle. These minerals would have a positive benefit by trapping radioactive elements such as plutonium and preventing them from leaking into the groundwater supply, the Chronicle reported. The scientists published their findings Friday in Science. What has some scientists concerned, however, is that the discovery was made after decades of Energy-funded research into buried spent fuel rods, which has raised questions about what other types of currently unknown chemical reactions could occur over the thousands of years waste will be stored at Yucca Mountain. “What I find amazing in this story is that the Yucca Mountain story had gone this far without (anyone previously) finding out that these (chemical events occur),” said University of Notre Dame geology professor Peter Burns, co-author of the Science article. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d want big surprises before (you seek) your licensing application,” he said. Energy officials have said the scientists’ findings would not affect the department’s schedule to apply for a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission license for the repository by the end of next year. The scientists “have done a good job” and their work is “an interesting addition to what is known already about the behavior of spent fuel in a system that has (ground)water available to it,” said Abe Van Luik, a physical chemist who is senior policy adviser for performance assessment at Energy’s Las Vegas office (Keay Davidson, San Francisco Chronicle, Nov, 17). Back to top       U.S. Scientists Work to Find Protection Against Soybean Rust U.S. scientists at Fort Detrick, Md., are working to find new ways to combat the crop disease soybean rust, which is feared to have the ability to cause billions of dollars worth of damage if used in an act of agricultural terrorism, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 20). “It’s our highest-level threat for the immediate future," said Douglas Luster, research chief at the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Foreign Disease-Weed Science Research Unit at Fort Detrick. “If it spread across hundreds of acres, it would be difficult to eradicate,” he said. As part of a $500,000 a year project, 10 Agriculture Department scientists work with colleagues around the world, who collect soybean rust spores and test new plants developed in the United States. Over the past year-and-a-half, more than 13,000 types of soybeans have been tested in an effort to find a rust-resistant strain, but no “super-resistant” types have yet been found, the Post reported (Elizabeth Williamson, Washington Post, Nov 16).   Back to top

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