U.S. President George W. Bush is expected today to propose several new nuclear nonproliferation measures (AFP photo/Tim Sloan). Bush to Propose New Nuclear Nonproliferation Measures Today U.S. President George W. Bush is expected this afternoon to propose new measures to prevent nuclear proliferation, including one that would block the transfer of nuclear components to countries not already capable of producing nuclear fuel, a senior Bush administration official said (see GSN, Jan. 26). In a speech set to be presented this afternoon at the National Defense University, Bush was expected to describe U.S. efforts to track and breakup an international nuclear black market recently exposed by the confession of top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Bush will also use the speech to outline his new nuclear nonproliferation strategy, according to the Washington Post. ..Full Story

United States Shared Information on Pakistani Scientists for Years, Official Says The United States yesterday said it had shared information on nuclear proliferation activities by Pakistani scientists with Pakistan for several years, rebuffing accusations by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that Washington had only tipped him off recently (see GSN, Feb. 10)...Full Story

Libya Had WMD Materials, But Did Not Produce Weapons, Official Says Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam said yesterday that his country had all the materials needed to develop weapons of mass destruction, but did not actually do so (see GSN, Feb. 9)...Full Story

	Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Bush to Propose New Nuclear Nonproliferation Measures Today U.S. President George W. Bush is expected this afternoon to propose new measures to prevent nuclear proliferation, including one that would block the transfer of nuclear components to countries not already capable of producing nuclear fuel, a senior Bush administration official said (see GSN, Jan. 26). In a speech set to be presented this afternoon at the National Defense University, Bush was expected to describe U.S. efforts to track and breakup an international nuclear black market recently exposed by the confession of top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Bush will also use the speech to outline his new nuclear nonproliferation strategy, according to the Washington Post.  One proposal expected to be included in the speech is a call to countries to refuse to provide nuclear components to those nations currently lacking enrichment and reprocessing facilities. Such a proposal, though, would go against the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which allows treaty parties to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, according to the Post. Bush is also set to propose that countries seeking nuclear fuel be able to purchase it in a “reliable and cost-effective way,” instead of producing it themselves, which will help prevent countries from developing nuclear weapons programs under the guise of a civilian nuclear effort, the senior Bush administration official said (Peter Slevin, Washington Post, Feb. 11). Bush’s proposal would also be a rejection of a measure put forward by International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei to place the production of nuclear fuel under international control, according to the New York Times. In his speech today, Bush is also expected to propose changes to the operations of the IAEA, such as the creation of an agency committee to monitor compliance with IAEA safeguards agreements, the senior administration official said. Bush is also expected to call on the IAEA to bar from its board of governors countries under investigation, the Times reported (David Sanger, New York Times, Feb. 11). The Bush administration did not consult with the IAEA while preparing the president’s speech, according to the Washington Post. “Quite frankly, some of these proposals will be unsettling to some,” the senior Bush administration official said, adding that ElBaradei would be briefed ahead of Bush’s speech. In addition, Bush will also use his speech to call for an expansion to both the membership and mission of the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led international effort designed to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo, the senior official said. “We need very aggressive law enforcement,” the official said. “We need to seize material.  We need to seize assets. We need to prosecute those who are participating in this criminal behavior,” the official added (Slevin, Washington Post). Bush will propose expanding the Cooperative Threat Reduction program to help fund efforts to retrain former WMD scientists in countries outside the former Soviet Union, the senior administration official said. According to the New York Times, though, Bush will not propose an increase in CTR funding, nor is an expansion of the program included in the administration’s fiscal 2005 budget proposal (see related GSN story, today; Sanger, New York Times). Back to top       Libya Had WMD Materials, But Did Not Produce Weapons, Official Says Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam said yesterday that his country had all the materials needed to develop weapons of mass destruction, but did not actually do so (see GSN, Feb. 9). “We have had the equipment, we have had the material and the know-how and the scientists, (but) we never decided to produce such weapons,” Shalgam said. “To have flour, water and fire doesn’t mean you have bread,” he added. As an example, Shalgam said Libya had purchased “a small amount of 1 percent enriched uranium,” but said that the material needed to be further enriched before it could be used in a nuclear weapon. Shalgam also said that Libya’s stockpile of biological agents would be turned over to a U.N. Security Council permanent member, probably the United Kingdom or the United States (Michael Evans, London Times, Feb. 11). Meanwhile, following progress made in dismantling Libya’s WMD programs, the United States has opened an interest section there, the Washington Post reported today. During talks last week with Libyan officials in London, U.S. officials outlined a three-phase process for resuming normal relations, according to the Post. U.S. officials hope to complete the first phase by the end of the month. The second and third phases will involve the lifting of presidential executive orders against Libya and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, as well as the removal of Libya from the list of terrorism-sponsoring countries, according to the Post. U.S. officials yesterday outlined additional rewards planned this month for Libyan progress in dismantling its WMD programs, including an end to the U.S. travel ban and an ease on sanctions to allow U.S. oil companies to begin renegotiating contracts with Libya (Robin Wright, Washington Post, Feb. 11). The United Kingdom also plans to push for an end to the European Union arms embargo against Libya, the Financial Times reported today (Adams/Khalaf, Financial Times, Feb. 11). In addition, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is prepared to meet with leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi, but outstanding disputes must be resolved first, according to the London Telegraph. One such dispute is the 1984 killing of a British police officer by a shot fired from the Libyan Embassy in London, the Telegraph reported. “We need to take this step by step,” said a Blair spokesman said. “We have made considerable progress. We want to see that progress continue.  It’s within that hoped-for progress that the possibility of further visits can be considered,” the spokesman said (Anton La Guardia, London Telegraph, Feb. 11). Back to top       Pentagon Seeks to Cut Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs The U.S. Defense Department’s fiscal 2005 budget request for its Cooperative Threat Reduction programs adds funding for an effort to interdict WMD smuggling in non-Russian former Soviet republics, but cuts support for efforts to eliminate Russian chemical weapons, according to a Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council analysis released yesterday (see related GSN story, today). The Pentagon has proposed spending $409.2 million for threat reduction programs in fiscal 2005, $41.6 million less than current funding levels. The Pentagon’s CTR request includes: *         $158.4 million to aid Russian chemical weapons disposal efforts, a $42 million decrease from fiscal 2004 funding approved by Congress; *         $58.5 million for efforts to eliminate Russian strategic delivery vehicles, an $8.1 million decrease from fiscal 2004 funding approved by Congress; and *         $40 million for the WMD Proliferation Prevention Initiative, a $10.6 million increase from approved fiscal 2004 funding. Three other CTR efforts — two programs to help improve the secure storage and transportation of Russian nuclear weapons and a program to help aid Russian biological weapons disposal efforts — experienced relatively little change in funding levels between the Pentagon’s fiscal 2005 request and current funding (Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council release, Feb. 10).  Back to top

United States Shared Information on Pakistani Scientists for Years, Official Says The United States yesterday said it had shared information on nuclear proliferation activities by Pakistani scientists with Pakistan for several years, rebuffing accusations by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that Washington had only tipped him off recently (see GSN, Feb. 10). On Monday, Musharraf said the United States had provided him with information on nuclear proliferation activities by Pakistani scientists beginning in October. U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday, though, that the issue had been one of concern between the United States and Pakistan “over a long period of time.” He also said U.S. officials had provided Pakistan occasionally with “pieces of information” on the issue (BBC News, Feb. 11). Meanwhile, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said Monday that the United States is concerned that Pakistani scientists may have provided nuclear technology to countries other than the confessed-to Iran, Libya and North Korea. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Bolton said the United States accepts Pakistan’s assertions that its scientists acted on their own without government approval. He also said, though, that there are still concerns about whether other countries acquired technology from Pakistani scientists and the possibility that buyers later resold the technology to other countries. “If part of that network is exposed, you don’t really know whether you’ve exposed all of it or not, or brought it down,” Bolton said (James Sterngold, San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 10). Back to top       Russian HEU Removal Program Is Moving Too Slowly, Experts Say A U.S.-Russian program to eliminate Russian highly enriched uranium needs to be accelerated to reduce the risk of the weapon-grade material falling into terrorist hands, according to U.S. experts cited by the Philadelphia Inquirer this week (see GSN, Jan. 16). “We are treating this in a workmanlike way, chipping away at the problem, when we should be racing towards a solution,” said Michele Flournoy of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Under a decade-old agreement, the United States agreed to purchase 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium from Russia that would be blended down to lower enrichment levels and sold to nuclear power plants. So far, about 200 tons have been blended down and shipped to the United States. That rate is too slow, the experts said, especially considering that Russia has significantly more highly enriched uranium that is not covered by the deal, enough to make tens of thousands of nuclear weapons, according to the Inquirer. Laura Holgate, of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said her group is exploring the feasibility of an additional effort to remove 30 tons of highly enriched uranium from Russia each year, blend it down to below weapon-grade levels and store the material until demand for nuclear fuel catches up with the added supply (Steve Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 9). [EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by National Journal Group.] Back to top       Myanmar Denies Seeking North Korean Nuclear Weapons Technology Myanmar today rejected a suggestion made this week by a senior aide to U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) that it was seeking nuclear weapons technology from North Korea (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2003). At a Heritage Foundation event Monday, Lugar aide Keith Luse said “special attention” was needed to what he described as a growing relationship between Myanmar and North Korea. Luse also suggested that North Korea might be providing nuclear weapons technology to Myanmar. Yangon today, though, denied seeking nuclear weapons, saying in a statement that it “does not require nor want to develop WMD when the country simply needs all her strength and resources pursuing a peaceful, stable … transition to a multiparty democracy” (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 11). Back to top       South Korea Accuses Company of Shipping Nuclear Technology to Libya South Korea today accused a domestic firm of exporting machinery to Libya that could be used in producing nuclear weapons, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, Feb. 9). In a complaint filed today, the South Korean commerce ministry accused the company of shipping four machines that can be used to balance spinning objects, such as uranium enrichment centrifuges, to Libya in 2002 without government approval.  The ministry also reported the company to prosecutors for a possible criminal investigation, AFP reported. If found guilty, the company’s president could be sentenced to five years in prison or a fine of up to three times the export price of the machines and a ban on exporting strategic materials for up to a year (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 11). Back to top       Russian Exercises Spurred by U.S. Nuclear Weapons Research, Russian General Says Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian military, said yesterday that a strategic military exercise that began yesterday reflected, in part, Russian concerns over U.S. plans to research new nuclear weapons (see GSN, Feb. 10). The exercise is not directed against any specific country, including the United States, Baluyevsky said. “The enemy is imaginary,” Baluyevsky said. “There is no hint whatsoever that the enemy is the United States, or any other country. The United States holds a similar exercise each year and no one is making a fuss about it,” he said. Baluyevsky also said, though, the exercise was prompted, in part, by Russia’s concerns over U.S. plans to research low-yield nuclear weapons. “They are trying to make nuclear weapons an instrument of solving military tasks, lower the threshold of nuclear weapons use,” Baluyevsky said. “Shouldn’t we react to that, at least on the headquarters level? I’m sure that we should and we are doing that,” he added (International Herald Tribune, Feb. 11). Russia also plans to hold an exercise later this year to demonstrate to NATO that its nuclear arsenal is secure, Baluyevsky said yesterday. “In April 2004 we will hold an exercise in the north to show the safety of stored nuclear arms,” he said. “We will invite our NATO colleagues to attend,” Baluyevsky added (Reuters/iWon.com, Feb. 10). Back to top       Russia Begins Destruction of SS-24 ICBMs Russia has begun to dismantle some of its 10-warhead SS-24 ICBMs, ITAR-Tass reported last week. The missiles are being decommissioned at a facility in Perm and six rail-mobile launchers are set for destruction this year at a site in Bryansk, the press service reported (see GSN, June 16, 2003; ITAR-Tass, Feb. 6). Russia has 36 SS-24s, but 12 were reportedly taken off alert in 2002, according to a Natural Resources Defense Council fact sheet (NRDC Nuclear Notebook/Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July/August 2003). Back to top

Former Texas Tech University Professor Surrenders Medical License Former Texas Tech University professor Robert Butler, who was convicted in December of embezzlement and fraud charges following an incident last year involving plague samples at Butler’s laboratory, has surrendered his medical license, the Associated Press reported Sunday (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2003). On Friday, the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners approved Butler’s surrender of his medical license, a board spokeswoman said.  Last month, Butler officially resigned from Texas Tech (Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, Feb. 8). Butler and the university came to an agreement through which he would resign and pay the school a monetary amount in exchange for the university not dismissing him, according to AP. Butler is expected to be sentenced in March (Betsey Blaney, Associated Press/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jan. 26). Back to top

Chinese Police Search for Missing Cesium 137 Chinese police are searching for a container of cesium 137 stolen from a construction site, BBC News reported today (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2003; BBC News, Feb. 11). Chemical weapons response personnel were deployed with geiger counters to search for the highly radioactive material, according to a local police official (Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press/FortWayne.com, Feb. 11). Officials in the central Chinese province of Shaanxi have asked anyone who finds the container to not open it and to store it in a safe place. A reward of about $600 has been offered for information leading to the recovery of the container (BBC News).   Back to top

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