U.S. Response:  NRC Orders Nuclear Plants to Increase Security

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday ordered all 103 U.S. nuclear power plants to tighten and improve security to better protect against a terrorist attack (see GSN, Feb. 13).

Under the new security measures, cars and trucks arriving at nuclear power plants will be stopped at a farther distance from the plant’s gates, the NRC said.  Plant employees also will be more restricted inside plants and there will be increased screening and identification checks of contractors and plant visitors.

The new security measures are an enhancement to those already in place at nuclear plants, said the Nuclear Energy Institute, the main lobbying group for the U.S. nuclear industry.

“We’re talking about refinements on the margin, given that there are already well-trained and well-armed security forces in place,” said NEI spokesman Steve Kerekes.

Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.), however, criticized the new NRC security upgrades.

The new measures are “too little, too late and too temporary,” Markey said (Julie Vorman, Reuters/Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 15).

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U.S. Response:  Administration Requests $8.5 Billion Extra for Homeland Defense

Senior U.S. officials said the Bush administration is expected to ask for up to an additional $8.5 billion this year to help cover Defense Department homeland security costs, the Wall Street Journal reported today (see GSN, Feb. 5).

The supplemental funds would be spent in the last five months of the current fiscal year, according to the Journal.  The request is in addition to the more than $17 billion Congress approved soon after the Sept. 11 attacks and the $379 billion fiscal 2003 budget request the administration sent Congress early this month.

The additional amount is based, in part, on estimates that it costs the Pentagon $700 million per month to execute homeland security duties such as stationing National Guard troops at airports and providing fighter jet air cover over major cities, the Journal reported.  Homeland security spending is expected to peak at $800 million this month, but should decline once the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City are finished, officials said.

Supplemental spending will only be used to fund the war on terrorism and to cover the costs of homeland security, budget officials said.  Budget and Defense officials will work out the final amount of the request in meetings that are expected to begin next week, an official said (Greg Jaffe, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 14).

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Threat Assessment:  Al-Qaeda Members Included in FBI Alert, Officials Say

Suspected al-Qaeda members are among those listed in the FBI terrorism alert issued Monday, law enforcement officials said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 12).  Meanwhile, one of the targets for the potential attack might be the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, U.S. officials said (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2001).

U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft described the 17 men listed in the alert as “individuals who may be associated with Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network.”  Other law enforcement officials said some suspected al-Qaeda members are among the men listed in the alert, but they did not give a number.

All of the listed suspects are still at large and their whereabouts are unknown, officials said.  They added that they know little about the backgrounds or activities of the identified men.  None of the men, mainly from Yemen and Saudi Arabia, were identified in investigations or intelligence reports, according to the New York Times.

Immigration records showed none of the men listed in the alert, including suspected ringleader Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, have entered the United States under their actual names, law enforcement officials said.  Each of the men, however, is believed to have used several aliases, the Times reported.  Al-Rabeei alone is believed to have used at least 14 different aliases (Johnston/Shanker, New York Times, Feb. 13).

Target:  Yemen

Plans to attack the U.S. Embassy in Yemen were included in the information taken from al-Qaeda members detained at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which formed the basis of the FBI alert, law enforcement and intelligence officials said.

One of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners said a cellmate in Afghanistan told him about the plan to attack the embassy, according to officials.  Terrorists planned to attack the embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa with rocket-propelled grenades or mortars from a house purchased near the embassy, a U.S. intelligence officer said.

Authorities in Yemen have increased guards and blocked off the embassy, which is located on the edge of Sanaa, said Boulos Malik, an embassy spokesman.  A U.S. Marine security force also protects the embassy.

Last month, the U.S. State Department issued a warning regarding a “credible terrorist threat to U.S. interests in Yemen.”  There are 10,000 to 20,000 U.S. citizens in Yemen, though many are Yemenis with dual citizenship, State Department officials said (Savino/Strobel, Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 13).

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U.S. Response:  NRC Expected To Order Nuclear Plant Security Improvements

Federal officials will soon order security improvements for U.S. nuclear power plants to better protect against terrorist attacks, a nuclear industry lobbying group said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 4).

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to tell nuclear plant operators to upgrade security measures related to employees, training and physical barriers around plants, the Nuclear Energy Institute said.  The group added that details of the planned upgrades could not be released because of security reasons.

Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.), a critic of the nuclear industry, yesterday offered support for the NEI announcement.

“I am surprised to hear about potential upgrades to nuclear reactor security from the nuclear industry rather than from the government agency charged with overseeing it,” Markey said in a statement.

Nuclear safety groups have called on the Bush administration to improve security at nuclear power plants to protect them from terrorist attacks, including those using hijacked aircraft.

“Our sense today is that these plants are sitting ducks,” said Paul Leventhal, president of the Nuclear Control Institute.

Leventhal criticized a nuclear power plant security review being conducted by the NRC, calling it “a topless to bottomless review” and saying that it is “meaningless and infinite in its scope” (Chris Baltimore, Reuters/Forbes.com, Feb. 12).

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U.S. Response:  CIA, FBI Developing Intelligence Supercomputer

By Greg Seigle
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — After months of criticism that they do not work well together, the CIA and FBI have begun jointly developing a new supercomputer system designed to improve their ability to both cull and share information, White House and other U.S. officials told Global Security Newswire yesterday.

Under a directive issued by President George W. Bush,  and overseen by Office of Homeland Security officials, CIA and FBI officials are “working like crazy” to create a comprehensive database that could used by various federal and, in some cases, state agencies, officials said.

“They’re trying to push more data and resources to the agencies and people in the field that otherwise wouldn’t have them,” a U.S. official told GSN, referring to a data-mining system that could be used by the 32 federal agencies that collect classified information.

“There are several communitywide data-mining architectures that are being looked at to allow information sharing among the intelligence and law enforcement communities,” the official continued.  “A lot of it is tied to the homeland security initiatives.”

The federal government is spending $155 million this year for “information and intelligence sharing,” with $722 million more requested in next year’s White House budget proposal, according to Homeland Security Office spokesman Gordon Johndroe (see GSN, Feb. 8).

“The goals are to tear down the information stovepipes,” Johndroe said yesterday, referring to the long-held practice of various agencies to keep data to themselves.  “Information stays in one pipe, and now we’re going to tear down those stovepipe walls.”

Key Move

The creation of a new data-mining base, one capable of collecting unprecedented amounts of information that could be distributed to an array of agencies, has been viewed as the key move needed to prod the CIA, FBI and other secretive organizations to truly open up and work more closely and effectively together, officials and analysts said.

The sharing of a single database by the various agencies could allow U.S. authorities to better monitor terrorists and their financial support structures — and the companies and countries that participate in the spread of weapons of mass destruction, they said.

“It’s not going to be easy to do this,” said L. Paul Bremer, a former ambassador at large for counterterrorism who co-chaired a January Heritage Foundation report, Defending the American Homeland, that deemed as “critical” more information sharing among intelligence agencies.  “It isn’t going to solve the problem, but it’s going to make it more difficult for [terrorists] to enter the country,” he said.

Prior to the Sept. 11 attacks that killed about 3,100 people, five of the 19 hijackers were on various government watch lists but were never detected prior to the airline attacks, Bremer said.

The creation of a database shared by various intelligence and law enforcement agencies is “the first step in the right direction,” said Bud DeFlaviis, spokesman for Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), who has been pushing for such a system.

“It will only improve the flow of information between the agencies,” the U.S. official said.  “In the post-Sept. 11 environment there’s greater desire for more information.”

Pooling Resources

The use of massive high-speed computers with cutting-edge software could allow a wide range of U.S. organizations to pool resources, enabling them to better monitor and prevent the movements of terrorists and those that participate in the proliferation of dangerous weapons, officials said.

Utilizing the types of supercomputers already used by private industry to conduct marketing research, the CIA, FBI and other investigative agencies should be able to move beyond Counterintelligence-21 — an information-sharing system now being used but already considered outdated, analysts said.  The new system would take advantage of a faster, more comprehensive database, they said.

The new system under development should “meet the needs of all the consumers,” the U.S. official said.  “A lot of it is driven by [Homeland Security Director] Tom Ridge’s office.  It’s something [CIA and FBI officials are] working on continuously.  They’re continuously meeting, discussing and designing the new database.”

“It’s been the topic of discussion” during meetings between Ridge and President Bush, Johndroe said.

Casting a Larger Net

A new supercomputer “will only help the information flow between the agencies, particularly between the federal agencies and the state and local authorities,” the U.S. official said.  “It’s going to help the people who need it the most — first responders, the military, whoever.”

The officials and analysts have said that it could be dangerous for too many people to get their hands on classified information during the war on terrorism, a concern balanced by the need to get information to all pertinent officials, including state and local authorities.

There are ways to safeguard the information on a single database, so that data is shared only on a “need to know” basis, they said.

Currently when intelligence agencies share information they do not provide raw data.  Instead they offer outside agencies their interpretations of such data, a slow, cumbersome and often incomplete process, analysts said. 

To make the most of scarce resources, intelligence officials need to make their raw data available to pertinent agencies or officials, analysts added.

FBI officials would not comment, but the U.S. official said the major challenge in devising a new supercomputer is making sure it has all the proper safeguards needed to protect the vital information it provides.

“Intelligence agencies are very reluctant to put a lot of information on a database that can be shared,” Bremer said.  “There are very few home runs in counterintelligence.  You win with a lot of bunts and singles.”

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Threat Assessment:  FBI Issues Alert For Possible Attack as Early as Today

Last night the FBI issued a terrorist threat alert warning of a possible attack by a Yemeni man and several associates as early as today (see GSN, Feb. 1).

“Recent information indicates a planned attack may occur in the United States or against U.S. interests on or around Feb. 12, 2002,” the FBI alert says.  “One or more operatives may be involved in the attack.”

The FBI alert identifies one potential attacker as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, a Yemeni national.  The alert also lists a dozen other men including one from Tunisia and others from Yemen and Saudi Arabia, according to the Associated Press.  Police should “stop and detain” any of the people named in the alert and all of the suspects “should be considered extremely dangerous,” the alert says.

The alert indicates that information on the possible attacks came from interviews with captured al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan and at the Guantanamo naval base in Cuba, the AP reported.  The information is considered credible but lacks details on specific targets, officials said.

There is no evidence that al-Rabeei has entered the United States or that the ongoing Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City is a potential target, law enforcement officials said (see GSN, Jan. 22).

The FBI issued the last terrorism alert on Dec. 3 and it was expected to last only through the holiday season, according to the AP (see GSN, Dec. 4, 2001).  Officials later extended the alert through the Winter Olympics and it is now expected to end on March 11 (John Solomon, Associated Press/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Feb. 12).

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