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Quote of the Day
We are in a very dangerous place.
--Former Irish President Mary Robinson, on the state of global nuclear proliferation.
Top Stories
Health Agency Plans Summit on U.S. Biological Threat Preparations
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010
The Obama administration has planned a conference next week to review the development and procurement of biological threat countermeasure as part of an initiative launched last year by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, shown in December (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images).
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Health and Human Services Department next week plans to conduct a summit with other government entities as it works to reassess the nation's strategy for producing treatments for biological weapons materials and other public health threats (see GSN, Feb. 3).
The two-day conference will examine federal policies and activities from initial research all the way through government approval of the sale of vaccines and other agents and suggest what improvements, if any, should be made to the system.
The workshop is the latest step in an ongoing review of the country's medical countermeasure development and procurement effort launched by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius last year (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2009). Countermeasures are usually defined as drugs and vaccines that ward against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents and emerging infectious diseases.
Iran Again Places Conditions on Uranium Deal
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010
A technician works at Iran's Isfahan uranium conversion facility in 2004. Tehran yesterday demanded modifications to a U.N. proposal for enrichment of Iranian uranium (Getty Images).
Iran yesterday indicated it would only give up low-enriched uranium from its stockpile in a simultaneous exchange within its borders for pre-enriched medical reactor fuel, placing in question Tehran's willingness to accept an International Atomic Energy Agency plan aimed at easing U.S. and European concerns that the Middle Eastern state might try to build a nuclear weapon, Interfax reported (see GSN, Feb. 4).
"Our condition is that this exchange take place in Iran's territory synchronously and simultaneously," said Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi.
On Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed openness to a bulk transfer of his nation's uranium, a key element of the U.N. proposal that Tehran had ruled out for months.
DOE Seeks to Produce Tritium at Additional Site
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010
The U.S. Energy Department's latest budget request calls for production of weapon-grade tritium at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, shown above (U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority photo).
The Obama administration has called for a second Tennessee nuclear plant to begin producing tritium for use in U.S. nuclear weapons, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Wednesday (see GSN, Jan. 27).
The Energy Department said its fiscal 2011 budget calls for the Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah Nuclear Plant to start generating tritium gas -- a hydrogen isotope used to boost the explosive power of all U.S. nuclear weapons -- to help ensure that the military has an adequate supply of the material.
"Tritium is vital to maintaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent," department spokeswoman Jennifer Wagner said.
Recent Stories
Russia Enacts New Military Doctrine
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010The new, 10-year Russian military doctrine inked last week by President Dmitry Medvedev does not specifically authorize the pre-emptive use of nuclear force, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2009).
India Fires Ballistic Missile
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010India on Sunday conducted its fourth test-launch of the nuclear-capable Agni 3 ballistic missile, paving the way for the weapon's entry into military service, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2009).
U.S. Nukes Should Remain on German Soil, Report Says
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010A former NATO chief and other analysts today blasted the call by the ruling coalition government in Germany to have U.S. nuclear weapons removed from the country the New York Times reported (see GSN, Nov. 9, 2009).
Taiwan Citizen Charged With Illegal Exports to Iran
Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010A Taiwanese citizen was taken into custody last week in Guam on suspicion of violating U.S. export rules by shipping potential missile program materials to Iran, Reuters reported (see GSN, Dec. 16, 2009).
Senior Chinese Official to Travel to North Korea
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010A ranking Chinese Communist Party official is expected to travel to North Korea next week in an apparent effort by Beijing to push Pyongyang into rejoin moribund nuclear disarmament negotiations, Reuters reported (see GSN, Feb. 4).
Sandia Failed to Inform Pantex Workers of Warhead "Issue"
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico has been faulted by federal safety auditors for not informing workers at the Pantex Plant in Texas of an "issue" with the W-76 nuclear warhead while they were working with the weapon, the Albuquerque Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 22, 2009).
U.S., Russia Called on to Decrease Nuke Arsenals
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010An international nuclear disarmament campaign yesterday urged Russia and the United States to move to decrease their stockpiles to 1,000 weapons apiece as an important step toward a world without nuclear weapons, the Irish Times reported (see GSN, Feb. 3).
Kansas City Nuclear Site Receives Council Approval
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010The City Council of Kansas City, Mo., yesterday signed off on development of a replacement facility for the federal plant that manufactures non-nuclear parts for U.S. nuclear weapons, the Kansas City Star reported (see GSN, Jan. 23, 2009).
House Bill Aims to Improve Local Readiness for WMD Strike
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010Three members of the House of Representatives this week submitted legislation intended to aid local emergency agencies in their preparations for a WMD attack (see GSN, Aug. 25, 2008).