Lax Federal Lab Safeguards Found

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Note:  I will be away May 14 - 23. There will most likely be no news 

distributions during this time, depending on internet connections.



Index:



Lax Federal Lab Safeguards Found

House OKs Nuclear Test Site Visits

S.C. Plutonium Shipments Postponed

=====================================



Lax Federal Lab Safeguards Found



WASHINGTON (AP) - Investigators reviewing federal safeguards against 

terrorism found lax oversight at hundreds of Agriculture Department 

laboratories where dangerous viruses are stored and say the Energy 

Department failed to closely track nuclear material sent abroad 

decades ago.

 

Department officials acknowledged some problems and said they have 

acted on recommendations by the agencies' inspectors general.

 

The Agriculture Department review found that even after the anthrax 

attacks by mail last year, several agency labs did not keep accurate 

records of potentially dangerous biological agents, had no 

centralized inventory system and kept vials without labels.

 

In several cases, there were either more or fewer vials on hand than 

in inventories, and one facility lost track of a vial containing 3 

billion doses of Vesicular stomatitis virus, which can cause a flu-

like illness in humans as well as fever and lesions in animals that 

can lead to malnutrition.

 

Inspectors, in visits to 124 department labs, found security at 

nearly half needed improvement. Labs often had no alarm systems, 

security fences or surveillance cameras, and though lab directors 

knew they needed upgrades, improvements were slow due to budget 

constraints and ``pre-Sept. 11 management priorities.''

 

For example, several high-risk labs did not install fences even 

though they had been recommended, the review said.

 

Labs on college campuses often rely on campus security, and in these 

cases, background checks are not always done on people with access to 

the labs and their biological agents, according to the review.

 

In one case, the report said, locks to a lab had not been changed in 

five years, and a lab official said students who had graduated may 

not always have turned in their keys.

 

In its formal response to the findings, the Agriculture Department 

said it was working to improve security and inventory its biological 

agents. It also said it would relocate one lab that was in a strip 

mall; it will take as long as five years for a permanent replacement, 

but the department said ``all pathogens of consequence'' had been 

removed.

 

In a separate report, inspectors said the Energy Department could not 

account for small amounts of nuclear materials lent to dozens of 

foreign countries for nonmilitary uses under a Cold War-era program.

 

An effort to track the materials was abandoned in 1984 because of 

concerns over its usefulness. The report said the Energy Department 

should revive that effort.

 

The department's Office of Security agreed, but its National Nuclear 

Security Administration disagreed with the recommendations, saying 

the department is not required to monitor the shipments.

 

Under the ``Atoms for Peace'' program, 33 countries, including Iran, 

Pakistan, Colombia and Malaysia, received shipments of sealed 

plutonium for calibrating radiation measurement and monitoring 

instruments and for nuclear research and development.

 

Since Sept. 11, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said small 

amounts of industrial or medical-grade radioactive material could be 

mixed with conventional explosives to fashion ``dirty bombs,'' which 

terrorists could use to contaminate cities with radioactivity.

 

No such attacks have ever been reported.

----------------



House OKs Nuclear Test Site Visits



WASHINGTON (AP) - The House has approved legislation calling for 

exchange visits between the U.S. nuclear test site in Nevada and 

Russia's test site on an Arctic archipelago in an effort to promote 

openness in the face of reported signs Russia may be preparing to 

resume nuclear testing.

 

Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., who sponsored the amendment, told the House 

last week that a classified intelligence briefing for certain members 

of Congress had included information on possible ``new movement in 

the area of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials.''

 

The New York Times reported on its Web site Saturday that classified 

briefings for select House and Senate members included information on 

a new analysis by the Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Committee 

indicating that Moscow is preparing to resume testing at the Novaya 

Zemlya testing area. The committee gathers views from different 

federal agencies on nuclear issues.

 

Weldon said in a statement his amendment was designed to promote 

safety, security and transparency with Russia by encouraging joint 

nonproliferation and threat-reduction efforts.

 

The congressman declined on Saturday to discuss specifics of the 

briefings. However, he told The Associated Press, he had learned 

``some new information that concerned me that while we should engage 

Russia ... you also have to understand that there are those in 

Russia, as well as in this country, who would like to return to the 

Cold War.''

 

He said the purpose of his amendment, which drew bipartisan support, 

was ``not intended to accuse Russia of anything,'' but rather to 

promote access to nuclear weapons facilities ``unlike anything we've 

had before.''

 

The amendment also reverses a ban on scientific research to develop 

nuclear weapons that can defeat chemical and biological weapon 

production and storage facilities.

 

``No president should have their hands tied by outdated laws that 

stifle research and development into new technologies that will 

safeguard us in the future,'' Weldon said. ``The fact is, our 

adversaries are developing chemical and biological weapons that pose 

a significant threat to America and our allies.''

 

The new questions about Russia's nuclear testing come just weeks 

before President Bush is to meet with Russian President Vladimir 

Putin for a May 23-26 summit in Russia where arms control is on the 

agenda.

 

Russia has observed a moratorium on full-scale nuclear testing since 

its last test explosion in October 1990.

 

Moscow has said it would continue to conduct subcritical test blasts 

that are not prohibited by the international Comprehensive Test Ban 

Treaty because they are necessary to ensure the safety of the 

country's nuclear arsenal. In subcritical experiments, plutonium is 

blasted with explosives too weak to set off an atomic explosion.

 

Critics warn that carrying out even limited tests could encourage 

other countries to conduct full-scale nuclear tests.

 

Russia ratified the test ban treaty in May 2000. The treaty was 

signed by President Clinton in 1996. Bush has said he does not 

support the treaty and will not ask the Senate to approve it, but 

will not violate it.

 

The Weldon proposal was approved 362-53 as an amendment to 

legislation that passed the House on Friday authorizing $383 billion 

in national security spending during the 2003 budget year. A House-

Senate conference committee will work out differences between 

differing bills approved by the two chambers.

 

The CIA and State Department had no comment on reports that Russia 

may be preparing to resume testing. Sean McCormack, 

spokesman for the National Security Council, said U.S. officials 

``are concerned that we may not be able to know if any entity were 

testing in a way designed to avoid detection, and we expect Russia to 

abide by the testing moratorium it has declared for itself.''

 

McCormack said the Bush administration would ``continue to observe 

the nuclear testing moratorium consistent with our right to 

take measures to ensure stockpile safety and integrity in 

extraordinary circumstances.''

-------------------



S.C. Plutonium Shipments Postponed



COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - A standoff between the state of South Carolina 

and the federal government over plutonium shipments is on 

hold at least until next month.

 

The Energy Department agreed Thursday to postpone planned shipments 

to South Carolina until at least June 15 so a judge can 

hear arguments in the state's lawsuit against the agency.

 

Gov. Jim Hodges sued the federal agency and Energy Secretary Spencer 

Abraham last week in an attempt to halt plans to ship tons 

of weapons-grade surplus plutonium to the Savannah River Site near 

Aiken for conversion to nuclear reactor fuel.

 

``Given that the governor has elected to throw this matter into 

litigation, DOE believes that the best way to avoid an undue delay in 

shipments is an expedited briefing schedule that will allow the court 

the opportunity to make an informed decision on the merits of 

the matter,'' Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said Thursday.

 

The first shipments from the former nuclear weapons plant at Rocky 

Flats outside Denver had been expected to begin later this month. But 

Hodges fears the conversion program will never be funded and the 

plutonium will remain in the state indefinitely.

 

``That's good news for us that they've agreed to delay shipments,'' 

Hodges said Thursday night. But he added, ``all this does is move 

from May to June the day of reckoning.''



-------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle

Director, Technical

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net

E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



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