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RE: Washington Times Article
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By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIME
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.S. intelligence agencies warned NATO military commanders last week
that
Yugoslavia could resort to nuclear-laced weapons in the Balkans
conflict, The
Washington Times has learned.
Nuclear material for a radiological weapon -- also known as a
"dirty
nuke" -- is being stored at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences,
located
about six miles southeast of the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade,
according to
officials familiar with a Pentagon intelligence report.
A "dirty nuke" does not result in a large explosion but could
kill by
spreading radioactive material with conventional explosives in
lethal doses,
the officials said.
NATO bombing planners have taken steps to make sure the
facility is not
bombed, the officials said.
"This is not on anybody's target list," said one Pentagon
official, who
noted that NATO war planners know about the facility and the nuclear
material
there.
The Pentagon report estimates about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of
highly
enriched uranium --weapons-grade fuel for a nuclear bomb -- are
stored at the
Vinca center. About seven kilograms would be required for fueling a
nuclear
bomb.
-- Continued from Front Page --
The research center also has 53 kilograms of freshly irradiated
Uranium-235 and about 10 kilograms of spent fuel from a research
reactor.
That material is not regarded as "weapons grade" fuel but is
dangerous
because of its radioactivity and its potential use as a
contaminating weapon.
"If this were reprocessed, it could be used in a radiological
device,"
said the official.
The warning was contained in a classified report on nuclear
material
being stored at a poorly guarded Serbian research center near
Belgrade.
President Clinton said Thursday after a speech in San Francisco
that the
use of weapons of mass destruction is a danger known to U.S.
intelligence
agencies.
Asked how he would respond to the use of such arms, Mr. Clinton
said:
"My response would be swift and overwhelming, and we have,
obviously,
intelligence about the Serbs in a number of areas militarily.
"But I think they are quite well aware of the dangers of overly
escalating this," Mr. Clinton said. "And I think that's all I should
say
about it right now."
The president appeared to be restating the Pentagon policy
first
outlined several years ago by then-Defense Secretary William Perry
that the
U.S. military response to the use of battlefield nuclear, chemical
or
biological weapons would be devastating attacks with conventional
arms.
The Pentagon intelligence warning said that the nuclear
material is
vulnerable to theft. Satellite photographs taken recently of the
Vinca center
reveal the facility is protected with a single guard booth and that
it does
not appear to be well secured.
A U.S. official said the Belgrade government has documents,
equipment
and precursor chemicals that could be used in making chemical
weapons, as
well as production facilities. It is not known whether the Serbs
actually
have munitions weapons for chemical arms or stockpiles of such
weapons, the
official said.
The precursor chemicals indicate that the Serbs could produce
the deadly
nerve agent sarin, the official said. Sarin is extremely toxic;
small amounts
can disrupt the central nervous system.
Serbian forces also may have capabilities for producing choking
agents
or blistering agents such as mustard gas, as well as riot-control
agents that
have weapons potential, the official said.
A 1996 report by the group Human Rights Watch said there were
witness
testimonies indicating Serbian-backed forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina
used
chemical weapons in carrying out the massacre of Bosnians in
Srebrenica in
the summer of 1995.
The report stated that the Yugoslav army in 1991 had a chemical
weapons
program that included stocks of sarin, mustard gas and a
psychochemical
incapacitant known as BZ.
"There are no indications that the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia has
destroyed its stockpiles of chemical agents or disassembled its
chemical
agent production equipment since" the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992,
the
report states.
Yugoslav army doctrine, according to report, also called for
troops to
use chemical weapons "in surrounding and destroying a group," or
when army
forces are blocked from moving.
Belgrade's biological weapons capabilities, if any, are not
known.
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Non-commercial -Fair use discussion and research only
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Philip Hypes [SMTP:phypes@lanl.gov]
> Sent: Friday, April 16, 1999 2:54 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: Washington Times Article
>
> For those of you who might be interested, there was an
> interesting article in today's Washington Times about
> possible use (that's *future* use - let's not get any rumors
> started here) of a radiation dispersal weapon by the
> Serbians in the event of a ground war. I won't clog the
> server with the full text, which can be found at
>
> www.washtimes.com
>
>
> ___________________________________________________________
> Philip Hypes
> Los Alamos National Laboratory
> Safegaurds Science and Technology Group (NIS 5)
> (505) 667-1556 phypes@lanl.gov
>
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