Legislation to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Stalled

September 14, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Leah Fae Cochran

To-do: prevent nuclear terrorism - “Congress hasn’t given its best effort to prevent nuclear terrorism. Despite broad bipartisan recognition that nuclear terror is one of the biggest threats of our time, two common-sense anti-terrorism treaties have been on the ‘to-do’ list for more than half a decade,” writes Andy Semmel in The Washington Times.

--If passed the legislation- the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT)- would beef up physical protection of nuclear materials and would expand international legal authority for prosecuting terrorist acts. Full story here. http://bit.ly/RWlFFW

Resolution - Almost all member countries of the IAEA’s board, including Russia and China, voted for a resolution expressing “serious concerns” with Iran’s failure to curb enrichment and cooperate with the IAEA investigation into weapons-related activities. Cuba was the only country to vote against the resolution. Egypt, Tunisia, and Ecuador abstained. Reuters has the story. http://reut.rs/PmsH2F

ICYMI - “Scowcroft, Brzezinski Call for Clear Thinking on Military Action on Iran.” Key points and analysis from the National Security Network on the new Iran Project report, “Weighing Benefits and Costs of Military Action Against Iran.” http://bit.ly/QoW0mi

Tweet - @natsecnet: US strike against Iran would lead to all-out war, per 30+ national security experts - DEFCON Hill #IranProjectReport2012 http://owl.li/dIrom

Farewell, Leah - Today marks Leah Fae Cochran’s 65th and last edition as co-editor of Early Warning. She leaves us today for a new post at CSIS. We wish her the best of luck.

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NATO talks reductions - NATO defense and foreign ministry officials are holding closed door meets this week in Bratislava to discuss how to encourage Russia to reduce its nonstrategic nuclear arsenal. “The focus is on a draft set of transparency and confidence-building measures that NATO intends to propose to Russia that could lend each side greater insight into the other’s tactical nuclear weapons posture in Europe, issue experts said this week,” writes Elaine Grossman at Global Security Newswire.

-- “Confidence-building steps under possible consideration could include dialogue about nuclear doctrine or perhaps even unilateral actions to relocate or dismantle some of these arms, issue specialists say,” writes Grossman. Full story here. http://bit.ly/SL1iy0

Aegis SPY-1 radars - Although it’s not explicit in the NRC’s recent missile defense report, the study “apparently concluded that the only role for the Navy’s Aegis ships in the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) is to serve as launchers and communication relays for interceptors,” writes George Lewis at Mostly Missile Defense. The SPY-1 radars on Aegis ships are inadequate for doing intercepts, meaning the ships must rely on X-band radars deployed elsewhere. http://bit.ly/PfZw2V

Tweet - @Gottemoeller: There is enormous potential in the concept of the crowd aiding in arms control, so make sure you submit your idea, too! http://owl.li/dIqCT

Conflict of interests- A new GAO report finds that Department of Energy and NNSA oversight of private firms running the nation’s nuclear complexes are less than stellar. Part of the problem seems to come from a conflict between job responsibilities and reform.

-- “For example, the reform effort gives the NNSA site offices, rather than DOE’s Office of Independent Oversight staff, responsibility for correcting problems identified in independent assessments. Site office determinations of what issues require more formal contractor responses may be influenced by their responsibility for keeping costs under control and work on schedule,” states the GAO report. Global Security Newswire has the story. http://bit.ly/OtxPa1

Full report - “MODERNIZING THE NUCLEAR SECURITY ENTERPRISE: Observations on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Oversight of Safety, Security, and Project Management” (pdf) http://1.usa.gov/Oo8OY4

Syria Chem - Even if military planners had perfect information on Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, trying to destroy the dispersed chemical agents could contaminate the surrounding area and cause a lot of harm. That might be one reason why Pentagon planners focus public comments on maintaining the security of those weapons, not bombing them. Read the full story on “Why You Can’t Just Bomb Syria's WMD Into Oblivion” by Kevin Baron at The E-Ring. http://bit.ly/O3Dwf3