Fall 2011 Volume 64 No 3 Q&A: Neal Lane Sweeping up Dirty Countering Biothreats Bombs
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THE MAGAZINE FOR SCIENCE & SECURITY Evolving Infectious Disease Risks PIRFall 2011 Volume 64 No 3 Q&A: Neal Lane Sweeping Up Dirty Countering Biothreats Bombs Bioweapons: The Past 100 Years Securing Radioactive Biological Agents: Materials In the Laboratory Avoiding the road to nowhere: BWC 2011 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul 1 FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS WWW.FAS.ORG $12.95US FAS PUBLIC INTEREST REPORT FALL 2011 Fall 2011 Volume 64 No 3 PIRFEATURES 12... Biological Agents in the Laboratory Within weeks of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001, the United States experienced a second assault in the form of anthrax spores delivered through the mail. These events changed the way we conduct work in biological laboratories. By Dr. Nancy Connell, Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School. 18... The Biological Weapons Review Conference 2011 - Avoiding the Road to Nowhere In December 2011, the Biological Weapons Convention met in Geneva for the seventh review conference of the treaty. The BWC is now in middle age, having entered into force in 1975, and in the next few years will face some difficult issues. By Dr. Jeremy “Jez” Littlewood, Director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University. 21... Biological Weapons: The Past 100 Years Biological weapons have been much discussed in the past 20 years, most particularly since the anthrax attacks in the U.S. in September and October 2001. What in fact is the status of biological weapons and what has it been for the past 40-50 years? By Milton Leitenberg, Senior Research Scholar in the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. 28... Sweeping Up Dirty Bombs - A Shift From Normative to Pro-Active Measures Anders Breivik of Norway executed two subsequent attacks on an Oslo executive government building and summer youth camp on the island of Utøya. The effect of these mass murders is heightened when one considers the other potential scenarios that could have occurred. A manifesto he posted to the Internet called for “creating, deploying and detonating radiological bombs in Western European capitals.” By The Honorable Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2010 and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and Congressman from New Mexico; Charles Streeper, nonproliferation analyst and researcher; and Margarita Sevcik, Project Manager at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies. 36... 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul - Achieving Sustainable Nuclear Security Culture The concept of a nuclear security culture emerged much later than the nuclear safety culture, which was triggered by human errors that led to the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and the Fukushima accidents. Security culture has gained acceptance as a way to keep terrorist groups from acquiring radioactive materials and prevent acts of sabotage against nuclear power infrastructures. By Dr. Igor Khripunov, Distinguished Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the University of Georgia Center for International Trade and Security. 40... Evolving Infectious Disease Risks Call for New Collaboration Models The revolution in biotechnology reached a threshold last year with the creation of the world’s first synthetic life form. As with most scientific accomplishments, this development poses both great promise and potential problems. New capabilities in manipulating biological materials, accompanied by profound geographic, demographic, economic, and political changes, have created a more dangerous infectious disease environment around the world. By Dr. Reynolds M. Salerno, Senior Manger of Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs at Sandia National Laboratories; and Renee Deger, Media Relations/Communications Manager at Sandia National Laboratories. 45... Reflections on Teaching the Manhattan Project Nuclear weapons were arguably the single most important factor on the geopolitical stage for the last half of the 20th century. For the public nuclear physics comes to their attention only when the news seems dire. The need for public education on nuclear issues is as pressing now as it has ever been. By Dr. B. Cameron Reed, Chair and Professor of Physics at Alma College. 2 FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS WWW.FAS.ORG PUBLIC INTEREST REPORT FALL 2011 FAS ONLINE orG FAS.Secrecy News Iran’s Nuclear BioBlog Demise of SSP Blog Program Osama bin Laden Read reports on new Expert opinions and developments in Read the FAS Special Find the 1998 Grand analyses of government secrecy and Report “Towards Jury indictments of important national access resources on Enhanced Safeguards Osama bin Laden for and international secrecy, intelligence and for Iran’s Nuclear his role in the security issues. national security policy. Program” and listen to bombing of the a podcast of Dr. Ali World Trade Center. www.FAS.org/blog/ Learn more about www.FAS.org/blog/ Vaez explain the The page provides ssp biosecurity issues and secrcy history of Iran’s links to CRS reports, national policy as it relationship with the speeches, and U.S. relates to health, IAEA and Iranian policy in the Middle biological sciences, and public opinion East. regarding nuclear dual-use technologies. pursuits. Read opinions www.FAS.org/policy/ www.FAS.org/blog/ and news stories about binladen this issue. bio www.FAS.org/policy/ Anders Breivik conducted one of the most deadly Charles Blair, director of the FAS Terrorism terrorist attacks in history (out of more than Analysis Project, was not convinced that Breivik 98,000 incidents of terrorism since 1970, less than acted alone. 200 have been more deadly and all of those attacks WEAPONS of involved multiple perpetrators). “Given the operational sophistication of Breivik's attacks, and the overall operational security that he Breivik left a 1500 page treatise, 2083: A European maintained for years, it is axiomatic that Breivik’s MASS Declaration of Independence, which FAS experts threats should be considered in great detail,” Blair analyzed and concluded that the nature of the said. attacks, along with the contents of the treatise, DESTRUCTION raised great concern. Questions included Breivik's “Should Breivik be part of a cell of violent alleged connections to extremist cells and his extremists, it is possible that his compatriots could AND THE assertions of forthcoming attacks involving have access to sophisticated CBRN materials. If chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear this is the case, they could actualize Breivik's more (CBRN) weapons. ambitious plans for a CBRN attack and kill POLITICS of hundreds of individuals,” said Kelsey Gregg, • Brevik made claims that he is in league project manager of the FAS Biosecurity Program. with extremist cells and that some of CULTURAL these co-conspirators “are already in the Given the nature of Breivik’s attacks and the process of attempting to acquire content of his treatise, should the security chemical, biological, radiological, or community seriously consider the possibility that nuclear materials.” cells of violent extremists were linked to Breivik DESPAIR • Brevik was motivated and capable of and were in pursuit of launching an attack with a credibly pursuing low-end CBRN radiological and/or biological weapon? attacks—specifically those likely to result in mass effect as opposed to mass Learn more at: destruction http://www.fas.org/blog/terrorism/. 3 FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS WWW.FAS.ORG PUBLIC INTEREST REPORT FALL 2011 CONTENTS 6... President’s Message Adverse Consequences of Iranian-U.S. Tensions Charles Ferguson writes about the wide ranging effects of the increasing tensions between Iran and the United States. 8... Q & A PIR Former Assistant to the President for science and technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and former director of the National Science Foundation Neal Lane, was interviewed about many of the issues of concern to the FAS founders that exist today. 49... Research Report Radioactive Materials Security Andrew Karam writes about the procedures that professionals use to secure radioactive materials and the relative risks posed by various radioactive sources. 56... Duly Noted Rick Hind of Greenpeace and Patrick Coyle, a consultant with the chemical industry, face off on security at U.S. chemical facilities. 59... Reviews Book -- American Anthrax by Jeanne Guillemin 61... FAS Matters News and Notes from FAS Headquarters. 4 FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS WWW.FAS.ORG PUBLIC INTEREST REPORT FALL 2011 Contributors NANCY CONNELL Dr. Connell’s major research focus is the interaction between M. tuberculosis and the macrophage. She is the director of the Biosafety Level Three Facility of UMDNJ's Center for the Study of Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens. PATRICK D. COYLE He has 15 years experience in the U.S. Army with extensive experience in training development, delivery and evaluation. He spent 16 years working in the chemical FALL 2011 Volume 64 No 3 industry developing and improving chemical manufacturing processes with an emphasis on chemical and process safety. PIRESTABLISHED 1945 RENEE DEGER She is a member of the Media Relations and Communications Department at Sandia National Laboratories. CHARLES D. FERGUSON Editor in Chief RICK HIND