News Oct2012

CBRNews GLOBAL CBRN THREATS AND ACTIVITY Our threat overview picture (above), in collaboration with CBRN monitoring sources, shows a selection of incidents in the last two months that have been added to our online news feed: www.cbrneworld.com/news. THREAT WATCH Long-lasting chemical debate in Syria Videos continue to be posted showing ever-spiralling symptoms of chemical attack evidence. These claims have been loosely supported by a UN board of inquiry that focused on interviews as a form of evidence and earlier this year one board member controversially suggested the evidence appeared to fall on the side of rebel use of chemicals. Claims that the regime has regularly used banned materials against rebels were also made by an Israeli general, Brigadier General Itai Brun, according to the Daily Telegraph. Depending on your counting April saw the fourth allegation despite huge scepticism at white frothing mouths but the US is no closer to passing the Obama red line. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague revealed last week that a soil sample taken from Khan al-Assad had tested positive for a chemical agent. None of the evidence was made public though – a missed opportunity for transparency. being stood down from Cyprus where is had been waiting. Not by the hairs on my chinny chin chin, says Syria Syria will not accept a chemical weapons team, as proposed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country's conflict, the foreign ministry said on Monday [08 Apr 13]. Ban has ‘suggested a supplementary mission allowing the mission to deploy throughout Syrian territory, which is contrary to the demand Syria made to the United Nations,’ a ministry official said, cited by state news agency SANA. He said, ‘Syria cannot accept such manoeuvres on the part of the UN secretariat general, bearing in mind the negative role that it played in Iraq and which cleared the way to the American invasion’ of that country in 2003. Ricin letters flourishing In a worrying development white powder letters have suddenly become more of a concern after letters containing ricin have been sent to prominent individuals across the US. Letters were sent to President Obama, Senator Roger Wicker and Judge Sadie Holland. Considered a separate set of events an initial wrongful arrest led to the correct arrest of James Dutschke. The recent letters were sent to New York Mayor Bloomberg. Subsequent stalling has led, apparently, to the inspection team Israel prepared to defend itself should CW fall in to wrong hands Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is prepared to defend itself should Syrian President Bashar Assad's chemical weapons and antiaircraft weapons fall into the wrong hands, according to The Jerusalem Post. These assurances do not 6th Annual CBRNe Convergence, Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, 29-31 October 2013, www.cbrneworld.com/convergence2013 4 CBRNe WORLD June 2013 www.cbrneworld.com necessarily chime with reports last year that there were shortages in the distribution of respirators to the civilian population. Massive chemical release in New Orleans – no terrorists in sight People in the greater New Orleans area have been exposed to hazardous chemicals in a release by the Exxon Chalmette Refinery. The state Department of Environmental Quality officials say they have been unable to find the source, although ExxonMobil’s Chalmette Refinery reported releasing 10 pounds of benzene and 100 pounds of hydrogen sulphide early on Wednesday. The refinery has a bad habit of under-reporting and an ‘ongoing accident problem, especially during bad weather,’ a local watchdog group said. ‘We apologize to neighbours for any inconvenience this leak incident may have caused,' said Chalmette Refining, LLC, representative Janet Matsushita, manager. ‘The health and safety of neighbours, community, and employees are our top priority.’ (New Orleans Examiner, 04 Apr 13) Could terrorists really use smallpox? UK suspects not (despite spending a fortune) The UK newspaper, the Metro, (08 Apr 2013), revealed that smallpox has been quietly removed from the possible terrorist attack scenarios. In a worrying parallel to the allegations about anthrax and smallpox vaccine being procured by officials with ‘vested interests’, Tony Blair’s government spent £79 million on vaccine which resulted in £32 million going to the company of a friend and donor of the labour party, Paul Drayson. The programme has been mired in bad press; by 2005, the Department of Health had vaccinated 516 volunteers but many of these were not given vital booster injections. In papers leaked last month which revealed the terror threat downgrade, ministers said that preparations were too expensive, ‘unwieldy’ and not ‘proportionate’. Although the US is continuing its procurement its own programmes have had repeated accusations about scare-mongering and collusion between officials and pharmaceutical companies, which led most recently to criticism of a senior air force official. China takes to blogging to accuse US of bioattack People’s Liberation Army Senior Colonel Dai Xu recently accused the United States of causing the recent bird flu outbreak by releasing the H7N9 virus in China as an act of biological warfare,(Washington Free Beacon). Immediately denied by Jason Rebholz, a spokesman for the State Department, Dai also claimed that severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was created by the US as a bio-weapon in 2003. ‘At that time, America was fighting in Iraq and feared that China would take advantage of the opportunity to take other actions,’ Dai wrote. ‘This is why they used bio-psychological weapons against China. All of China fell into turmoil, and that was exactly what the United States wanted. Now, the United States is using the same old trick. China should have learned its lesson and should calmly deal with the problem.’ Dai has had a history of trying to spark conflict between China and the United States. Thus far, the H7N9 virus has infected 31 people, leading to a total of nine deaths. US and Lithuania sign agreement for cooperation on countering nuclear smuggling US Secretary of State John Kerry and Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkeviãius strengthened their countries’ partnership to combat nuclear terrorism by signing an agreement to advance protection against nuclear and radiological smuggling. This ‘Joint Action Plan between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on Combating Illicit Trafficking of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials and Related Technology’ expresses the intention of the two governments to work together to enhance Lithuania’s capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to nuclear smuggling incidents and to share experience with other countries in the region. The plan is the eleventh such agreement concluded, and Lithuania is the programme’s second European Union and Nato partner. Russia, US, Egypt, and Arab League urge nuclear weapons-free Middle East Russian, US, Egyptian and Arab League diplomats are pushing for a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, a goal they admit will be tough to reach. On the sidelines Thursday [25 Apr 13] of nuclear talks in Geneva, the diplomats debated a plan proposed by Moscow think-tank PIR Centre. It includes steps such as Middle East nations committing not to attack one other, allowing the UN nuclear agency to safeguard nuclear facilities, and creating a new regional body for nuclear co-operation. US diplomat Thomas Countryman called the idea ambitious. But he and the Arab League’s Wael Al-Assad cited Iran’s disputed nuclear programme — which Tehran insists is peaceful — as a major stumbling block. Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov also said any accord depends on Israel, which is believed to have atomic weapons but hasn’t confirmed that. (Associated Press 25 Apr 13) Iran says ready to engage with P5+1, insists on nuclear rights The deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) says Tehran is ready to engage with the P5+1 group to find a solution to all the outstanding issues between the two sides. ‘The ball is now in the court of the P5+1,’ Ali Baqeri told Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) representatives on the sidelines of the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in Geneva on Wednesday [24 Apr 13]. During his address, Baqeri recalled the Islamic Republic’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors and its full commitment to the NPT, regretting the West’s obstructionism and sanction policy despite Tehran’s goodwill gestures in the past years. The Iranian official insisted that the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany) must now demonstrate its commitment to constructive talks with Iran if it is interested in a negotiated solution to the West’s dispute with the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy programme. (PressTV 25 Apr 13) INDUSTRY WATCH UK MoD CBRN Industry Day – 24 July 2013 The Defence Equipment & Support, Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Delivery Team (CBRN DT) will be hosting an Industry Day to present recent developments in the UK CBRN Equipment Capability Plan. The Industry Day will take place on 24 July 2013, at the Royal Military College Shrivenham. The Industry Day aims to bring together 6th Annual CBRNe Convergence, Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, 29-31 October 2013, www.cbrneworld.com/convergence2013 www.cbrneworld.com June 2013 CBRNe WORLD 5 representatives from MOD including DE&S, research and development staffs including academia and Industry. during decontamination, Medical surge treatment, Responder rehab privacy, Crime scene isolation, Fatality management, etc. Space at the event is limited and applicants will be limited to a maximum of 3 per organisation. Only those registered in advance by the 17 July 2013 will be able to attend the event. Please be aware that briefing material will be classified and therefore attendees will need to hold an appropriate level of security clearance. Hotzone trains French firefighters From 25 to 29 March 2013, two instructors from Hotzone Solutions (HZS) provided assistance to the Centre d’expertise Sécurité Nucléaire – Nucléaire, radiologique, biologique et chimique (CE-SN-NRBC) during a training course conducted at Airbase 120, Cazaux, France. Further information including how to register may be obtained from the CBRN Delivery Team Business Manager, Julie Foxhall. descbrnbm@mod.uk The training course, which was attended by some 13 firefighters, consisted of theoretical modules and a series of practical exercises, two of which included scenarios dealing with chemical and biological threats. Honeywell acquire RAE systems SciAps win World Cup chemical detection bid SciAps have won a bid to supply the ReporteR Raman analyzer for security in the World Cup in Brazil. The RespondeR formerly sold under the brand name DeltaNu. iRobot joins the carnival with $7.2 Million tender from Brazil iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT) has won contracts totaling $7.2 million from the Brazilian government to provide iRobot 510 PackBot robots, spares and associated equipment through December 2013. ‘iRobot continues its international expansion, and Brazil represents an important market for the company’s unmanned ground vehicles,’ said Frank Wilson, senior vice president and general manager of iRobot’s Defense & Security business unit. ‘iRobot is excited to be providing the company’s state-of-the-art robotic technologies to Brazil as the country prepares for several high profile international events, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup.’ DQE enhance stability and privacy DQE have released a stability cane which, according to their literature, ‘is especially helpful to lean on when washing lower extremities and the soles of boots. Having a Decon Stability Cane for support will assist responders with completing the decon process more quickly and thoroughly.’ Be that as it may it caused some polarised opinions in the CBRNe World Linkedin group with some users seeing it as really useful and others seeing it as a step too far in decontamination equipment. Clearly spurred on by demand though DQE have also to create a square-shaped area with a variety of emergency response uses: Modesty Honeywell purchases RAE Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today a definitive agreement to acquire RAE Systems, Inc., a privately held manufacturer of fixed and portable gas and radiation detection systems, and software for $340 million. The agreement, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory review, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013 and does not change Honeywell’s 2013 fullyear guidance. Emergent BioSolutions Inc. enters purchase agreement for RSDL Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire the Healthcare Protective Products Division (HPPD) of Bracco Diagnostics Inc. The acquisition will expand Emergent’s biodefence franchise by adding product sales from HPPD’s marketed chemical countermeasure, RSDL (Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion), a product cleared by the FDA for the removal or neutralization of chemical warfare agents. Emergent Biosolutions produce BioThrax, the only FDA-licensed vaccine available for pre-exposure protection against anthrax infection. US next-generation chemical detector programme gathers speed Despite the effects of budget cuts in the US they still press on at the forefront of CBRN research and procurement with the evolution of a request for proposals and draft specifications for their Next Generation Chemical Detector (NGCD) programme. Planned for release in 3rd quarter 2013 it plans to award contracts to multiple vendors for system prototypes. Although this phase is for technology development it will see procurement in 2016 for what will be one of the largest CBRN contracts, certainly for chemical detection, in the world. The question other countries must ask is, if they don’t bring forward their own activities will they end up only having the option of variants of US research as their own procurement options? INDUSTRY NEWS BITES D4H release their hazmat edition which includes a pre-loaded database of over 700 of the most common chemicals with autocompletion based on chemical name and CAS numbers. UK Department for Transport approves Smiths Detection’s MMTD for use in screening baggage, cargo and passengers. Rapiscan achieves France’s STAC certification for liquid explosive detection. Its 620DV AT advanced XRay baggage screener now meets STAC Certification requirements for liquid explosive detection Pathsensors release the BioFlash-E Biological Identifier, a portable high volume aerosol sampler for both indoor and outdoor applications. It can detect up to 21 biological and toxin threat agents. Bruhn New Tech supported an UK MOD exercise in a 2.5 week CBRN Cell Controller’s Course that took place in Winterbourne Gunner. OBITUARY CBRNe World was saddened to hear of two untimely deaths. Adam Baddeley had been a friend of the Editor since 2000, he had written for CBRNe World, NBC International and had been a close collaborator in the creation of such magazines as Digicomms. He had a deep understanding of the C4i market, a wicked sense of humour and a kind heart. He leaves behind a wife and two young children. In the same month we also heard that Colonel Janos Zelenak, Deputy Director of the JCBRN Defence COE passed away suddenly. He was the foundation stone of Hungarian CBRN defence, had been interviewed in this magazine, and was a regular in the Nato CBRN scene. His wisdom, open mindedness and motivation will be missed by all. 6th Annual CBRNe Convergence, Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, 29-31 October 2013, www.cbrneworld.com/convergence2013 6 CBRNe WORLD June 2013 www.cbrneworld.com