Defense, Energy Experts Aid China’s Nuclear Security

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2011 – The Defense and Energy departments are working under a government-to-government agreement signed Jan. 19 with China to establish a regional center of excellence there for nuclear security, a Pentagon official said.

Rebecca K.C. Hersman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for countering weapons of mass destruction, told American Forces Press Service the effort will allow the agencies to leverage their expertise and resources for “maximum effect to President Barack Obama’s nuclear security agenda.”

In April 2009, from

Hradcany Square

in Prague in the Czech Republic, Obama called for reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world and building a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation. A year later at the Nuclear Security Summit here, the United States and China agreed to strengthen cooperation in nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security and the fight against nuclear terrorism.

Also at the summit, Chinese President Hu Jintao committed to building the Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security outside Beijing.

According to an Energy Department fact sheet, the agreement paves the way for its National Nuclear Security Administration and the Defense Department to work with Atomic Energy Authority representatives in China to create a central site for training in all aspects of nuclear security.

“In many ways, DOD is the supporting player here to the broader DOE objectives,” Hersman said, “but DOD brings strengths to table, particularly in … site security, transportation security, incident response [and] inventory management, as well as experience in developing and providing training and curricula for nuclear security.”

DOD and DOE have worked together in the past, she noted. “These are all things we have done on multiple occasions directly and in support of DOE,” Hersman said, “so we see this as a natural fit for the [Center of Excellence] effort, which is expected to incorporate all these elements.”

The center will serve as a forum for exchanging technical information, sharing best practices, developing training courses and promoting technical collaborations to enhance nuclear security in China and throughout Asia.

The two-story center will be financed through a U.S.-China cost-sharing arrangement and is expected to be complete by 2012, said Dave Huizenga, principal deputy assistant administrator for the office of defense nuclear nonproliferation in the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

“This cooperation is largely with the nonweapons side -- the Chinese Atomic Energy Authority, which runs their civilian research facilities and has a role in their nuclear power facilities,” Huizenga said. “But the hope is that if we share best practices and this information gets to [the nonweapons] part of the Chinese nuclear sector, the defense people will benefit from it indirectly.”

The National Nuclear Security Administration has had an ongoing partnership with the Chinese since 2005, Huizenga said.

“We’ve had a robust best-practices sharing exchange of information on physical protection and guard forces and materials control and accounting -- all the things you do to make sure that nuclear materials stay in the facility where they’re supposed to be and aren’t moved off illicitly,” he said.

The agreement has taken such cooperation to a new level, he added.

“We’ve had a small facility where we’ve been doing this training since 2005,” Huizenga said. “But we want to consolidate everything into one larger mock-up training center so we can bring Chinese and others in the region into a state-of-the-art facility where they can get hands-on experience understanding what a guard would do if an alarm went off on the fence on the perimeter of a nuclear materials storage site, for instance.”

The center, Hersman added, also likely will offer the following:

-- Training nuclear site personnel to measure and account for nuclear material and to design and install nuclear material security systems;

-- Training protective force personnel using scenario-driven threat-response exercises;

-- Training personnel on international nuclear safeguards requirements and inspection techniques; and

-- Environmental testing of nuclear security system components.

According to a White House fact sheet, the U.S. and Chinese governments have cooperated since April 2004 to enhance nuclear security under the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology Agreement.

In 2005, the U.S. and China sponsored a joint technology demonstration at the China Institute of Atomic Energy outside Beijing that featured established nuclear security and international safeguards technologies and illustrated nuclear security best practices.

Since 2005, experts from the United States and China have conducted more than 15 workshops on nuclear security issues and activities.

“China has always described the center as supporting regional and International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear security cooperation,” Hersman said, “and we strongly support that goal.”

This article was sponsored by Military Books.

Missile Defense Dominates Gates Meetings in Czech Republic

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Oct. 23, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told reporters after meeting today with Czech leaders he's confident negotiations to place a radar here for a missile defense system are on track and likely to wrap up within the next few months. The proposed X-band radar dominated Gates' meetings today with Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanova and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, Gates told reporters during a news conference following the sessions.

"I believe we have made and continue to make good progress," Gates said, expressing confidence that the negotiations will wrap up within the next few months.

A sticking point -- but one Gates said won't stop the forward momentum – is Russian opposition to the proposed system that would include 10 interceptor missiles in Poland as well as the radar here.

Gates told reporters today he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "made quite clear" during their recent visit to Russia "that we will continue our negotiations with the Czech Republic and Poland, and assuming those negotiations are successfully concluded, we will begin the deploying of these sites."

The secretary and other U.S. officials have emphasized that the proposed system would be designed to protect Europe and the United States from ballistic missile attacks launched from the Middle East.

Gates said he told Czech leaders today about his and Rice's efforts during their Moscow visit to reassure the Russians the system wouldn't threat them. "We continue to encourage the Russians to partner with us in missile defense and continue our efforts to reassure them that these facilities are not aimed at Russia and could benefit Russia," he said.

As part of that effort, Gates said, he and Rice offered two possible ways to "encourage transparency and greater information on the part of Russia as to what is going on at these sites."

One option might be to allow Russian observers at the sites, he said, but Gates said the Czech Republic has to agree to the measure. "Let me repeat for emphasis: Nothing will be done in this regard without the consent of the Czech government," he said.

Topolanek declined to comment when asked by a reporter if his government would consider such a measure.

Another way to increase transparency about the system might be to tie its activation in to "definitive proof of the threat," including Iranian missile tests, Gates said. "The idea was that we would go forward with the negotiations, ... complete the negotiations, ... develop the sites (and) build the sites, but perhaps delay activating them until there was concrete proof of the threat from Iran," he said.

That proposal isn't yet fully developed, he said.

The United States asked the Czech government in January to begin negotiations about the proposed radar, conceivably to be built at a military base between Prague and Pilsen. The first round of negotiations with the Czechs took place in May, and the second in September.

Discussions are expected to resume later this month, initially focusing on a status-of-forces agreement to govern up to 200 U.S. troops who would operate and secure the system here. Those talks would lead up to the next round of negotiations about the missile defense site early next month.

The goal is for the system to reach initial operating capability in 2011 and to become fully operational by mid-2013, a senior defense official traveling with Gates told reporters.

Although Russia objects to missile defenses in Eastern Europe, the official said, it acknowledges that Iran is pursing a ballistic missile program. "The difference is over timelines, how soon the ballistic missiles with the range that could reach the United States or greater parts of Europe can be achieved," he said. "The Russians say later rather than sooner. We say sooner rather than later."

Iran may be the most troubling, but not the only threat in the region, the official said. Intelligence indicates that "about 20 countries or actors are pursing ballistic missile technology," he said. Of these, Iran is the most advanced in its pursuit of this weaponry. "But even if Iran was to turn in all its missiles (and) all its technology, there would still be concerns and threats emanating from the Middle East region," he said.

Gates said today he ultimately hopes the proposed missile defense system becomes part of a larger effort that addresses the full range of potential threats. He said he told Czech leaders he'll bring up the issue at the NATO informal ministerial conference that begins tomorrow in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, and hopes NATO will take formal action on the concept during its 2008 summit in Bucharest, Hungary.

"It is our hope that one of the outcomes of the Bucharest Summit next year will be a resolution to go forward and develop short- and medium-range missile defenses for NATO that would go together with the American longer-range protection," he said. "Our goal is an integrated system that would protect all the members of the alliance against threats such as from Iranian ballistic missile."

Gates said he's confident that both foreign and defense ministers within NATO support the approach.

Tomas Pojar, the Czech Republic's deputy foreign minister, told reporters today negotiations are expected to continue without a hitch, but that getting passage of the measure by the Czech parliament "will not be easy."

Any resistance to the measure comes from politicians and the media, not the Czech people, he said. "The public is not interested in the issue," he said.

Pojar cited three reasons the Czech Republic agreed to enter negotiations over the radar: its historical ties to the United States, its recognition of the ballistic missile threat, and its desire for a U.S. and NATO presence in Central Europe.

The Czech Republic has a "historic, moral reason," for supporting the United States and hasn't forgotten that "the U.S. has saved us several times in the past century," Pojar said.

Another factor is the increasing likelihood that a weapon of mass destruction could be launched from the Middle East. Pojar said there's a "30 to 50 percent chance" such a weapon could be ready for a potential attack on Europe as soon as 2015. "We should be ready for that scenario," he said.

Pojar said there's also a geopolitical reason for a U.S. presence in Central Europe, and said the Czech Republic welcomes other countries, too.

The Czechs joined NATO in 1999 and have been seeking to expand their participation in NATO and European Union activities. Failing to move forward with a missile defense system would weaken NATO and leave Europe vulnerable, he said.

"Our future depends on a strong NATO and strong trans-Atlantic ties," he said.

Gates praised Czech support for the missile defense system effort as another step in a longstanding relationship between the two allies.

"For a number of years, the U.S. and the Czech Republic have cooperated on a wide variety of security issues," Gates said. "And today, facing new challenges, our relationship is as strong as it has ever been."

Gates Lauds Increased Czech Commitment to Afghanistan

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

Oct. 23, 2007 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today welcomed news of the Czech Republic's decision to send additional troops to Afghanistan as he prepares to pressure other NATO countries to live up to their troop commitments there. Speaking with reporters today after meetings with Czech leaders, Gates praised the Czech parliament's vote to commit 480 troops to Afghanistan, up from about 250 currently serving there.

The bulk of the Czech troops will take command of a new provincial reconstruction team to be stood up in Loghar province in March 2008, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told reporters today during a joint news conference with Gates.

The Czech parliament also approved a plan to send additional special operations forces to support British operations in Afghanistan.

As part of the measure, the Czech Republic will pull about 80 troops from Iraq, where they are guarding a base in the British sector in Basra, Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar told reporters traveling with Gates. The move will leave just 20 Czech soldiers in Iraq, most to serve as trainers.

Here during his first visit to Prague, and the first visit by a U.S. defense secretary since 2002, Gates focused on the positive news and thanked the Czech Republic for stepping up its support in Afghanistan.

"Clearly the announcement of the Czech government of the increased presence in Afghanistan is welcome news, particularly as I head for a NATO defense ministers meeting where I will discuss the importance of members of the alliance meeting the commitments they made in Riga," Gates told reporters today.

Yesterday in Kiev, Ukraine, Gates said he plans to press at the NATO informal ministerial meeting that starts tomorrow in Noordwijk, Netherlands, for countries to follow through with troop commitments made at the 2006 NATO summit in Riga, Latvia.

"I am not satisfied that an alliance whose members have over 2 million soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen can't mind the modest additional resources that have been committed for Afghanistan," he told members of the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial who met in Kiev.

Gates today thanked the Czech government and citizens "for their strong support of the United States these past few years, and particularly their troop contributions in Iraq and Afghanistan."

"We are grateful for their sacrifice, and we are also grateful that the Czech Republic continues to look for ways to help, most recently by volunteering to lead a PRT in Afghanistan," he said. "We welcome further contributions to any part of the mission in Afghanistan or elsewhere."

The Czech Republic's presence in Afghanistan is important to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force there and recognizes that "having a democratic government in Afghanistan is in the security interest of the alliance as a whole," Gates said.

Of about 250 Czech troops currently serving in Afghanistan, some are based in Kabul, where the Czechs have command of the international airport. Others serve in the PRT in Faizabad province or as part of a 70-man field hospital that deployed to Afghanistan in March 2007.