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WMD Report: Evaluating U.S. Policies to Prevent Nuclear, Chemical, & Biological Terrorism Since 2005

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Report: WMD Report: Evaluating U.S. Policies to Prevent Nuclear, Chemical, & Biological Terrorism Since 2005
Institution: Partnership for a Secure America
Date: Sept. 10, 2008

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Overall Terror Prevention Grade: C

Nuclear Terrorism Grade: C

  • Conduct a comprehensive re-evaluation of the changing threat of nuclear terrorism, resulting in a prevention strategy integrating US security, intelligence and development agencies, foreign allies, and relevant private actors.
  • Eliminate bureaucratic obstacles to proliferation prevention: Address staffing shortfalls in implementing agencies, streamline contracting and other processes, remove unnecessary restrictions to better pair budgets to strategic priorities, and create an ongoing process for coherence between US goals and those of foreign partners.
  • Strongly encourage foreign partners to live up to commitments under G8 Global Partnership, UNSCR 1540, and other agreements. Build public-private partnerships to help detect and prevent acquisition of sensitive technologies by illicit actors.
  • Resolve outstanding bilateral legal disputes to facilitate continuation and expansion of the Proliferation Security Initiative.
  • All US Government activities taking place abroad must be sensitive to addressing common threat perceptions. Managing expectations and developing buy-in are critical to program stability and long-term sustainability.
  • Strengthen existing science and human engagement programs to leverage US science and technology capacity, global development assistance, and other potential inducements as a means of building deeper and sustained cooperation for the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, materials and know-how.

Chemical Terrorism Grade: B-

  • Recognize the threats of traditional, improvised, and novel chemical terrorism.
  • Pursue non-proliferation and counter proliferation by strengthening the international regime to control transfers of dual-use chemicals, expanding the scheduled chemicals list, and addressing advances in science and technology creating potential for new proliferation; by reinvigoration of the G8 Global Partnership; and by adequate assistance under UNSCR 1540.
  • Increase interagency coordination at a higher, strategic level, while continuing to foster program-to-program coordination. Increase investments in basic research enabling revolutionary science and technology capabilities, and engaging both academia and the private sector.
  • Reduce focus on insider threats in securing industrial chemical facilities. Instead foster safe, efficient technological solutions to physical plant security.
  • Make Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tracking data for rail cars carrying certain toxic chemicals available for review and oversight.
  • Increase funding and accelerate destruction of the remaining US chemical stockpile. Implement GAO recommendations for improving management of chemical weapons demilitarization and disposal programs.
  • Increase funding for Cooperative Threat Reduction programs to aid destruction of Russian and Libyan chemical stockpiles.

Biological Terrorism Grade: C

  • Promote development of global biosecurity standards, including mandatory national registries of high-risk pathogens and laboratories, and a monitoring system for transfers of high-risk pathogens, materials and equipment in international trade.
  • Take the lead in negotiating transparency and confidence-building measures to promote non-proliferation and compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).
  • Promote enhanced detection capabilities through cooperative infectious disease surveillance, epidemiological and laboratory investigation and analysis, rapid information sharing among relevant response constituencies, and effective and safe delivery of countermeasures.
  • Pursue multilateral efforts to strengthen national and international law enforcement capabilities against bioterrorism, including forensic capabilities and training on detection and analysis of potential bioweapons activities.
  • Designate USG official (e.g. the Coordinator for WMD Proliferation and Terrorism) to undertake a complete review of major bioterrorism prevention policies, assess priorities, identify significant gaps, and enable synergies.
  • Advocate designation of a global authority to coordinate programs, assess trends and anticipate implications of advancing life sciences, and promote capacity-building and international cooperation for reducing biothreats.

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