CNS Branch Office: Washington, D.C.Jonathan B. Tucker
Transcript
Introduction, Dr. Jonathan B. Tucker Vozrozhdeniye Island, or "Rebirth Island" in English, is located in the Aral Sea, which divides the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. During the Soviet era, the island was an open-air testing site for the Soviet biological weapons program. From 1936 to 1991, field tests carried out on the island involved the release of “weaponized” pathogens: microorganisms specially developed by military scientists to be virulent, hardy, and antibiotic-resistant. Among the biological warfare agents tested on the island were special strains of Bacillus anthracis (the causative agent of anthrax), Yersinia pestis (plague), and Francisella tularensis (tularemia) that had been rendered resistant to multiple antibiotics and environmental stresses. Some evidence suggests that viral agents, including the smallpox virus, were also tested on the island. The Red Army's Fifteenth Directorate, which ran the test site, operated a year-round command post in Aralsk, on the Kazakh mainland. All of the key facilities on the island, however, were located south of the Uzbek border. At the barracks and headquarters area, up to 800 scientists and troops were deployed at the peak testing periods from April to August. One kilometer south was a laboratory complex, including high-containment facilities for work with dangerous pathogens. South of the lab complex was a 240 square mile open-air test range where the biological warfare agents were tested. The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth largest inland body of water. During the Soviet testing program, deadly germs released experimentally were unable to escape from the island because a large expanse of open water separated it from the mainland. Beginning in the 1960s, however, the Soviet authorities diverted the sea's feeder-rivers into concrete irrigation canals, with the aim of growing large amounts of cotton. After a few successful harvests, the desert soil became exhausted, the rivers silted over, and desiccation and pesticide contamination turned the area into an environmental wasteland, with serious health consequences for the local populations. The diversion of the rivers has also caused the Aral Sea to shrink dramatically and ended the former isolation of Vozrozhdeniye Island. A land bridge has now formed from the Uzbek mainland, transforming the island into a peninsula, as shown in this sequence of overhead images (see photo presentation). In 1988, after the Soviet BW program was supposedly shut down, slurries of anthrax spores and other pathogens were buried on the island. The anthrax spores had been produced at the military microbiology facility in Sverdlovsk and then stockpiled near Irkutsk. Because the volume of the anthrax material was too large to autoclave, it was shipped to Vozrozhdeniye Island for decontamination and burial. The anthrax spores were mixed with bleach in 250-liter stainless steel containers and then buried in 11 pits within a total area of less than a football field. Because the spores tended to clump together, some were protected from the bleach and remained viable in the soil. In 1992, Kanatjan Alibekov, a senior Soviet bioweapons scientist, defected to the United States and revealed that weaponized anthrax had been buried on Vozrozhdeniye Island. The U.S. intelligence community was able to determine the locations of the burial sites from historical satellite images taken while the pits were being dug. A Department of Defense team then traveled to the island and took soil samples, which revealed the presence of viable spores of weaponized anthrax. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government recognized the urgency of decontaminating the anthrax burial sites to eliminate the threat of terrorist access. Moreover, because oil companies are interested in drilling on the island for petroleum and natural gas, these activities could stir up contaminated dust that could blow across to the mainland. Even so, it would be an exaggeration to call Vozrozhdeniye Island an environmental catastrophe. Because sunlight is an excellent disinfectant, no viable pathogens remain on the surface, only below ground. Last October, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Uzbek Ministry of Defense signed an agreement allowing the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program to spend up to $6 million to prevent the proliferation of biological weapons materials and technology from Uzbekistan. Because CTR is prohibited by law from engaging in economic conversion or environmental remediation, the goals of the Vozrozhdeniye project are to destroy the residual live anthrax spores in the burial pits that pose a security threat and to dismantle the BW laboratory complex on the island. Next month [February 2002], the American side will present a plan and a proposed decontamination technology to the Uzbek Ministry of Defense for its approval, and the actual work will probably get under way in the spring. The current plan is to use a special decontamination solution to soak the anthrax-contaminated soil in situ. The soil will then be dug up and run through the solution again to make sure that all of the spores have been killed. The anthrax pits should be decontaminated by the end of this year, although it will take longer to dismantle the laboratory complex. This is not the first collaborative effort between the United States and the government of Uzbekistan. CTR has been working in Uzbekistan since 1997 to dismantle the R&D and pilot production equipment at the former Soviet chemical weapons laboratory at Nukus, a project due to be completed this year.
Ambassador Shavkat Khamrakulov It is good to know that academic circles in the United States have an interest in Vozrozhdeniye Island. Vozrozhdeniye Island is what we inherited from the former Soviet Union. Heritage and inheritance could be different, they can be good and they can be bad and one cannot get to choose either. We were destined to get Vozrozhdeniye Island. As Dr. Tucker said, I was grateful to the Kazakh scientist Alibekov who brought this information to the United States. I would also be grateful to him if he had brought it to Tashkent. It is very difficult to have such an island on one's territory when you do not know what is on it and what kind of threat it poses. In this regard, I am very grateful to the American side for their willingness to work with us and for their desire to help us. Today, as we are facing the threat of international terrorism all over the world, such an island as Vozrozhdeniye could become a target for global terrorists. They could use what is on that island to "get even" with various parts of the world, and therefore, the island becomes even more important. Everybody in this audience can remember 10 or 15 years ago when we would get together and talk about the threat of terrorist use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. We are facing this today. The current cooperation between the United States and Uzbekistan focuses on preventing the spread of chemical and biological weapons from Uzbekistan. I do not want to take too much of your time, because I think it is going to be much more interesting for you to listen to what Dr. Karimova has to say. I think it will be very interesting for you because Dr. Karimova has been working on this subject for a long time. I have known her for a long time. She is a Doctor of Political Sciences and she has also authored a book on nonproliferation issues. Today this book is considered the best textbook on the issue in Uzbekistan. It is my pleasure to give the floor to Dr. Karimova. Alla Karimova I am very pleased to be here and to participate in this conference on such an important issue of international cooperation. The changes in world politics caused by the events of September 11 have demonstrated even more clearly the closeness between Tashkent and Washington. They have also made stronger the positive tendencies that were formed over the course of the past 10 years between our two countries. Our co-operative efforts in the area of nonproliferation played a very significant role in forming trust in our relationship. Alongside government organizations, in 1996 the Monterey Institute and the Center for Nonproliferation Studies became pioneers in developing such ties. This was a unique experiment when a U.S. non-governmental organization and the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs started working together in creating a nonproliferation culture in Uzbekistan. Since then, our cooperation has not stopped for even a minute. The scientists and staff from the Monterey Institute have presented a number of lectures on nonproliferation in Uzbekistan. Every year they bring groups of people from our country to train in the United States. They also conduct regional conferences. In other words we continue working in instituting the culture of nonproliferation in our country. Looking back at the last six years, I would like to remind you of a conference that took place in Tashkent. This was the conference called Central Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. The success of the conference was due to the work conducted by our colleagues from Monterey. The importance of this conference is that it was the beginning of a new project creating the Central Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. Also, Uzbekistan joined the “international agenda” on nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The events of September 11 made this process go faster. They have drastically changed our view of security, strategic stability and the whole complex of measures that ensure security and stability. Moreover, they demonstrated a very dangerous interconnection between international terrorism and illegal arms and drug trafficking. At the same time as we reached a new level of international cooperation, we became closer on many issues and are able to discuss many critical issues successfully and usefully for both parties. It is in this regard that I would like to mention the issue of anthrax contamination of postal letters that created a concern for many around the world. The active agent of anthrax is a large bacillus which in the human body forms a capsule. When it is in the natural environment it transforms into a spore, which when boiled, dies immediately. The disinfecting solutions can kill it after a few minutes. But spores can live in the ground for about a hundred years. The Uzbek Ministry of Health does all that it can in order to prevent the penetration into our territory of this dangerous disease. On our border we have 166 sanitary sites that control the spread of the disease and our Ministry also has an anti-epidemiological staff. Four years ago, we approved regulations that were called the "sanitary rules" in order to protect the territory of our republic from the spread of various dangerous diseases. In view of the current situation, this regulation was adopted and changed. We have adopted a government program on preventing and reducing the impacts of zoonotic diseases, including tuberculosis, anthrax, and rabies. 50,000 people who are part of the higher risk group are vaccinated against anthrax in Uzbekistan every year. These activities have brought positive results. However, at the same time, tragic events in the United States, anti-terrorist operations in neighboring Afghanistan, and the spread of anthrax in a number of countries are evidence of the fact that part of the world's arsenal of weapons includes chemical and bacteriological weapons, which could end up in terrorist hands. In this regard, we have adopted additional measures in Uzbekistan. For example, we vaccinate postal workers, administrative, sanitary, and epidemiological staff, as well as customs, railway, and airlines employees against anthrax. We have also increased control over water-treatment facilities and water quality. We are taking measures to prevent the slaughtering of cattle without a preliminary veterinary inspection. We have created groups to assess how ready we are in bacteriological, sanitary, and epidemiological stations and laboratories all over the country. The Ministry of Health has set up a special office in order to strengthen preparedness against infectious diseases and, also, to increase our reserves of drugs, antibiotics, infusion solutions, and other drugs. The government of Uzbekistan considers it very important to work in the international arena in order to prevent the threat of anthrax disease. In this area, we are very pleased that we have established a legal base for cooperation with the United States, and we are thankful to the United States for their help in the demilitarization of the Nukus facilities. We also hope that the positive experience that we have had in the joint Cooperative Threat Reduction work would also be developed in order to prevent the proliferation of biological weapons in concurrence with the Framework Agreement signed in 2001 between Uzbekistan and the United States. I would also like to mention the implementation agreement on the decontamination of Vozrozhdeniye Island. Thank you very much for your attention. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. Question and Answer Question: How accessible is the island? Is there a risk of terrorist groups diverting the anthrax spores buried on the island? Jonathan Tucker: There has been scavenging of metals and other valuable items from the island, but the location of the anthrax burial sites is not generally known. People would have to be lucky if they were able to find the appropriate site from which to take samples. My understanding is that the island is now secured by military troops and that the possibility of terrorists gaining access to it has been removed. I would defer to my Uzbek colleague to confirm that. Alla Karimova: I think that Dr. Tucker gave a very correct answer to your question. We do not have any information on terrorists coming to Vozrozhdeniye Island. I think what needs to be done is to implement the agreement that was signed in the summer of 2001 between the governments of the United States and Uzbekistan. Ambassador Shavkat Khamrakulov: Today, the troops of Uzbekistan's Ministry of Defense surround the contaminated area. As Dr. Karimova said, the protection of this area is so strong that it is unlikely that terrorists are going to be able to penetrate it. But, we should not forget that besides terrorists, there are other living beings that could act as the spreading agents of this disease. What I mean is small insects, small animals, and birds that come to the territory. I do not think it matters why one dies, whether you die from the hands of terrorists or because you ate contaminated meat. Question: Did you vaccinate people at risk against anthrax prior to September 11? Alla Karimova: No. However, after September 11 we increased the numbers of people who are considered to be in the higher risk category. Before we had the information on anthrax powder delivered in envelopes, people who worked in the mail facilities, administrative workers, railroad workers, and people who deal with transportation were not included in the higher risk group. Now they are. We used measures that were developed in the United States, and we also received help from the U.S. that allowed us to prevent potentially life-threatening situations. Terence Taylor, IISS: Perhaps it would be useful for British experts who decontaminated anthrax spores on Guinard Island off the coast of Scotland to share their experiences. (The British used the island to test anthrax bombs during World War II.) Jonathan Tucker: I think that this is a very interesting observation. There are probably some useful lessons learned from the Guinard Island experience that could be applied to Vozrozhdeniye. Of course the technology of decontamination has improved in the intervening years. There is another dimension that we have not discussed, the possibility of some type of animal reservoir on the island for plague. We know that plague, unlike many other agents, does infect animals, particularly rodents. There was testing of plague on the island, but it is unknown whether or not there may be a reservoir of infected rodents on the island. The Uzbek government has expressed some interest in doing surveys of the fauna on the island to assess this possibility. I wondered if our Uzbek colleagues could comment on proposals by both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to do surveys of the island to determine if there is a lingering contamination threat from plague, as well as anthrax. Alla Karimova: Dr. Taylor, thank you very much for the important remark. I would like to say that any additional information in this area is very useful. I will make sure to tell our experts who work in this area that they can contact you for any additional or missing information. I would also like to say that the intergovernmental agreement that was signed has many facets to it, and we are planning to sign more implementation agreements. For example, there are plans for an agreement that would involve the Ministry of Health, our scientists, academic experts and the political and technical aspects of cooperation on Vozrozhdeniye Island. This is very important to us. Question: Did Uzbek nationals participate in the BW testing on Vozrozhdeniye Island during the Soviet time? Alla Karimova: I would like to tell you that there are no Uzbek citizens who worked on Vozrozhdeniye Island. We only learned about what was going on there from the press. The Soviet Union did not tell us anything, and the Uzbek government has no documents on what went on there. Our first activity, after we learned about it, was to look for Uzbek citizens who were involved in this program. I want to tell you first that I am happy that none of our citizens were involved in it, but on the other hand, it makes our information-gathering more difficult. Question: Will Russia be involved in the decontamination of Vozrozhdeniye Island? Alla Karimova: I think you are right in raising this issue. However, something that we have to take into account is the issue of passing on the information. The Soviet government and the Russian government are two completely different things. Since the Russian government also participates in the Nunn-Lugar program, I think that they are facing much of the same challenges that we are facing with Vozrozhdeniye Island. Based on the literature that I am reading, I know that Russia has even more problems than we do, and I respect them for being so involved and committed to wanting to solve these problems. Yet I think that we made the right choice in choosing the United States as our partner. I think that we will be successful in eliminating the threat from Uzbekistan. Rose Gottemoeller, Carnegie Endowment: I was wondering about your relationship with Kazakhstan. Obviously Kazakhstan owns part of the island as well. What is that working relationship like? Alla Karimova: I want to say that we have a very good relationship with Kazakhstan on a whole range of issues. Our scientists, especially those who are involved in this area and those who work in the health, sanitary, and epidemiological fields work together. They have joint conferences, joint projects that are aimed at reducing the threat, and all the appropriate agencies in both governments work together. Question: What is the total agreed cost between Uzbekistan and the U.S. to decontaminate the Island? Jonathan Tucker: My understanding is that six million dollars has been allocated, both for the decontamination project and for the dismantlement of the biological weapons complex. I think that there is still some discussion over the decontamination technology to be used. But that decision will be made shortly and then presented to the Uzbek government for their approval. Alla Karimova: The allocated amount of money has been determined and I would like to again refer back to the implementation agreement, which specifies the amount of money, who is going to do the work and how the work is going to be done on Vozrozhdeniye Island. As far as scientific debates are concerned, it would be strange if they were no scientific debates, it would not be interesting. Ambassador Shavkat Khamrakulov: I would like to say that we have the implementation agreement, and as Dr. Tucker mentioned, six million dollars has been allocated. Uzbekistan has very limited funds. As you probably guessed, the six million dollars was provided by the United States. Over the course of our negotiations, which lasted for a year and a half, we came to the conclusion that six million dollars may not be sufficient because we do not really understand the scope of the threat that is presented there. But it is certainly enough to start the work. Another aspect that has to do with Vozrozhdeniye Island is environmental. Based on the slides that Dr. Tucker presented to us, we all understand that the inevitable consequence of what is happening there is that the Aral Sea will disappear from the map. I am afraid that Vozrozhdeniye Island will first become a peninsula, and then it will turn into a part of the sediment, part of the bottom of the Aral Sea. You may remember that 10 or 12 years ago there was an article that talked about salts and dust from Vozrozhdeniye Island that have fallen into countries such as Turkey, Romania, and even countries that are further away. One can only imagine the environmental threat for countries that are surrounding the Aral Sea. Although Uzbekistan and the United States are working on solving the Vozrozhdeniye Island issue, it is not just a bilateral issue, rather, it is an issue that concerns many other countries. I would like to one more time thank Dr. Tucker and Ms. Gottemoeller for holding this meeting, and I would also like to thank everyone who came. Rose Gottemoeller: Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. Having escaped now from government service and no longer being constrained in my former Department of Energy role from being concerned about environmental problems, I would like to say that I agree with you that the problems of environmental contamination of the whole region are considerable. I hope that there will be many international efforts to work on this problem.
Transcript prepared by Katerina Borutova |