DATE=12/14/1999 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=TOXIC WEAPONS THREAT NUMBER=5-44981 BYLINE=ED WARNER DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Nuclear weapons remain the greatest threat to the world, but chemical and biological agents also pose a danger, especially those produced in the Soviet Union that may not be under adequate control today. V-O-A's Ed Warner reports the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington recently held a discussion of these weapons of mass destruction and of U-S efforts to deal with them. TEXT: They were among the most privileged elite of the Soviet Union: big salaries, the best health care, subsidized housing, and generous vacations. All they had to do was produce ever more inventive forms of deadly toxic weapons. Amy Smithson of the Henry L. Stimson Center says the Soviet scientists and engineers were stunningly successful: // SMITHSON ACT // Soviets worked with over 50-agents, weaponizing successfully anthrax, plague, small pox, tularemia, brucellosis, among other agents. They genetically altered diseases to make them resistant to antibiotics, and they began crafting disease combinations. The USSR also produced thousands of tons of anthrax, plague, and small pox to be delivered aboard ballistic missiles, and, oh yes, they had 10-thousand scientists working on agents that would devastate crops and livestock. // END ACT // Then came the collapse of the Soviet Union. The masters of weaponry were suddenly without jobs as funds were cut to five-percent of Soviet levels. Tens-of-thousands began looking desperately for other work. During a discussion at Washington's Henry L. Stimson Center, Ms. Smithson said the United States considers 10-thousand-500 of these unemployed experts to pose a proliferation risk. A few may have taken their skills to countries like Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, which are eager to acquire chemical and biological weapons. The Director of Russia's Institute of Immunological Engineering, Vladimir Zavyalov, said the possibility of weapons' experts leaving Russia is a threat: // ZAVYALOV ACT // Of course, the most dangerous is the brain drain because knowledge is most important. It is not such a huge number, but the best scientists left Russia. Probably it is not so dangerous because they left Russia for the United States, the United Kingdom and other western countries. // END ACT // Amy Smithson says some hard-line holdovers continue to work on weapons in Russia, perhaps at four locations still off limits to outside observers. President Boris Yeltsin has issued orders to stop such work, but they may be ignored as his influence has waned: // SMITHSON ACT // Quite frankly, Moscow needs to clean house. These individuals that ran the offensive weapons program and are still in positions of authority and are hindering efforts to transform these institutes to peaceful and commercial purposes should no longer have their jobs. // END ACT // Ms. Smithson complains that a miniscule percentage of the U-S Defense Department budget is devoted to getting control of Russia's toxic weaponry. In addition, she says it takes far too long to fund programs to retrain or reassign weapons' experts to other jobs. But Mr. Zavyalov says Russians are making great strides in chemical and biological research for non- military purposes: // ZAVYALOV ACT // In my institute, we have very excellent researchers who are working in Russia and do not leave Russia for abroad. We now have revolutionary discoveries for biotechnology - the development of a totally new technology of production of antibiotics, for example, new vaccines. // END ACT // Mr. Zavyalov says former weapons makers will achieve more fame and satisfaction in these peacetime pursuits. (SIGNED) NEB/EW/RAE 14-Dec-1999 12:24 PM EDT (14-Dec-1999 1724 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .