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March 30 2002 [N] North Korea announces that it will continue to abide by the 1994 Agreed Framework, which froze the North Korean nuclear weapons program, but it accuses the United States of failing to comply with its obligations to provide two light water nuclear reactors.

Late March 2002 [M] An explosion at a Scud missile plant in northern Syria kills 35 people.

April 1 2002 [N] India begins construction of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. This plant is the first of two reactors to be built with assistance from Russia. The two reactors will have a combined output of 2000 Megawatts, and are scheduled to join the Indian energy grid by 2007. All other members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group have frozen nuclear exports to India.

April 2 2002 [N] U.S. Nuclear National Security Agency chief General John Gordon claims that designing a new nuclear “bunker buster” weapon need not violate the 1994 Congressional prohibition on the development of new nuclear weapons. Gen. Gordon proposes that such a program would use a modification of the B61-7/11 nuclear bomb, which already exists.

April 3 2002 [B, N] Officials in Kazakhstan announce that a U.S.-funded project to destroy the Soviet-era biological weapons facility at Stepnogorsk will require an additional $5.5 million to ensure against any threats to the environment. On the same day, the Kazakhstani parliament votes to extend a U.S.-Kazakhstani agreement on Cooperative Threat Reduction programs until December 13, 2007.

April 6 2002 [N] Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of Japan’s opposition Liberal Party, announces that Japan has enough plutonium to “easily” produce thousands of nuclear warheads. Ozawa also suggests that nuclear weapons may be needed to develop a deterrent force against China. The Japanese government quickly responds by reaffirming its long-standing policy not to pursue such weapons, and expresses regret over Ozawa’s remarks.

April 8 2002 [C] The United States announces that it will not certify that Russia is in compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) or the Biological Weapons Convention. The certification is needed to permit new U.S. spending for assistance under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.

April 8-19 2002 [N] The first session of the Preparatory Committee (Prep Com) for the 2005 NPT Review Conference is held at the United Nations in New York. The Prep Com adopts no final report. Instead, the Prep Com chairman issues a Chairman's Summary.

April 11 2002 [N, M, B] Chairman of the Defense Science Board William Schneider claims that he has been given encouragement from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to examine the option of using nuclear-tipped interceptors to defeat decoys and other countermeasures that might be used to overwhelm a U.S. missile defense system. Nuclear-tipped interceptors would also be effective in destroying ballistic missiles armed with warheads carrying biological agents.

April 14 2002 [N] The Taiwanese military declassifies documents detailing 1958 plans to retake the mainland using nuclear weapons provided by the United States. The United States had collaborated with Taiwan in drafting the plans, but backed out after determining that such an attack would result in heavy Chinese casualties, and would likely motivate Communist China to acquire assistance from the Soviet Union in developing its own nuclear weapons program.

April 15 2002 [N] Bruce Riedel, a senior official in the U.S. National Security Council under President Clinton, claims that the Pakistani Army had prepared to use nuclear weapons during the Kargil crisis with India in 1999.

April 16 2002 [M] Retired Russian Space Forces General Anatoly Sokolev says that the missile defense system protecting Moscow since the early 1970s has grown obsolete.

April 22 2002 [O, C] Jose Bustani is forced to step down as Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) by a vote of 48 to 6. The movement to oust Bustani is led by the United States, and is opposed only by Brazil, China, Cuba, Iran, Mexico, and Russia. Australian John Gee will act as temporary chairman until a new leader is elected.

April 24 2002 [M] A nuclear capable X-22 cruise missile misfires from a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber. The missile is destroyed in-flight by Russian officials, but crashes in Kazakhstan. The weapon is not carrying a warhead.

April 25 2002 [M] The U.S. Army claims “partial success” in a test of the PAC-3 terminal missile defense system. Later analysis by the Army, however, shows that while one of the two missiles tested hit its target, it did not destroy it. The second missile fails to launch.

May 1 2002 [M] Sources close to the U.S. Defense Department report in Jane’s Defense Weekly that the United States will not likely deploy a national missile defense system by 2004, as originally planned. Also, the more advanced tiered system would not likely see deployment before 2010.

May 1-3 2002 [N, B, C, M, O] Iraq and the UN hold a second round of talks aimed at resuming weapons inspections in Iraq. UN officials call the meetings “useful and frank.” Iraq seeks a guarantee that sanctions, including the imposition of the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq, be lifted if Iraq is shown to be in compliance with previous disarmament resolutions.

May 9 2002 [M] The U.S. State Department, citing the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000, announces sanctions against China for its export of cruise missile technology to Iran.

May 14 2002 [N] An Israeli court convicts Brig. Gen. Yitzhak Yaacov of revealing Israeli nuclear secrets in two books he had written. The court acquits him, however, of attempting to harm state security.

May 23 2002 [N] South Africa presents a working paper on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty to the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

May 24 2002 [N, M] U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sign the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty in Moscow (Treaty of Moscow). In this treaty, each side agrees to reduce its number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1700-2200 by the year 2012. The treaty allows each side to determine for itself the composition of its nuclear forces within these limits. At the same meeting, Bush and Putin also reaffirm the START I treaty, and discuss the possibility of cooperating in a national missile defense program.

May 24 2002 [O] The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a new “smart sanctions” regime for Iraq, which will enable civilian goods to enter the country more easily, while further restricting military-related items.

May 25-27 2002 [M] Pakistan successfully completes three ballistic missile tests, including the first-ever tests of its Hatf-2 and Hatf-3 missiles with a range of up to 290 kilometers. Although India criticizes the tests, both India and Pakistan agree that the tests are routine and are not related to the current tensions between the two over Kashmir.

May 26 2002 [M] Iran announces the successful test of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile. The missile has a range of 800 kilometers. Iran claims that it has no plans to develop Shahab-4 or Shahab-5 missiles, but argues that American efforts to deny foreign assistance to Iran’s missile program will have no effect.

May 26 2002 [N] U.S. intelligence estimates that a Pakistani-Indian nuclear war would kill 12 million people immediately, and leave another 7 million injured.

May 30 2002 [N] Pakistan orders its military to prevent Pakistani militants from crossing the line of control that divides the disputed Kashmir region. The order helps defuse the crisis between the Pakistan and India, both nuclear-armed.

June 1 2002 [N, B, C] U.S. President George W. Bush, speaking to the graduating class at the West Point Academy, outlines a new foreign policy based on pre-emptive strikes to prevent the proliferation of WMD, arguing that, “if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long”.

June 3 2002 [N, B, C] The U.S. Customs Service announces a new system to detect WMD at U.S. border crossings and ports. The system includes portable X-ray and gamma ray scanners, mobile laboratories and new “smart cards” that can detect the presence of biological agents such as anthrax.

June 4 2002 [O] India, Pakistan, China, Russia, and 12 other countries sign the Almaty Act, pledging to support efforts to destroy chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons and to cooperate in combating international terrorism.

June 5 2002 [O, C] The European members of the World Health Organization announce a plan to develop an alert system to reduce the effects of a future terrorist attack with chemical weapons. The system would facilitate the quick and efficient response to a chemical attack.

June 6 2002 [N] Russia begins scrapping the first Akula-class strategic nuclear submarine at Severodvinsk. Work on disassembling twenty others is to begin in June. One hundred others are scheduled for destruction in the next few years.

June 6 2002 [C] A World War II-era bomb believed to contain mustard gas washes up onto a beach in Latvia. It is believed to be one of approximately 40,000 such bombs lost by Germany in the Baltic Sea.

June 6 2002 [C, B] The Australia Group, at an annual meeting held in Paris, adopts new guidelines for controlling exports of equipment that can be used in the production of chemical or biological weapons. Included in the new guidelines are a “no undercut” provision whereby members agree not to allow the transfer of any equipment to a state that has been denied similar equipment in the past by another member, and a “catch-all” provision that directs members to deny transfers of equipment that they have reason to believe might be used in a weapons program, even if transfers of the equipment is not explicitly proscribed by the Australia Group.

June 10 2002 [N] U.S. officials announce that they have arrested Abdullah al-Mujahir, an alleged Al-Qaida operative and U.S. citizen who is believed to be behind a plan by that group to detonate a radiological weapon in the United States.

June 13 2002 [M] The U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty formally takes effect, six months after U.S. President George W. Bush announced the decision to withdraw.

June 13 2002 [M] In the South Pacific, the U.S. Navy conducts its first test of the Seabed system, the naval-based component of a national missile defense system. In the test, the cruiser USS Lake Erie shoots down an Aries ballistic missile launched from Hawaii. The cruiser uses its own onboard Aegis radar system to track and destroy the missile.

June 15 2002 [B] A report published in the New York Times claims that a 1971 Soviet weapons test  involving smallpox resulted in an outbreak that caused three deaths in the Aral Sea port city of Aralsk.

June 17 2002 [M] Representatives from over 100 countries attend a conference in Madrid to discuss the creation of an International Code of Conduct to limit the proliferation of ballistic missiles. Notable countries that refuse to participate are Syria and North Korea. Iran attends the conference, but withdraws on June 18.

June 17 2002 [C] Israeli Television Channel Two reports that the terror group Hamas has threatened to use chemical weapons in future terrorist attacks against Israel.

June 17 2002 [N] Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf credits Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent with preventing an Indian invasion during the recent crisis over Kashmir. In response, Indian presidential nominee A.P.J. Abdul Kalam cites the deterrence capabilities of both sides in preventing war.

June 19 2002 [N, M] Russian Armed Forces General Anatoly Kvashnin claims that Russia has, and will continue to have, an ICBM force equipped with multiple re-entry warheads.

June 19 2002 [B] The FBI arrests a Washington state man believed to be developing the toxin ricin. If convicted on the charge of possession of a toxin to use as a weapon, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. The man claims his work is simply part of a project for his Boy Scout troop.

June 22 2002 [N] The German newspaper Die Welt reports that Western intelligence agencies have determined that Egypt, with Chinese assistance, has begun to mine and process uranium in the Sinai Peninsula. The Egyptian Ministry of Energy dismisses claims that Egypt is pursuing nuclear weapons, claiming instead that the activities are part of a civilian nuclear program.

June 25 2002 [N, R] The International Atomic Energy Agency announces that it has created a working group with U.S. and Russian officials aimed at securing radioactive material in the former Soviet Union which could be used in a radioactive weapon, or a “dirty bomb.”

June 26 2002 [C] The Tokyo District Court sentences Tomomitsu Niimi to death for his role in the 1995 Sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system. Niimi is the ninth member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, now called Aleph, to be sentenced to death, although none to date have been executed.

June 26 2002 [N] Israel’s Army Radio announces that the Shin Bet security force has arrested six Palestinian men who were allegedly planning a suicide attack on a warehouse where nuclear warheads and Jericho missiles are stored.

June 27 2002 [N, M] The U.S. Senate passes a resolution banning the research, development, and deployment of nuclear-tipped anti-ballistic missile interceptors. On the same day, the U.S. House of Representatives passes a resolution that praises such interceptors as “a prudent step” in defending the United States from missile attack.

June 27 2002 [O] The leaders of the G-8 countries issued a statement outlining a new initiative, entitled the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. It agrees to spend up to $20 billion over the next 10 years to help Russia initially, and then other countries, dismantle their stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

July 1 2002 [N] The International Atomic Energy Agency warns in a report that radioactive material in Thailand may not be secure, and may therefore increase the threat of terrorist acquisition of radiological weapons.

July 5-6 2002 [N, B, C, M, O] Negotiations between Iraq and the UN fail to result in an agreement on resuming weapons inspections.

July 8 2002 [B] The New York Times cites a senior U.S. official in a story claiming that the United States is preparing to vaccinate 500,000 first responders and health workers against smallpox. Many health workers, however, oppose the plan.

July 8 2002 [M, N] Yevgeny Velikhov, director of the Russian Research Center Kurchatov Institute, one of Russia’s leading nuclear laboratories, proposes in Defense Week that the United States and Russia cooperate on a national missile defense program using nuclear-armed interceptors.

Mid-July 2002 [M] China test launches a CSS-5 medium-range ballistic missile from a base in southern China. The missile is rigged with several decoy warheads that might be used to overwhelm regional missile defense systems, such as those being developed by the United States and Japan.

July 12 2002 [M] The Pentagon’s annual report on Chinese military capacity is released to Congress. The report notes that by the middle of the current decade, China will complete its replacement of its arsenal of 20 DF-5 ICBMs, which are able to reach targets only in the Western United States, with the longer-range DF-A, which are able to reach targets throughout the United States. The report also indicates that China is preparing to deploy a more modern solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile by mid-decade. It predicts China will have a mix of at least 60 missiles able to reach part or all of the United States by 2010. In addition, the report indicates that China is adding short-range ballistic missiles, capable of hitting Taiwan, at a rate of 50 per year.

July 14 2002 [B] The Washington Post reports that Washington, D.C. has been selected as one of four cities to take part in the National Bioweapons Defense Analysis Center program to develop models for bioweapons defense. Albuquerque and two other cities yet to be decided will also participate in the program.

July 15 2002 [C, B] The Pentagon admits conducting potentially dangerous CBW experiments in the 1960s on American sailors aboard ships off the coasts of San Diego and Hawaii. The tests, conducted between 1964 and 1968, involved exposing sailors to harmful strains of bacteria, as well as the chemical agents Sarin and VX.

July 18 2002 [M] Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, known as the father of India’s ballistic missile program, is elected president of India.

July 18 2002 [C] U.S. Army scientists confirm that five M55 rockets are leaking the nerve agent GB at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. They stress that no workers have been exposed to the agent, and the surrounding community is not at risk.

July 19 2002 [B, C] The United States announces it is placing sanctions on eight Chinese firms suspected of aiding Iran's development of WMD. None of the firms, however, conducts business with the United States. Also sanctioned are a Chinese individual and an Indian individual.

July 22 2002 [B] U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton, citing reports by intelligence sources and émigrés, accuses Cuba of developing an offensive BW program. Secretary of State Colin Powell later issued a clarification stating that the United States believes that Cuba has a biological offensive research capability, but that "we didn't say that it actually had such weapons.”

July 22 2002 [N, B, C] In a Pentagon press briefing, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urges pre-emptive action in dealing with “rogue states” attempting to develop WMD.

July 22 2002 [B] A student at the University of Connecticut is arrested and charged with keeping samples of anthrax in a university laboratory. If convicted of possession of a biological weapon agent, he could face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Authorities determine that the sample would need further processing to develop the deadly spores needed to construct a weapon.

July 25 2002 [C, O] Rogelio Pfirter of Argentina becomes the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. He replaces Jose Bustani, who stepped down in April due to international pressure against him led by the United States.

July 29 2002 [N, B, C] U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claims that air strikes alone could not destroy Iraqi WMD programs.

July 31 2002 [N] During meetings with Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton express the Bush administration’s displeasure over Russia’s assistance to Iran’s nuclear program.

July 31 2002 [N, B, C] In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, several experts, including former UN weapons inspectors, Iraqi defectors, and Middle East analysts, warn U.S. lawmakers that an invasion of Iraq may result in an Iraqi WMD counterattack.

Aug 8 2002 [M] Russia announces that it has refitted and is preparing to test launch its SS- 18 Satan and SS-19 Stiletto, both multi-warhead ICBMs. These missiles had been scheduled for deactivation, but Moscow ordered they be refitted in response to the U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty.

Aug 13 2002 [B, C] The Pentagon approves a request from the U.S. Central Command for a large quantity of a new decontaminating foam. The foam, which was developed by Sandia National Laboratories, is said to be able to render all known chemical and biological agents harmless in 30 minutes.

Aug 14 2002 [M] The Pentagon announces that the PAC-3 terminal missile defense system is ready for deployment. Missile Defense Agency Director General Ronald Kadish claims that although problems do exist with the system, they can be fixed. At this point, 30 batteries of the system are ready for deployment.

Aug 14 2002 [N] The U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological and Nuclear Affairs announces that the United States will likely need to resume nuclear testing in five to ten years, due to aging warheads in the U.S. arsenal.

Aug 15 2002 [N] Israeli defense analyst Zeev Schiff claims that Israel could respond with nuclear weapons to any WMD attack by Iraq.

Aug 21 2002 [N] The United States, working with Russian and Yugoslav authorities, as well as with the Nuclear Threat Initiative, transports over 100 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from the Vinca nuclear reactor in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to Russia. Russia will render the material unusable for nuclear weapons by blending it with natural uranium to reduce its enrichment level.

Aug 22 2002 [M] The United States announces it is imposing sanctions against North Korea for exporting Scud missile parts to Yemen during the Clinton administration. The sanctions will apply to the North Korean government and the North Korean Changgwang Sinyong Corporation.

Aug 23 2002 [N] Taiwan’s Cabinet drafts a bill banning the use of nuclear weapons and reaffirming Taiwan’s support for global nuclear nonproliferation efforts. (Taiwan is a non-nuclear weapon state party to the NPT.)

Aug 25 2002 [M] China announces new export controls on missiles that will create a system of licensing and registering companies that export missile-related or dual-use items. The system parallels the restrictions contained in the Missile Technology Control Regime guidelines.

Aug 27 2002 [B] A Tokyo District Court finds that the Imperial Japanese Army had in fact used biological weapons in the Chinese provinces of Zhejiang and Hunan during World War II.

Early September 2002 [N] Khalid Sheik Mohamed and Ramzi Binalshibh, both Al-Qaida operatives, allege that the original targets of the September 11 attacks were actually nuclear facilities in the United States. The terror group abandoned the plan, claiming that “it would go out of control,” but did not rule out the possibility of such attacks in the future.

Sept 2 2002 [N] Iraq allows foreign reporters to tour the Al-Qaim uranium extraction plant, claiming that the site has not been rebuilt since it was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1991.

Sept 4 2002 [N] The United Kingdom begins a plan to upgrade its national radiation-monitoring system, which would help British authorities manage the threat of attack with nuclear or radiological weapons.

Sept 4 2002 [C] In a test burn at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, an incinerator designed to destroy U.S. chemical weapons stockpile releases heavy metals into the atmosphere in levels that violate Oregon’s environmental regulations.

Sept 4 2002 [M] The U.S. Department of Defense initiates a plan proposed by NORAD to establish a cruise missile defense for the U.S. homeland.

Sept 5 2002 [N, B, C] Australia unveils a 300-member response force to counter WMD terrorism against Australian interests around the world

Sept 5 2002 [C] Officials at the U.S. Army Deseret Chemical Depot, in Utah, sound a terrorist alert after a possible intruder is sighted in a secure area. The suspect flees, and officials are unable to confirm whether it was an intruder or a depot employee in a restricted area. No damage is found.

Sept 6 2002 [N] Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon claims that Libya is “working hard” to acquire nuclear weapons, and will likely become the first Arab state to do so. He accuses Iraqi and Pakistani nuclear scientists of aiding Libya.

Sept 6 2002 [N] U.S., Russian, and Uzbek officials announce a plan to remove a large quantity of highly enriched uranium from the Institute of Nuclear Physics at Ulugbek, Uzbekistan, and relocate it in a secure location in Russia.

Sept 6 2002 [N] A team of 15 scientists at the International Atomic Energy Agency begin analyzing a photo taken by a commercial satellite of a nuclear-related site in Iraq. The picture is compared to 1998 photos of the site taken by UN weapons inspectors. This reveals that new construction and other unexplained changes have taken place.

Sept 8 2002 [C] The U.S. Army receives approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to close the chemical weapons disposal facility on the Johnston Atoll, in the Pacific Ocean. In 2000, the facility had completed destruction of the four million pounds of chemical weapons housed there.

Sept 9 2002 [O, C] The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons begins a week-long exercise aimed at combating terrorist use of chemical weapons in an attack on an airport. The exercise, which takes place in Zadar, Croatia, involves 300 people and 12 nations, including Iran.

Sept 9 2002 [N, B] Former UN weapons inspectors, testifying before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, claim that they believe Iraq has not ceased its programs to develop nuclear and biological weapons.

Sept 9 2002 [N] The International Institute for Strategic Studies claims that Iraq possesses the capability to produce nuclear weapons within months of acquiring fissile material.

Sept 10 2002 [C, B, N] A report of the Federation of American Scientists concludes that American emergency services lack the training necessary for responding to a WMD attack. The report also encourages greater coordination between federal, state, and local responders.

Sept 10 2002 [B] North Korea dismisses as “nonsense” accusations made by U.S. Under-Secretary for Arms Control John Bolton that North Korea is creating the world’s most powerful offensive BW program.

Sept 12 2002 [N, B, C, M, O] U.S. President George W. Bush addresses the UN General Assembly, where he accuses Saddam Hussein of flouting commitments, developing WMD, and supporting international terrorism. He signals that the United States will work in cooperation with the UN in ensuring that Iraq is disarmed.

Sept 14 2002 [N] The Cuban representative to the UN General Assembly announces that Cuba will adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Treaty of Tlatelolco, as a non-nuclear weapon state. The decision will bring the NPT an important step closer to universality and permit the Treaty of Tlatelolco to enter into full force.

Sept 16 2002 [N] Khidir Hamza, a former Iraqi nuclear scientist who had defected to Great Britain, claims that Iraq is pursuing a gas centrifuge-based uranium enrichment program, using copies of German designs for centrifuge equipment.

Sept 17 2002 [N, M] At a summit in Pyongyang, North Korean and Japanese leaders release the Pyongyang Declaration. In this declaration, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il announces North Korea will abide by all international obligations concerning its nuclear program. He also agrees to maintain North Korea’s unilateral moratorium on ballistic missile testing throughout 2003.

Sept 17 2002 [N] Chinese Foreign Minister Kong Quan denies allegations that China has shipped special aluminum tubes used in uranium enrichment programs to Iraq.

Sept 17 2002 (C,B,N,M) President Bush releases the “United States National Security Strategy”, espousing an assertive and pre-emptive policy towards WMD proliferation among rogue states, significantly modifying traditional notions of deterrence.

Sept 24 2002 [B, C] The British government releases a dossier that alleges that Iraq is continuing its BW program and has also drafted plans to use CBW in the event of a U.S.-led attack. The report also accuses Iraq of continuing work on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, in violation of UN resolutions.

Sept 24- 27, 2002 [M] The Missile Technology Control Regime holds its 17^th Plenary Session in Warsaw, Poland. The 33 member states agree to add clarifications to the regime’s definition of the relationship between missile range and payload. These clarifications would make it more difficult for states to falsify the compliance of missile systems, specifically cruise missiles, with the MTCR

Sept 26 2002 [B] An article in USA Today claims that the United States is not prepared for an attack with the biological agent botulism. The article claims that although the disease is 100,000 times more deadly than sarin and was widely produced by Iraq prior to the Gulf War, the United States still has not developed a vaccine and will not likely be able to do so for at least four years.

Sept 26 2002 [C, B] The White House announces that it has ordered gas masks for White House staff to protect them from a possible chemical or biological attack.

September 30 2002 [C] Pakistan announces that it will allow inspections at five different chemical facilities for the first time since it joined the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Late September 2002 [N, B, C, M] Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix meets with Iraqi officials in Vienna to discuss the creation of a new inspection regime under current UN mandates. Iraq insists that it will not accept new terms imposed by any subsequent UN Security Council Resolutions.

Oct 10 2002 [N] A conference committee of U.S. House and Senate members approve $15 million to research Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrators, or nuclear “bunker busters.” The approval, however, includes the requirement that the military first submit a report to Congress detailing where and how the weapons might be used, as well as the ability of conventional weapons to complete similar missions.

Oct 14 2002 [M] The Pentagon tests its missile defense system and successfully intercepts a mock warhead. This test uses the same decoys as the previous test in March, but a modified warhead.  The ship-based SPY-1 radar observes the test for the first time, to assess the radar's capacity to track long-range missiles. 

Oct 15 2002 [N] The German documentary “Stealing the Fire” highlights the role of German engineer Karl-Heinz Schaab in Iraq’s gas centrifuge program. Schaab had been convicted of treason in Germany in 1999.

Oct 15 2002 [C] The member nations of the Chemical Weapons Convention agree to increase the budget of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons by ten percent, to an annual total of $67 million dollars.

Oct 16 2002 [C] U.S. Under-Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly announces that during the U.S.-North Korean summit meeting earlier in the month, North Korea admitted it had been conducting a secret uranium enrichment program, an activity at odds with Pyongyang’s commitments under the 1994 DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework.

Oct 16 2002 [N, B, C, M] U.S. President George W. Bush signs a Congressional resolution authorizing force against Iraq to eliminate its WMD and missile programs.

Oct 23 2002 [B] A Russian judge issues a ruling allowing bankruptcy proceedings against the Russian State Research Center for Applied Microbiology, which maintains stockpiles of biological agents.

Oct 23 2002 [N, M, B, C] President George W. Bush signs the $354.8 billion defense appropriations bill for 2003. The bill provides $7.4 billion for the national missile defense program, but includes language which bans military spending on research into nuclear-tipped interceptors for use in such a defense system. Another new nuclear program, the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, or so-called “nuclear bunker busters”, however, receive the requested $15.5 million in research funding. The defense bill also establishes a $25 million “Chem-Bio Defense Fund” to assist the Pentagon respond to any future CBW attacks.

Oct 23 2002 [N] Cuba ratifies the Treaty of Tlatelolco, officially joining the Latin America Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. With Cuba’s accession, the treaty is able to enter into full force, as all states in Latin America are now members.

Oct 23 2002 [N] U.S. scientists at the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory determine that about 60 kilograms of Neptunium is needed to achieve critical mass necessary for a nuclear chain reaction. As Neptunium exists in spent nuclear fuel rods around the world, the finding suggests that the global nuclear nonproliferation regime should act to prevent its falling into the wrong hands.

Oct 26 2002 [C] Russian special forces use a compound that includes fentanyl gas to subdue Chechen terrorists who are holding several hundred people hostage in a Moscow theater. After the siege ends, nearly 120 civilians have died due to their exposure to the agent. Russian Health Ministry officials later deny accusations that the use of the chemical is in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, claiming that the use of non-lethal agents such as fentanyl during law-enforcement operations is permissible under the Convention.

Oct 31 2002 [M] Bulgaria completes the dismantlement of its stockpile of 100 Soviet-built SS-23 Frog and Scud ballistic missiles.

Nov 2002 [N, M] According to U.S. intelligence analysts, Pakistan provided North Korea uranium enrichment technology for the production of weapons-usable highly enriched uranium, in exchange for missile components until the summer of 2002. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denies the allegations.

Nov 1 2002 [N] The United States announces that it will not hold direct talks with North Korea until that country “completely and verifiably” disarms its nuclear weapons program. Days later, North Korea responds that its weapons program is “negotiable.”

Nov 1 2002 [N, B, C] The U.S. Defense Department announces it has completed a series of “playbooks” that outline the procedures that senior government leaders should take in the event of a WMD attack.

Nov 4 2002 [C] Cuba accedes to the NPT, thereby becoming the 188th party to the Treaty.

Nov 4 2002 [B] The U.S. Company Sigma-Aldrich Corporation agrees to pay a fine of $1.76 million to the U.S. Department of Commerce to settle charges of illegally exporting biological toxins to Europe and Asia in 1997. The fine is the largest ever collected by the Commerce Department in a case involving biological agents.

Nov 5 2002 [B] The Washington Post reports that U.S. intelligence believes that France, Russia, Iraq, and North Korea maintain stockpiles of weaponized smallpox. Days later, France officially denies the charges, maintaining that France has always strictly adhered to the 1972 BWC. A senior biological weapons expert in the Bush administration also expresses surprise at France’s inclusion in the CIA list.

Nov 5 2002 [N, O] KEDO announces it will proceed with the latest shipment of fuel oil to North Korea, as directed by the 1994 Agreed Framework, despite North Korea’s admission in October of a clandestine uranium enrichment program. The United States opposes the fuel transfer, but cannot convince the other members of KEDO’s executive board (Japan, South Korea, and the European Union) to block the shipment.

Nov 6 2002 [N] Former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg claims that although North Korea is still abiding by the 1994 Agreed Framework, that agreement is “hanging by a thread.”

Nov 6 2002 [C] German prosecutors begin an investigation into two former employees of a German company charged with illegally supplying water filtration equipment to the al-Rabitah plant in Libya. The plant is believed to have been a center for Libyan nerve gas production until 1990. If convicted, the two men could face a sentence of two years in prison.

Nov 6 2002 [C] City officials in Geneva simulate a terrorist attack weapons attack on an airport. In the exercise, a thermos containing an agent that reacts similarly to sarin was left in a trash can near the check-in terminal. From the exercise, which claims 14 simulated casualties, officials are able to conclude that four hours are needed from the time of attack to the point at which responders’ plan of action is fully operational.

Nov 8 2002 [N, M, C, B, O] The United Nations Security Council unanimously passes Resolution 1441, which offers Iraq a “final opportunity” to disarm or face “serious consequences.” The resolution, sponsored by the United States and Britain, creates a new, tougher inspection regime that is to have unlimited access in Iraq.

Nov 12 2002 [M] China announces that it will not sign the International Code of Conduct against Proliferation of Ballistic Missiles. Reasons for the Chinese rejection include the perception that China was not fully included in the process of drafting the Code, and Chinese reservations concerning transparency issues, which encourage disclosures regarding national missile arsenals.

Nov 13 2002 [N, B, C, M, O] Iraq announces it will unconditionally accept UN Resolution 1441, which calls for new weapons inspections to be conducted in Iraq with a broader authority than previous inspection regimes.

Nov 14 2002 [N] IAEA Director General Mohammed ElBaradei announces that he would consider a “pattern” of obstruction by Iraq to constitute noncompliance.

Nov 14 2002 [N,O] At a meeting in New York, the Executive Board of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), composed of the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the European Union, agrees to halt all monthly shipments of heavy fuel oil to North Korea, beginning with the December shipment. The move comes in response to North Korea's admission in October of a secret uranium enrichment program.

Nov 15 2002 [M] India announces that it will not subscribe to the recently-formed International Code of Conduct against Proliferation of Ballistic Missiles. Two days later, rival Pakistan also announces that it will not abide by the new code.

Nov 18 2002 [N] South Korean officials monitoring North Korean radio broadcasts, claim that North Korea has announced it possesses nuclear weapons. The next day, the North clarifies that it had announced it merely possessed the right to maintain such weapons.

Nov 21 2002 [N] Russia announces that it will endorse a plan by five Central Asian republics to create a Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. The Russian acceptance of the plan comes after the five republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) convince Russia that the treaty would not rescind Russia’s right to seek permission to deploy nuclear weapons in the zone, as allowed by the Treaty of Tashkent. The lack of support from other nuclear weapons states causes the five republics to delay taking action until December.

Nov 21 2002 [C, O] The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announces that a lack of funding has impeded its ability to perform inspections. To date, the organization has verified through inspection the destruction of 7,050 tons of chemical weapons. This figure is roughly ten percent of the arsenals declared by more than 10 member states.

Nov 25 2002 [O] U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act, establishing the Department of Homeland Security. The new cabinet level agency will bring together 170,000 employees from 22 different agencies, and will have a budget of $40 bi