Page:NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 18; CZECHOSLOVAKIA; SCIENCE CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110012-0.pdf/17

 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110012-0

toxins as potential CW agents. Much of the basic research on plant hallucinogens concerns the effects of indole-based alkaloids on the higher nervous system. In addition to their studies on LSD-25 (lysergic acid diethylamide), new hallucinogenic drugs, such as piperidylglycolates, are being synthesized and tested possibly as candidate CW agents.

To maintain their strong CW defensive posture, the Czechoslovaks have very active programs for devising new detection, decontamination, and protection equipment. More sensitive and mechanically reliable automatic alarms based on enzyme reaction are being developed for detection of nerve agents. Work on detection of aerosols, which might be CW-oriented, includes scintillation particle counters tuned to identify defined chemical compositions, chemically treated membrane filters for spot testing of collected aerosols, and counters to measure reflected light impulses from particles. Prophylactic and therapeutic research for more effective treatment of nerve agent poisoning appears to have a high priority.

At least five institutes are engaged in CW-related research and development: the Chemical Warfare Research and Development Center 070, which is collocated with Antonin Zapatocky Military Academy in Brno; Military Research and Postgraduate Institute, Brno; Charles University, Hradec Kralove; Zemianske Kostolany Chemical Plant, Zemianske Kostolany; the Military Veterinary Research Institute, Prague; and the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Prague.

The Chemical Warfare Research and Development Center 070 appears to be the major facility responsible for the development of personal protection, decontamination, and detection equipment. Activities at this facility include development of mobile field laboratories, CW agent detector kits and alarms, and thin-layer chromatographic and fluorometric techniques for the systematic detection of nerve agents, mustard, and lewisite. The center directs field testing of protective equipment at Vyskov, east of Brno. The Chemical Troops Directorate, which is subordinate to the Ministry of National Defense, directs the center.

The primary CW research mission of the Military Medical Research and Postgraduate Institute is to test the effectiveness of agents and to develop prophylactic and therapeutic compounds to protect against agent poisoning. Research activities include studies on inhibition of brain acetylcholinesterase by sarin of reactivation kinetics of sarin—inhibited acetylcholinesterase by bisquaternary pyridinemonoaldoximes. The effects of LSD 25 on the central cholinergic functions as well as synthesis and testing of new psychotropic compounds are also under study.

The facility at Zemianske Kostolany reportedly has laboratories capable of producing up to 100-kg pilot plant lots of CW agents. The facility reportedly conducts research on antidotes for CW agents, develops chemical agent detector kits, and also maintains an animal farm for experimentation. Experimental data are forwarded to the Antonin Zapotocky Military Academy.

3. Nuclear energy (C)

Czechoslovakia has established a nuclear energy program restricted to research and the development of the economic applications of nuclear energy, particularly the production of electric power. The program has been hampered by the limitations of funds and the lack of some basic materials and equipment, but it has progressed with assistance from the Soviet Union. Under terms of a bilateral agreement for nuclear research concluded in 1955 with the U.S.S.R., Czechoslovakia acquired a research reactor, a cyclotron, and aid in the construction of a nuclear power station. The country also has profited from membership in the IAEA and the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research at Dubna, U.S.S.R.

The Czechoslovak Atomic Energy Commission was established in July 1955 to direct and coordinate the development of nuclear energy. The actual program is carried out by a number of scientific, governmental, and industrial organizations, chief of which is the Institute of Nuclear Research (INR) at Rez. The principal facility of the INR is a Soviet-supplied tank-type research reactor, which went into operation in September 1957. The reactor is fueled with 10% enriched uranium fuel, and its design power level of 2 megawatts (MW was raised to 4-5 MW in 1964). The INR also is equipped with a Soviet-supplied 120-centimeter diameter cyclotron able to provide 8-megaelectronvolt (MeV) proton and a Czechoslovak-designed 5-MeV Van de Graaff accelerator. These facilities are used for research, training, and the production of radioisotopes. The research programs at INR include reactor design, basic nuclear physics, radiochemistry, and the chemistry and metallurgy of reactor materials and components. In 1966, construction was begun at Rez on a heavy water-moderated, natural uranium-fueled, zero-power reactor, named TR-O, which was to be used to test fuel element designs for power reactors of this type. The TR-O was expected to go into operation in 1970, but its completion was delayed until July 1972.

The Nuclear Energy Development Section of the V.I. Lenin Works (Skoda Works) at Plzen designed and fabricated a zero-power experimental reactor, which

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110012-0