A&E SPECIAL PROVES QUITE PRESCIENT.

Byline: David Kronke Television Critic

``A&E Investigative Reports: Special Edition: Bioterrorism'' is a fascinating hybrid. Reporting for this documentary originally began long before Sept. 11; its initial intent seems to have been somewhat cautionary - there are questions as to whether Russian scientists who were developing bioweapons during the Cold War and have since aided American research might turn rogue. Now, in the wake of a very real threat to America, its alarmist findings seem to have been tamped down a smidgen to prevent further panic among our alarmed populace.

``Not so long ago, bioterrorism was hardly more than a subject of dusty reports from think tanks in Washington, reports that few read and fewer got upset about,'' host Bill Kurtis says by way of introduction to the special. Last year, host Bill Kurtis traveled to Russia for an exclusive tour of a laboratory in Obolensk, just outside Moscow, where diseases had been developed that would prove resistant to vaccination.

After a treaty limiting biochemical warfare was struck between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Soviet scientists continued apace, figuring American researchers were, as well. Science knows no end to its sadistic depravity: One chemical was developed that would accelerate victims' heart rates to more than 1,000 beats per minute.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, many of the scientists - some 7,000 in all, according to the report - who were living well and were handsomely financed found themselves in the streets. Research continued, under dangerous conditions - Kurtis notes that the oxygen hose on one of his host's hazardous-materials suits was patched together with duct tape. One Russian interviewed was reduced to taking work as a janitor. The Americans moved in, but not before the researchers had been approached by Iran (who, we're told, were rebuffed).

Kurtis reports that none of the Russian scientists interviewed admitted knowing any colleagues who went free-lance, but also concedes that it's impossible to know how many may have been approached by other outside forces. The documentary also tells us what we've tragically already discovered: that the United States is ill-prepared for a bioterrorist attack, let alone one on a massive scale.

In a pre-Sept. 11 interview, the State Department's Ann Harrington says of a potential attack, ``We would not have the money to defend against the possibility of what could happen if this all goes wrong.''

It's a sobering, disquieting admission, particularly in light of all that has happened since Kurtis and his investigative team began looking into this most dire of subjects.

``A&E INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS: SPECIAL EDITION: BIOTERRORISM''

What: The timeliest of documentaries.

The stars: Bill Kurtis, host.

Where: A&E.

When: 10 tonight.

Our rating: Three stars

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Host Bill Kurtis, right, visits a Russian biotech lab in ``A&E Investigative Report: Special Edition: Bioterrorism,'' tonight.