No nukes is good nukes?

In session
June 2003

No nukes is good nukes?
The Friends Committee on National Legislation is asking citizens to help block funding for new research related to so called "bunker busters" or mini-nukes.

In late May, the House and Senate approved their respective versions of the annual military authorization bill. Within these bills is a provision that would authorize continued funding for research on a new "bunker buster" nuclear weapon, called the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP).

The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for the design, development, and testing of U.S. nuclear weapons. Before DOE can move forward with research on the RNEP, the funds must be appropriated by Congress. Spending for DOE nuclear weapons programs is decided in the annual energy and water appropriations bill.

The full House is expected to take up that bill by the week of June 23rd. Rep. Markey (MA) will offer a floor amendment to delete the funds for the RNEP when the energy and water appropriations bill reaches the House floor. It is still possible for the appropriators to delete funds for this new nuclear weapon, according to the FCNL. Members of Congress need to continue hearing from constituents that stopping nuclear bunker buster research is key to future U.S. security and U.S. nonproliferation efforts worldwide.

ACTION: Please contact your representative. Urge him or her to vote to block funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) when the energy and water appropriations bill reaches the floor of the House. Investing in the research of new nuclear weapons will send the wrong signal to the rest of the world. In the long run, it will undermine U.S. security.

CONTACTING YOU REPRESENTATIVE IS EASY: Start with the sample letter posted in FCNL's Legislative Action Center, personalize the language, then email or fax your message directly from our site. You can also print it out and mail it.

BACKGROUND: On May 20 and 21, 2003, The House and Senate debated and passed their respective versions of the fiscal year 2004 defense authorization bill, HR 1588/S 1050. This annual bill authorizes funds for the Defense Department and for the nuclear weapons activities of the Energy Department. One of the issues that most concerned nuclear disarmament advocates was funding for research on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). After a heated debate, both the House and Senate authorized $15 million for research on the RNEP.

Since the end of the Cold War, some civilian military planners and nuclear scientists have argued for creating a new class of earth-penetrating nuclear weapons. These weapons are sometimes referred to as "bunker busters" because they would be designed to burrow into the ground to destroy underground military facilities that are protected by 100 to 300 feet of concrete or rock.

The Energy Department's budget request includes $15 million to continue a study on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP). The RNEP would use an existing nuclear weapon, redesigned for use against underground bunkers. It would have a yield around seventy times the size of the Hiroshima bomb. RNEP proponents claim that, because the weapon penetrates the earth before detonating, it would be a "clean" nuclear weapon.

In reality, this would be an extremely "dirty" and deadly weapon. If detonated in an urban setting, tens of thousands of people could receive a fatal dose of radiation within the first 24 hours. More would be killed or injured by the extreme pressures of the blast and thermal injuries arising from the heat of the explosion. Still more casualties would result from the fires and the collapse of buildings from the seismic shock that the explosion would produce.

The U.S. has strongly criticized North Korea, Iran, and Libya for moving to obtain equipment to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials and the ability to deliver them as nuclear bombs. The U.S. government has also expressed concerns about continuing nuclear programs in Pakistan and India, as well as growing concern that nuclear materials could fall into the hands of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda.

U.S. development of so-called usable nuclear weapons undermines U.S. demands that these countries not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Why is the Administration abandoning cooperative international arms control efforts and instead seeking to develop new nuclear weapons? If the U.S. will not lay down its nuclear weapons and stop developing new ones, why should anyone else-especially those that feel most threatened by the new U.S. policy of preventive war?

Building the nuclear "bunker buster" or RNEP, will further weaken already struggling international efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. U.S. influence with the international community will erode further if it seeks to upgrade U.S. nuclear weapons while demanding that other countries such as Iran and North Korea disarm. Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently said that, instead of developing new nuclear weapons, the U.S. should send a message to potential proliferators that "[e]ven though we have nuclear weapons, we are moving to get rid of them. We are going to develop a system of security that does not depend on nuclear weapons because that's the way we want the world to move."

The Administration is leading the world down the wrong path. Instead of adhering to our obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by reducing reliance on the most horrific weapons ever created and working for global disarmament, the Administration is seeking new uses for nuclear weapons. Adopting such a nuclear posture is a step backward, and a virtual invitation for other nations to opt out of their NPT obligations as well.

More background information about nuclear weapons and disarmament.

CONTACTING LEGISLATORS

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Sen. ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Rep. ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Information on your members is available on FCNL's web site: http://capwiz.com/fconl/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq.

CONTACTING THE ADMINISTRATION
White House Comment Desk: 202-456-1111
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov
WEB PAGE: http://www.whitehouse.gov

President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

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