Urge Senate to eliminate funds for new nukes

In session
July 2004

New rules will 'gut' housing program
Urge Senate to eliminate funds for new nukes

Urge Senate to eliminate funds for new nukes
an alert from the Friends Committee on National Legislation
In June, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee courageously removed all the funds for new nuclear weapons in the House version of the energy and water appropriations bill (HR 4614). The House action represents a great step toward a more sane U.S. nuclear weapons policy. The Senate should follow suit. The Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee will most likely mark up its version of the bill next week (week of July 12). The full Senate Appropriations Committee will take it up soon after.

Continuing its drive to develop new, more usable nuclear weapons, the Bush Administration has requested increased funding for research on new nuclear weapons. In its request to Congress for fiscal year 2005 (FY05), the Administration requested $27.6 million for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP), or nuclear "bunker buster," and $9 million for the Advanced Concepts Initiatives, which could be used to develop low-yield nuclear weapons. This request comes at a time when the Administration is struggling to dissuade Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons of their own. This "do what I say, not what I do" attitude hinders U.S. nonproliferation efforts and is making the world a more dangerous place.

ACTION: Please call, fax, or email your senators. While it is important for all people to contact their senators on this important issue, it is especially important to contact your senator if he/she is a member of the Appropriations Committee (for a complete list of the Appropriations Committee click here.

Urge your senators to help cut funds for new nuclear weapons from the energy and water appropriations bill. Tell them that new nuclear weapons will not bring security. In fact, such weapons will make the world less secure. Urge them to shift funding away from new nuclear weapons to initiatives that support arms control and disarmament.

CONTACTING YOUR SENATORS IS EASY: Start with the sample letter posted in our Legislative Action Center, personalize the language, then fax or email your message directly from our site. To view the sample letter, click here, then enter your zip code and click "Go" in the "Take Action Now" box.

BACKGROUND: Since the end of the Cold War, some civilian military planners and nuclear scientists have promoted the creation of 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 reinforced concrete or rock. The Energy Department's fiscal year 2005 (FY05) budget includes $27.6 million for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP).

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 deadly weapon. The RNEP would have explosive power up to 70 times that of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. 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 resulting fires and the collapse of buildings from the seismic shock that the explosion would produce. According to Sen. Jack Reed (R-I), Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrators "are really city breakers, not bunker busters."

The Bush administration has repeatedly claimed that the RNEP program is a study and nothing more. However, the administration's intentions regarding RNEP go well beyond their initial claims. Energy Department budget documents show the administration's funding requests for the RNEP increasing dramatically after this year, despite congressional restrictions on further development of this program. The initial three-year study was to cost $45 million, but the administration's proposed spending in the next five years would total nearly $500 million and move RNEP into early development and engineering stages.

In addition to the RNEP, the administration has increased its request to $9 million for the Advanced Concepts Initiative for nuclear weapons, a program that includes possible research on low yield nuclear weapons, or "mini-nukes." Both the Advanced Concepts Initiative and the RNEP program send the wrong message to the rest of the world—that the U.S. is again thinking about nuclear weapons production. The U.S. has rightly criticized Iran and North Korea for their nuclear weapons programs. The U.S. has expressed concerns about the nuclear programs in Pakistan and India. There is also a growing fear that nuclear materials could fall into the hands of a terrorist group, such as al Qaeda. Yet this criticism rings hollow as the U.S. resumes its own nuclear weapons development programs.

The Bush 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.

In early June, the Senate will complete its work on the annual military ("defense") authorization bill. During the floor debate there will be amendments to cut funds from new nuclear weapons and to develop and deploy a ballistic missile shield.

Continuing its drive to develop new, more usable nuclear weapons, the Bush Administration has requested increased funding for research on new nuclear weapons. In its request to Congress for fiscal year 2005 (FY05), the Administration requested $27.6 million to work on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP), or nuclear "bunker buster," and $9 million for the Advanced Concepts Initiatives, which could be used to develop low-yield nuclear weapons. This request comes at a time when the Administration is struggling to dissuade Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons of their own. This "do what I say, not what I do" attitude is not helping U.S. nonproliferation efforts and is making the world a more dangerous place.

In addition to funds for new nuclear weapons, the Bush administration has asked Congress for an additional $10.2 billion for FY05 in order to continue developing and deploying a ballistic missile shield. The administration is determined to begin deploying a limited shield by September 2004, even though the system has yet to be tested or proven effective. This reckless effort to forge ahead may have a negative impact on our strategic relationships with Russia and China. It comes despite repeated test failures, and the unlikely threat of a long-range missile attack on the U.S. More importantly, wasting money on a provocative, untested missile shield diverts scarce resources from other, far more urgent budget priorities, which could advance human security for the country and world in the years ahead.

Back to page top