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No To New Nukes, Missile "Defense"
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Progressive Portal
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May 15, 2004 12:19 PDT
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DEVELOPING "BUNKER BUSTERS" AND MINI-NUKES AND DEPLOYING
POORLY TESTED ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM WOULD COST BILLIONS
[From Friends Committee on National Legislation <http://www.fcnl.org>
and the Union of Concerned Scientists <http://www.ucsusa.org>]
During the week of 17 May 2004, both houses of the U.S. Congress are
expected to begin voting on bills that set military spending plans for
fiscal 2005. Included in the defense authorization bills are billions of
dollars for development of new, "more usable" nuclear weapons, such as
"bunker busters" and "mini-nukes," and for immediate deployment of a
missile-defense system that's never been tested under realistic
conditions and is unrealistic in concept.
Specifically, the Bush Administration is seeking:
* $27.6 million for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP), a.k.a.
the nuclear "bunker buster." A one-kiloton nuclear bunker buster
detonated 50 feet underground would launch one million cubic feet of
radioactive dust into the atmosphere and create a crater bigger than a
football field. The RNEP would produce an explosion 50 to 70 times more
powerful than the bomb used on Hiroshima.
* $29.8 million for the "Modern Pit Facility," a factory to produce as
many as 900 plutonium pits each year. Plutonium pits are steel-encased
spheres of plutonium that act as triggers on nuclear warheads. The
United States already has 15,000 plutonium pits in its arsenal.
* $9 million for the "Advanced Concepts Initiative," a program to help
design "mini-nukes" and other new nuclear weapons. George Bush also
wants $30 million for "enhanced test readiness" - i.e., to prepare the
Nevada test site for nuclear tests in as little as 18 months. These
programs send the wrong message to the rest of the world: that the U.S.
is again thinking about producing and even using nuclear weapons.
* $10.2 billion - more than any other weapons program in the entire
budget - for "Missile Defense," including immediate deployment of a
system that has never been tested under realistic conditions. A recent
analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that the proposed
system would be ineffective against a real attack and that there is no
technical justification for its deployment. Moreover, measures to
overcome any missile-defense system are much easier and cheaper to
implement than continually upgrading the defense systems to defeat such
countermeasures. Forty-nine generals and admirals recently wrote Bush
urging that Missile Defense funding be cancelled, with the money used
instead to securing loose nuclear material.
Altogether, the Bush Administration is leading the world down the wrong
path. Instead of adhering to our obligations under the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty by reducing reliance on the most horrific
weapons ever created and working for global disarmament, the
administration is seeking new uses for nuclear weapons. Such plans
simply encourage other countries to ramp up their own nuclear arsenals
in order to match U.S. capabilities.
Now is the time to send Congress a strong message: a bigger, better
nuclear arsenal won't make us safer; nuclear disarmament will. Urge your
Representative to oppose spending for the missile-defense system and to
cut funding for new nuclear weapons, including the nuclear "bunker
buster." Specifically, urge your Representative to vote for the
Tauscher-Markey Amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill (H.R. 4200),
and ask your Senators to support a similar amendment Sens. Feinstein
(D-CA) and Kennedy (D-MA) are expected to offer when the Senate debates
its version of the bill (S. 2400).
Take Action
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1. Send a message urging your Representative to cut spending for new
nuclear weapons at:
http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=5841011&type=CO
2. Send a message urging your Senators to cut spending for the missile
defense system at:
http://www.ucsaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=18437
More Information
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For details on the administration's proposed missile defense system,
see:
http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release.cfm?newsID=394
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/missile_defense/page.cfm?pageID=1403
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1129143/posts
For details on the administration plans for bunker busters and other new
nuclear weapons, see:
http://www.fcnl.org/act_lam_current/actnow_lam_index.htm
http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2004/03/00_yourish_proposed-energy.htm
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=317882
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