Insane New Arms Race...Courtesy of US
US Blueprint For 125 Nuclear Bombs A Year
THE Bush Administration has unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the US's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing facility.
The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernisation of laboratories and factories involved in building nuclear bombs since the Cold War.
The US has depended on ageing bombs produced during that period. But now the Administration wants to be able to produce 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, so the Pentagon can retire older bombs that it says are no longer reliable or safe.
Under the plan all the US's plutonium would be consolidated into a single facility that could be more effectively and cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks.
Plutonium now kept at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California would be removed by 2014, though transfers of the material could start sooner. There has been growing concern that Livermore - in a residential area - could not repel a terrorist attack.
But the blueprint is facing sharp criticism, both from those who say it does not move fast enough to consolidate plutonium stores and from others who claim restarting bomb production will encourage aspiring nuclear powers around the world to develop weapons.
The plan was outlined to Congress on Wednesday by Thomas D'Agostino, head of nuclear weapons programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the Energy Department.
He acknowledged in an interview that the Administration is walking a fine line by modernising the nuclear weapons program while assuring other nations that it is not seeking a new arms race.
The credibility of the argument rests on America's intention to drastically reduce its overall inventory of weapons. he said.
The Administration is also moving quickly ahead with a new nuclear bomb program which began last year. Originally described updating existing weapons to make them more reliable, it now includes the potential for new bomb designs.
The US built its last nuclear weapon in 1989 and last tested a weapon underground in 1992. Since the Cold War, it has depended on massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons to deter attacks.
The blueprint calls for a modern complex to design a new nuclear bomb and have it ready in less than four years.
The impetus for the plan is a growing recognition that efforts to maintain older nuclear bombs and keep up a large nuclear weapons industrial complex are technically and financially unsustainable.
Last year, a taskforce led by a San Diego physicist, David Overskei, recommended that the Energy Department consolidate the system of eight existing weapons complexes into a single site. Dr Overskei said on Wednesday that security costs for the current infrastructure over the next 20 years would be about $US25 billion ($34 billion). Security costs have grown, because since the September 11, 2001 attacks the Energy Department has had to assume that terrorists could mount a larger and better armed strikes.
Peter Stockton, a former Energy Department security consultant and now an investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, criticised the plutonium consolidation plan, saying it delays the difficult work too far into the future. The plutonium transfer at Livermore could be accomplished in a few months, he said.
Until now, Livermore laboratory officials have disagreed with the idea of removing plutonium from their site, saying it was essential to their work. But on Wednesday, a spokesman said the "decision rests in Washington". The plan, which would not be fully implemented until 2030, would consolidate much of the weapons capacity, but not as completely or quickly as outside critics would like.
Los Angeles Times
Call to arm:
- The Bush Administration wants the capability to produce 125 nuclear bombs a year by 2022.
- The US built its last nuclear weapon in 1989 and last tested a weapon underground in 1992.
- Critics say restarting bomb production will encourage aspiring nuclear powers to develop weapons.
- All US plutonium would be consolidated into a single facility that could be more effectively and cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks.
Ralph Vartabedian in Washington
April 7, 2006
http://smh.com.au/news/world/us-blueprint-for-125-nuclear-bombs-a-year/2006/04/06/1143916656000.html
THE Bush Administration has unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the US's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing facility.
The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernisation of laboratories and factories involved in building nuclear bombs since the Cold War.
The US has depended on ageing bombs produced during that period. But now the Administration wants to be able to produce 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, so the Pentagon can retire older bombs that it says are no longer reliable or safe.
Under the plan all the US's plutonium would be consolidated into a single facility that could be more effectively and cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks.
Plutonium now kept at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California would be removed by 2014, though transfers of the material could start sooner. There has been growing concern that Livermore - in a residential area - could not repel a terrorist attack.
But the blueprint is facing sharp criticism, both from those who say it does not move fast enough to consolidate plutonium stores and from others who claim restarting bomb production will encourage aspiring nuclear powers around the world to develop weapons.
The plan was outlined to Congress on Wednesday by Thomas D'Agostino, head of nuclear weapons programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, a part of the Energy Department.
He acknowledged in an interview that the Administration is walking a fine line by modernising the nuclear weapons program while assuring other nations that it is not seeking a new arms race.
The credibility of the argument rests on America's intention to drastically reduce its overall inventory of weapons. he said.
The Administration is also moving quickly ahead with a new nuclear bomb program which began last year. Originally described updating existing weapons to make them more reliable, it now includes the potential for new bomb designs.
The US built its last nuclear weapon in 1989 and last tested a weapon underground in 1992. Since the Cold War, it has depended on massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons to deter attacks.
The blueprint calls for a modern complex to design a new nuclear bomb and have it ready in less than four years.
The impetus for the plan is a growing recognition that efforts to maintain older nuclear bombs and keep up a large nuclear weapons industrial complex are technically and financially unsustainable.
Last year, a taskforce led by a San Diego physicist, David Overskei, recommended that the Energy Department consolidate the system of eight existing weapons complexes into a single site. Dr Overskei said on Wednesday that security costs for the current infrastructure over the next 20 years would be about $US25 billion ($34 billion). Security costs have grown, because since the September 11, 2001 attacks the Energy Department has had to assume that terrorists could mount a larger and better armed strikes.
Peter Stockton, a former Energy Department security consultant and now an investigator for the Project on Government Oversight, criticised the plutonium consolidation plan, saying it delays the difficult work too far into the future. The plutonium transfer at Livermore could be accomplished in a few months, he said.
Until now, Livermore laboratory officials have disagreed with the idea of removing plutonium from their site, saying it was essential to their work. But on Wednesday, a spokesman said the "decision rests in Washington". The plan, which would not be fully implemented until 2030, would consolidate much of the weapons capacity, but not as completely or quickly as outside critics would like.
Los Angeles Times
Call to arm:
- The Bush Administration wants the capability to produce 125 nuclear bombs a year by 2022.
- The US built its last nuclear weapon in 1989 and last tested a weapon underground in 1992.
- Critics say restarting bomb production will encourage aspiring nuclear powers to develop weapons.
- All US plutonium would be consolidated into a single facility that could be more effectively and cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks.
Ralph Vartabedian in Washington
April 7, 2006
http://smh.com.au/news/world/us-blueprint-for-125-nuclear-bombs-a-year/2006/04/06/1143916656000.html
posted by R7 | 4/07/2006 07:49:00 PM
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