Congress finds backbone defying Bush over new nukes. WH: Keep Door Open

[bigtree]

U.S. Congress Rejects New Nuclear Weapons Funds
Mon Nov 22, 2004 03:46 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress denied the Bush administration funds to study a new generation of nuclear weapons, omitting the money from a huge mop-up spending bill it passed over the weekend, lawmakers said on Monday.

The final $388 billion spending bill did not include the $36.6 million President Bush sought to study so-called bunker-busting nuclear weapons that would be used to destroy underground facilities as well as smaller nuclear arms with half the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The White House said it had no plans to build such weapons, but wanted to keep the door open to their development to deal with emerging threats.

Democrats said just considering the weapons takes nuclear warfare out of the realm of the unthinkable and encourages adversaries of the United States to develop such weapons.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=V40VFKCNEX5SQCRBAEZSFFA?type=politicsNews&storyID=6888962

edit: link on the bottom of this page works, the one on the reuters site doesn't transfer for some reason

http://emm.jrc.org/NewsBrief/publisher?language=en&page=1&edition=countryedition&option=US

[oneighty]

1. These types of weapons already exist.

I wonder what the scam is?

180

[bigtree]

2. The scam: Plutonium pits

The Energy Department plans to assemble teams at three U.S. laboratories to begin constructing new powerful "mini-nukes." Work on preliminary designs for the weapons known as "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrators" would begin first at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. http://www.lanl.gov/

Lawrence Livermore's scientists will attempt to modify the existing B83, a hydrogen bomb designed for the B-1 bomber, while those at Los Alamos will work on the B61, which already has been modified for earth-penetrating use. http://www.nci.org/../02/06f/19-11.htm

Bechtel will benefit directly from efforts to expand testing and production of nuclear weapons. Bechtel is part of a partnership with Lockheed Martin that runs the Nevada Test Site for the U.S. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/env_rpt

Bechtel runs the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge Tennessee, which makes critical components for nuclear warheads; and it is involved in the management of the Pantex nuclear weapons plant in Amarillo, Texas. http://geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/6180/blogger.html

Bechtel's $1 billion-plus in annual contracts for "atomic energy defense activities" are likely to grow substantially under the Bush nuclear plan. In 2002 Bechtel earned $11.6 billion.

The company has built more than 40% of the United States' nuclear capacity and 50% of nuclear power plants in the developing world. That's 150 nuclear power plants.

Bechtel is also in charge of managing and cleaning up the toxic nuclear waste at the 52 reactors at the Idaho nuclear test site from our '50's nuclear program, as well as two million cubic feet of transuranic waste buried on the site, such as plutonium-covered shoes, gloves and other tools used at the nuclear lab in Rocky Flats.

The Lockheed Y-12 National Security Complex would refurbish the secondary nuclear weapons; the Savannah River Tritium Facility would supply the gas transfer systems; Sandia National Laboratory will produce the neutron generators and certify all non nuclear components; Pantex plant will serve as the central point for all assembly and disassembly operations in support of the refurbishment work.; Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore will continue to certify nuclear warhead design. http://www.thebellcompany.com/bellconstruction.nsf/savannah
http://www.sandia.gov/
http://www.pantex.com/

The weapons will be shipped to the Pantex plant to remove the uranium and any parts which can be used in new weapons; then the remaining parts will be shipped back to the plant for further processing.

The National Policy Reviews's concept of a "New Triad" emphasizes the importance of a "robust, responsive research and development, and industrial base." The "old" triad is the combination of land, sea, and air-based nuclear delivery vehicles that were developed during the Cold War to offset a nuclear attack on America.

The New Triad calls for a "modern nuclear weapons complex," including planning for a Modern Pit Facility, and new tritium production to respond to what the administration believes are "new, unexpected, or emerging threats" to U.S. national security. http://www.downwinders.org/dod-npr.htm
http://www.mpfeis.com/

It also mandates the development of what they term a "credible, realistic plan" for a "safe, secure, and reliable" stockpile. Already, $40-50 million has been budgeted for the project.

According to the National Nuclear Security Admin.'s deputy administrator for defense programs, Everet Beckner, the designers would work to modify the weapons "to make them more powerful."

Beckner is a former Vice President of Lockheed. He served as the chief executive of Lockheed Martin's division that helped run the UK's Atomic Weapons Establishment, and is now charged with oversight of the maintenance, development, and production of U.S. nuclear warheads. http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/uk/agency/awe.htm

Beckner testified to a Senate committee that, "It is clear that if the nation continues to maintain a nuclear arsenal it will need to make new nuclear pits at some point."

Most modern nuclear weapons depend on a plutonium pit as the "primary" that begins the chain reaction resulting in a thermonuclear explosion. A pit is a critical component of a nuclear weapon and functions as a trigger to allow a modern nuclear weapon to operate properly.

The Department of Energy announced on September 23, 2002, its intent to begin an examination of several possible sites for a Modern Pit Facility to produce plutonium pits for new and refurbished nuclear weapons. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2002_register&docid=02-24076-filed

The United States is the only nuclear power without the capability to manufacture a plutonium pit. About three-fourths of the U.S. surplus plutonium is relatively pure in the form of so-called pits, which have been removed (and deactivated) from existing warheads.

The remaining fourth of the surplus was in the process pipeline, mostly as plutonium residues, when processing was suddenly discontinued. The Soviet government processed all of its material to completion, so now all of the Russian surplus is in the form of pits or its weapon-form equivalent.

The Foster Panel Report, also known as the FY2000 Report to Congress of the Panel to Assess the Reliability, Safety, and Security of the United States Nuclear Stockpile, found that it could take 15 years from the point of developing a conceptual design for a pit facility until the final construction of the facility is completed.

The report stated that, "If it is determined through the science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program that one or more of our existing pit designs is no longer reliable, and therefore is not certifiable, our nuclear stockpile would, in effect, be unilaterally downsized below a level which could maintain a strong nuclear deterrence." http://www.cdi.org/issues/testing/sbss.html

That is the hook which supporters of an expanded nuclear program will use to justify an abrogation of the treaty ban, and begin their new-generation arms race. If they don't get their way - to fiddle with and refurbish the existing nukes - they will argue that deterrence is at risk; a preposterous notion, as our existing arsenal is more than enough to blow us all to Pluto.

Meanwhile, the DOE has requested $22 million for the MPF in its Fiscal Year 2004 budget request and Congress has funded the request in the House and Senate versions of the Defense Authorization bill. But, the House cut over half of the funding for the MPF citing the Bush administration's failure to issue revised stockpile requirements following the ratification of the Moscow Treaty.

Citing "classified analyses" the DOE claims it needs to have a new pit facility capable of producing 125-500 pits per year. The DOE's Notice of Intent for the MPF also states that one of the functions for the facility will be to have the ability to produce new design pits for new types of nuclear weapons.

If new money is released, the nuclear weapons laboratories are expected to refurbish the casings on the existing nuclear B-61 and B-83 warheads, according to Energy Department official Beckner, who testified before a Senate committee in March. Beckner claims that both weapons have yields "substantially higher than five kilotons," so he has determined that the study will not violate a 1994 U.S. law prohibiting research on "low-yield" nuclear weapons.

A version of the B-61, modified to strike hardened and deeply buried targets, was added to the U.S. stockpile without nuclear testing in 1997. There is a serious question about the effectiveness of such a weapon on underground bunkers, and there is a concern that the neighboring effect of the radiation cloud would be devastating.

A nuclear strike on North Korea, for example, could generate deadly radioactive fallout, poisoning nearby countries such as Japan or Australia.

The Bush administration's nuclear program is a shell game with their ambitions hidden within the Energy and Defense bills, most under the guise of research. Their proposals originated in a position paper which is referenced in the Energy Policy Act of 2003, entitled, "A Roadmap to Deploy New Nuclear Power Plants in the United States by 2010". http://gif.inel.gov/roadmap/pdfs/gen_iv_roadmap.pdf

The nuclear industry, along with government supporters, developed a roadmap for the realization of these goals. They intend to portray nukes as a safe, clean alternative to CO2 based plants. The bill references the "Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Program." http://gif.inel.gov/roadmap

This is a determined, deliberate hard sell to get the nation back in the nuclear game. The nuclear provisions in the Energy bill, now in congressional conference are a tough read but they are designed to confuse. http://energy.senate.gov/

The legislation designates INEEL, The Idaho Engineering and Environmental Laboratories, as the lead facility for nuclear R&D. This has been the nation's primary lab for all of the nuclear madness since 1952. INEEL's primary function since the mid 70's was the clean-up of their own toxic waste. This clean-up is still going on. There is money allocated in this bill for that.

At the end of the decade support for nuclear energy was on the decline because of waste and safety issues and disarmament. Right before Bush II got in office, the industry, still fat from clean-up money sought to bolster their flagging industry. (INEEL gets 70% of their funding for waste disposal)

Waste storage had become so controversial that it had soured the public to the idea of more nukes and more nuke plants. (Yucca Mountain, storage sites in New Mexico, transportation, safety issues, etc.).

So, they began promoting the view that the 'spent' nuclear fuel from decommissioned weapons and nuclear power plants could be broken down and reconstituted for weapons (depleted uranium) and a new generation of nuclear plants which would accommodate (recycle) and use the waste instead of immobilizing it in glass and storing it. http://www.nci.org/../../0new/wpu-immob-dp52001.htm

The industry makes the dubious claim that the recycled waste keeps it out of the hands of terrorists and makes proliferation more difficult. It will more likely disperse the waste and create more opportunity for abuse or mishap. http://www.sierraclub.org/nuclearwaste/briefs/0004.asp

We import the spent fuel from Russian nukes and process it for the remaining uranium powered electric plants in the U.S. and abroad.

The program has been successful in the elimination of some 4,000 Russian warheads, but has created a dependence on the Russian uranium to power the U.S. plants; prompting the Energy Dept. to explore and pursue new sources of nuclear fuel for these plants.

New plants are contemplated in the Energy and Defense legislation which would utilize the new generation of recycled nuclear fuels (MOX mixed-oxide, hydrogen based, depleted uranium, etc.). These centers will almost certainly be formatted to accommodate the next generation of nuclear weapons, such as, mini tactical nukes and bunker- busters. http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/nukes/nukes.html

INEEL will undoubtably be at the center of this effort.

The INEEL is operated for the DOE by Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC. Members of the LLC are Bechtel National, Inc., BWX Technologies Co. and INRA. INRA is a consortium of eight regional universities. The DOE field office is the Idaho Operations Office.

The INEEL consists of the eight major facility areas scattered across an 890-square-mile area in southeastern Idaho typically referred to as the "site." The ninth area includes several laboratories located approximately 30 miles east in the city of Idaho Falls.

INEEL's Facilities:

The Test Area North - TAN consists of facilities for handling, storage, examination, and research of spent nuclear fuel. TAN also houses the Specific Manufacturing Capability Project, which makes armor packages for Army tanks.

The Test Reactor Area - TRA is described as the world's most sophisticated materials testing complex and has extensive facilities for studying the effects of radiation on materials, fuels, and equipment.

The Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center - INTEC provides interim storage for government-owned spent nuclear fuels. INTEC currently develops new approaches and technologies to prepare spent fuel and other nuclear materials for eventual disposal in a national repository. It also is the center for the INEEL's high-level Waste treatment program.

The Waste Reduction Operations Complex/Power Burst Facility is housed in an area formerly used for reactor operations. WROC/PBF provides treatment, storage, and recycling of the INEEL's radioactive, mixed, and industrial/commercial wastes.

The Radioactive Waste Management Complex - RWMC studies the strategies for waste storage, processing, and disposal. Some 32,000 drums containing waste are stored at this facility.

The Naval Reactors Facility - NRF is the birthplace of the U.S. Nuclear Navy. NRF receives and examines Naval spent fuel, and works together with other INEEL facilities to improve and expand nuclear propulsion systems.

The INEEL Research Center - IRC is located in Idaho Falls, and is INEEL's primary research complex with applied R&D in science and engineering critical to national and DOE missions.

The Argonne National Laboratory-West - ANL-W is part of Argonne National Laboratory operated by the University of Chicago, conducts research and development and operates facilities for DOE in areas of our national concern including energy, nuclear safety, spent nuclear fuel, non proliferation, decommissioning and decontamination technologies, and nuclear material disposal.

Raytheon is the nation's producer of the Tomahawk cruise missile. Each one costs $2 million. The company also makes the Paveway series of laser-guided bombs which are used in Afghanistan, and the 5,000-pound GBU-28 "Bunker Buster, " the Pentagon's newest modified nuclear weapon.

Reuters, in October, reported that the Bush administration is proceeding with their plans to promote and push for the expansion of the nation's nuclear arsenal with the unveiling of an initiative produced by the ‘Defense Science Board'. http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb

The supporting document, named the “Future Strategic Strike Force”, outlines a reconfigured nuclear arsenal made up of smaller-scale missiles which could be targeted at smaller countries and other lower-scale targets. The report is a retreat from decades of understanding that these destructive weapons were to be used as a deterrent only; as a last resort. http://www.csbaonline.org/4Publications/Archive/R.20010300.The_Transformation/R.20010300.The_Transformation.htm
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-15039.htm

Mohamed El Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said earlier this year that developing new nuclear weapons could hamper efforts to reach agreement with other countries who might want to expand their nuclear programs; like Iran and Pakistan, for example.

In September the Senate went along with a White House push to reduce the preparation time required for nuclear testing in Nevada; clearing the way for a resumption of nuclear test explosions which have been banned since 1992. It seeks to cut the time it would take to restart testing nuclear weapons in the Nevada desert from three years to two years. The Bush administration wants the period cut to 18 months. http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa071002a.htm

Congress plans to build the first permanent U.S. nuclear waste repository in the desert northwest of Las Vegas, scheduled to open in 2010 and would hold up to 77,000 tons of radioactive waste. http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa071002a.htm

The Energy bill that has emerged from the recent Congress would provide $580 million for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal project in 2004 — around $11 million less than Bush had requested but far above a $425 million limit earlier endorsed by the Senate. http://rpc.senate.gov/_files/CRap111803.pdf

The bill would also provide $11 million for a new factory to make plutonium "pits" for the next generation of nuclear weapons. The last U.S. facility for manufacturing nuclear triggers closed in 1989.

President Bush recently signed into law a Defense bill for 2004 which includes $9 billion in funding for research on the next generation of nuclear weaponry. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/11/20031124-2.html

"It's an important signal we're sending," President Bush remarked at the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, "because, you see, the war on terror is different than any war America has ever fought."

"Our enemies seek to inflict mass casualties, without fielding mass armies," he cautioned. "They hide in the shadows, and they're often hard to strike. The terrorists are cunning and ruthless and dangerous, as the world saw on September the 11th, 2001. Yet these killers are now facing the United States of America, and a great coalition of responsible nations, and this threat to civilization will be defeated." http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_37/b3849012.htm

This is a posture usually reserved for nation-states who initiate or sponsor terrorists. The devastating neighboring effect of a potential nuclear engagement would contaminate innocent millions with the resulting radioactive fallout, and would not deter individuals with no known base of operations.

Yet, this administration, for the first time in our nation’s history, contemplates using nuclear weapons on countries which themselves have no nuclear capability, or pose no nuclear threat.

$8,933,847,000 has been provided in the 2004 Defense bill to the Department of Energy for the activities of the National Nuclear Security Administration, to be allocated as follows:
-For weapons activities, $6,457,272,000.
-For defense nuclear non-proliferation activities, $1,340,195,000.
-For naval reactors, $788,400,000.
-For the Office of the Administrator for Nuclear Security, $347,980,000.
-Test capabilities revitalization, phase I, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, $36,450,000.
-Exterior communications infrastructure modernization, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, $20,000,000.
-Project engineering and design, various locations, $2,000,000.
-Chemistry and metallurgy research (CMR) facility replacement, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, $20,500,000.
-Building 12-44 production cells upgrade, Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas, $8,780,000.
-Cleaning and loading modifications (CALM), Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina, $2,750,000.
-Mission relocation project, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, $8,820,000.
-Project engineering and design, facilities and infrastructure recapitalization program, various locations, $3,719,000.
-$360,000,000 for defense nuclear waste disposal.

-Section 3136 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 is repealed. (Law prohibiting nuclear tests)

The bill states that nothing in the repeal is intended to be construed as authorizing the testing, acquisition, or deployment of a low-yield nuclear weapon.

"The Secretary of Energy is not to commence the engineering development phase, or any subsequent phase, of a low-yield nuclear weapon unless specifically authorized by Congress," it says.

But, not later than March 1, 2004, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy is required in the bill to jointly submit to Congress a report assessing whether or not the repeal of section 3136 of the National Defense

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 will affect the ability of the United States to achieve its non-proliferation objectives and whether or not any changes in programs and activities would be required to achieve those objectives.

In other words, if nothing catastrophic has occurred as a result of the repeal of the testing ban, and if there is no challenging escalation of nuclear tests by other nations, a resumption of testing of these low-yield nuclear weapons may be considered.

The act states that: "If as a result of the review the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator for Nuclear Security, determines that the optimal, advisable, and preferred readiness posture for resumption by the United States of underground nuclear tests is a number of months other than 18 months, the Secretary may, and is encouraged to, achieve and thereafter maintain such optimal, advisable, and preferred readiness posture instead of the readiness posture of 18 months.

This is authorization for the Defense Secretary to ignore the congressional approval process and manipulate the schedule for underground nuclear tests at his discretion.

The nuclear hawks are stepping out from behind their Trojan Horses of nuclear space travel and ‘safe', new nuclear fuels and are revealing a frightening ambition to yoke the nation to a new legacy of imperialism. President Bush has decided that America's image around the globe is to be one of an oppressive nuclear bully bent on world domination.