Energy Secretary Pushes to Ramp Up U.S. Ability to Test Nuke Bombs

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Energy Secretary Pushes to Ramp Up U.S. Ability to Test Nuke Bombs

By Christopher Smith

The Salt Lake Tribune

 

Wednesday 16 February 2005

 

Washington - Although scientists continue work on simulating

nuclear bomb tests by computer, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said

Tuesday that the Nevada Test Site's ability to resume actual

underground warhead detonations must be enhanced.

 

The Bush administration's commitment to step up preparations

for a potential resumption of nuclear bomb testing in southern Nevada

comes less than a week after the Utah Senate unanimously approved a

House-passed resolution that urged the federal government not to

" return to the mistakes and miscalculations of the past which have

marred many Utahns " and that would create " a new generation of

downwinders. "

 

Thousands of Utah residents downwind of the Nevada proving

ground blame atomic-bomb testing - which began in the 1950s and ended

with a 1992 moratorium - for an airborne scourge of disease and death

due to radioactive fallout.

 

Appearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee,

Bodman said the administration wants $2 billion in the next fiscal

year for the nuclear weapon stockpile stewardship program, which

verifies that America's aging atomic arsenal remains operational.

 

Last year, a bipartisan congressional effort killed increased

funding requests to allow an underground nuclear test to be carried

out within 18 months if needed, rather than the current estimated

preparation time of 24 to 36 months.

 

Although no such tests are planned, Bodman said the

administration remains convinced the " readiness posture " of the

nuclear proving ground must be enhanced.

 

" We will continue our efforts to maintain the ability to

conduct underground nuclear testing and complete the transition to the

18-month test readiness posture that is mandated by Congress, " he told

the panel.

 

Bodman also said a $660 million funding request will keep on

schedule a computer simulation project that will use data collected

from more than 1,000 previous nuclear bomb tests to help certify

stockpile readiness " without resorting to nuclear testing. "

 

But he stressed the need to leave the door open to a

resumption of testing in the event that future enemy threats or

failures in the stockpile require actual detonation.

 

" Unanticipated events could include complete failure of a

deployed warhead type or the need to respond to new and emerging

threats, " Bodman said.

 

The Department of Energy's 2006 budget request includes $4

million this year and $14 million next year to resurrect research on a

potential " bunker buster " variation of an existing warhead to destroy

buried enemy targets. Congress killed the so-called Robust Nuclear

Earth Penetrator.

 

But some members of the Armed Services panel said Tuesday that

they wanted to question Department of Defense leaders on whether there

is truly a need for such technology.

 

Similar arguments have been raised in the House debate on the

bombs by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

 

" No one is going to argue about pursuing new technologies to

address the threats posed by terrorists hiding in hardened or deeply

buried sites, " said Matheson. " But we should ask and answer this

question about whether nuclear weapons, regardless of yield, can even

get the job done. "

 

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