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Congress Authorizes New Weapons Research
Congress has given its stamp of approval to Bush administration
proposals calling for expanded research on new and modified nuclear
warheads capability. But lawmakers stipulated that weapons designers
must obtain prior authorization from Congress before proceeding
beyond research to the engineering development phase. They also
cut funds in spending bills to put the brakes on some of the administration’s
plans—further complicating the picture for future research
and development possibilities.
To support the revised
nuclear posture first announced by President George W. Bush
in January 2002, the administration proposed language in the fiscal
year 2004 authorization and appropriations bills that would ramp
up U.S. nuclear weapons capabilities. Authorization bills set policy
guidelines and spending ceilings while appropriations bills endorse
specific spending levels for a given fiscal year. Policy guidelines
for the Energy Department’s
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are set by the
defense authorization bill while spending levels are set by the
energy and water appropriations bill.
Earlier this year, the administration
requested repealing a provision of the fiscal year 1994 National
Defense Authorization Act that bans research on nuclear weapons
with a yield of five kilotons or less and asked for funding that
could be used to begin exploring new low-yield warhead designs.
To enhance test readiness, the administration also proposed shortening
the time required to prepare for a nuclear test, proposing to increase
funding to $24.9 million for facilities and personnel supporting
the Nevada Test Site. In addition, the Energy Department requested
$15 million for the second year of a three-year study on developing
a more effective nuclear earth-penetrating weapon. (See
ACT, March 2003.)
The final version of the fiscal year 2004 National Defense Authorization
Act, signed by Bush Nov. 24, authorizes NNSA to spend up to $6.4
billion for overall nuclear weapons activities—an increase
of about $533 million from last year. Congress approved the repeal
of the decade-long prohibition on research leading to production
of low-yield nuclear weapons and authorized up to $6 million for
the Advanced Concepts Initiative, which may launch work on such
warheads. That resolution followed a months-long debate in which
Energy Department officials argued that scientists had been barred
from advancing their research by the prohibition while proponents
of maintaining the research ban suggested that the Bush administration
is seeking to develop “usable” nuclear weapons. (See
ACT, June 2003.)
The authorization legislation requires that the Energy Department
upgrade the country’s nuclear testing facilities and resources
so that the United States may resume underground nuclear testing
no later than 18 months after the president’s order is issued.
Currently, the United States maintains a test-readiness window of
24-36 months, and the administration has raised questions about
the integrity of the nuclear stockpile in the absence of testing.
(See
ACT, December 2002.)
The bill also authorizes up to $15 million to study possible modifications
to existing nuclear weapons in order to create a more effective
nuclear earth penetrator designed to root out deeply buried targets.
Further, it requires the Defense and Energy Departments to produce
a report describing how to integrate research and development and
other activities both for conventional and nuclear earth-penetrating
weapons. The final bill is expected to be signed by Bush shortly.
Congressional appropriators, however, were not as eager to rubber-stamp
the administration’s funding proposals. In approving the fiscal
year 2004 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act Nov.18,
Congress slashed in half funding for the earth penetrator program
to $7.5 million. The appropriations bill granted the requested $6
million for the Advanced Concept Initiative but fenced off $4 million
of the money to research new weapons designs until Congress receives
a report on the revised nuclear stockpile plan in light of the reductions
in the existing arsenal outlined in the Strategic
Offensive Reductions Treaty signed by Bush and Russian President
Vladimir Putin in June. (See
ACT, June 2003.) The committee also stipulated that the
$24.9 million for enhanced testing capability should be used to
meet the current 24-month readiness requirement before “pursu[ing]
a more aggressive goal of an 18-month readiness posture.”
Despite the unexpected cuts and limitations by congressional appropriators,
critics denounced the administration’s initiatives. “This
funding will allow the administration to begin the research and
development of new nuclear weapons—let there be no doubt,”
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a Nov. 10 statement.
“Clearly, the nuclear door is being reopened.” Representative
David Hobson (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee
on energy and water development, echoed these concerns. “I
don’t like a lot of this stuff,” he told the Los Angeles
Times Nov. 6, adding that he is worried “about sending
the wrong message to the rest of the world.”
Key Fiscal Year 2004 Nuclear Weapons Program Decisions
|
PROGRAM
|
DESCRIPTION |
REQUESTED
|
AUTHORIZED
|
APPROPRIATED |
|
Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator
|
Second year of study on enhancing existing
nuclear weapons to penetrate hardened/buried targets
|
$15 million
|
$15 million
|
$7.5 million
|
|
Advanced Concepts Initiative
|
Studies on new nuclear weapons concepts,
which may include low-yield warheads
|
$6 million
|
$6 million; repealed ban on low-yield nuclear
weapon research
|
$6 million, but $4 million withheld pending
stockpile report
|
|
Enhanced Test
Readiness
|
Preparation of Nevada Test Site for full-scale
nuclear weapons tests
|
$24.9 million
|
$24.9 million; shortened readiness period
to 18 months
|
$24.9 million
|
|
Modern Pit Facility
|
Design work on facility to manufacture hundreds
of warhead cores each year
|
$22.8 million
|
$22.8 million
|
$10.8 million
|
|
TOTAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS
ACTIVITIES
|
REQUESTED
|
AUTHORIZED
|
APPROPRIATED
|
|
2004 National Nuclear Security Administration
Budget
|
$6.38 billion
|
$6.43 billion |
$6.27 billion |
|
