Senators Feinstein, Kennedy & Others Seek to Eliminate Funding for New Nuclear Weapons Projects
September 15, 2003

Washington DC - U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Edward Kennedy (D- MA) today urged the Senate to eliminate funds for a new generation of nuclear weapons, including "low-yield" nuclear bombs and the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, also known as a "bunker buster."

"With these appropriations a new nuclear arms race will result, let there be no doubt," Senator Feinstein said in a Senate floor speech. "If we appropriate these dollars, we can expect that other nations will follow and a new nuclear race will begin and the chance that one day - somehow, some way - they will be used against us will increase."

"Indeed, by seeking to develop new nuclear weapons ourselves we send a message that nuclear weapons have a future battlefield role and utility," Senator Feinstein added. "This is the wrong direction and, in my view, will only cause America to be placed in greater jeopardy in the future."

The Feinstein-Kennedy amendment to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill is co-sponsored by Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-WA). It is similar to action already taken by the House to eliminate funding for the new nuclear weapons. Specifically, the amendment would eliminate:

• $15 million for the study of the development of the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator; and,
• $6 million in funding for Advanced nuclear Weapons Concepts, including the study for development of low-yield weapons.

The amendment would also prohibit spending to:

• increase the Nevada Test Site's time-to-test readiness posture from the current 24-36 months to 18 months.

It would also put a one-year stay on site selection for the Modern Pit Facility and would redirect the funds saved for debt reduction.

"I strongly support a robust military to safeguard America's National Security interests," Senator Feinstein said. "But I believe we will make our nation and our allies less secure - not more - if the United States opens the door to the development, testing, and deployment of new tactical and 'low-yield' nuclear weapons."

Consider the potential physical power of these weapons. According to Stanford University physicist Sidney Drell - a world-renowned expert in this field - destroying a target dug 1,000 feet into rock would require a nuclear weapon with a yield of 100 kilotons - almost 10 times the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Even the effects of a small bomb would be dramatic. A 1-kiloton nuclear weapon detonated 20-50 feet underground would dig a crater the size of Ground Zero in New York and eject 1 million cubic feet of radioactive debris into the air.

With respect to the Modern Pit Facility, this is the Bush Administration's proposed $4 billion plant where new plutonium pits for nuclear weapons will be fabricated.

This facility, when completed, would be able to produce 250-900 plutonium pits per year. To put this in perspective, if the proposed Modern Pit Facility operated at half of its capacity it could equal or exceed China's entire nuclear arsenal in one year. This production will be in excess of our current inventory of 15,000 plutonium pits.

"Unfortunately, while we are telling others not to develop nuclear weapons and not to sell fissile materials, we continue to study and design new nuclear weapons ourselves," Senator Feinstein said. "There is only one word for such a policy: hypocritical. "

###