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U.S. Bunker-Buster Program More Robust Than Expected By David Ruppe WASHINGTON — A Bush administration program to study a controversial new earth-penetrating nuclear weapon is much more ambitious than previously indicated, according to a congressional analysis released Monday (see GSN, Jan. 23). A report by the Congressional Research Service says the Energy Department’s Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) program is projected to proceed beyond the study phase and cost as much as $485 million over the next five years. Senior administration officials previously tried to dismiss criticism of the program by saying it only involves a three-year study projected to cost just $45 million. The program “is a study. It is nothing more and nothing less,” said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during a May 2003 press briefing. The congressional analysis of the Energy Department’s fiscal 2005 budget request documents says the study is now projected to run four years, from fiscal 2003 to 2006, and cost $71 million between those years. Furthermore, the budget documents project $484.7 million in program costs through fiscal 2009 with post-study development work, for which specific congressional approval is required. The Energy request “seems to cast serious doubt on assertions that RNEP is only a study,” says the report, authored by analyst Jonathan Medalia. The program is controversial, with congressional critics charging that U.S. interest in new nuclear weapons capabilities undermines efforts to persuade other countries to forgo nuclear weapons and raises questions about an international commitment the United States made in 2000 to move toward eventual disarmament. A manager for the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, the CRS report says, dismissed the budget projection as a “placeholder” to protect the option of proceeding with the program for avoiding any future delay in funding. The official said no decision had been made on whether to proceed beyond the study phase. Congress appropriated $15 million for the study in fiscal 2003 and $7.5 million in fiscal 2004, following criticism by congressional Democrats. The administration is seeking $27.6 million for next year and is planning to extend the study through fiscal 2006. NNSA attributed the increases to the need for an additional participant in the study, additional project management requirements, better definition of the study’s requirements and costs and an increase in safety of the proposed weapon.
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