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Bush Administration Scraps RNEP Plans
The Bush administration has decided to shelve research on a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator warhead in favor developing a conventional weapon to reach deeply buried, hardened targets, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Sept. 27). Funding for the nuclear bunker-buster through the Energy Department’s fiscal 2006 budget was dropped at the request of the National Nuclear Security Administration, said Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee. “The focus will now be with the Defense Department and its research into earth-penetrating technology using conventional weaponry,” Domenici said in a statement. An administration official confirmed that the administration would now focus on a conventional alternative to the bunker buster, AP reported. Critics of the research hailed the decision. “This is a true victory for a more rational nuclear policy,” said Stephen Young, a senior analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The proposed weapon, more than 70 times the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, would have caused unparalleled collateral damage” (Associated Press/USA Today, Oct. 26).
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