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U.S. House Panel Doubles Requested Funding for Reliable Replacement Warhead Program
A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee last week doubled the White House fiscal 2007 funding request for the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, the San Francisco Chronicle reported (see GSN, April 26). The Energy and Water Subcommittee on Wednesday boosted financing for the project to develop new U.S. nuclear weapons and components from about $25 million to $52.7 million. Nearly half the additional amount would be contingent upon completion of a study on preparing facilities for production and maintenance of new warheads. The panel also cut at least $178 million from programs to maintain and upgrade existing warheads, further indicating its support for the RRW program, the Chronicle reported. Funding reductions included $80 million that had been intended to extend the life of the W-80 warhead. The committee designated another $100 million for planning a facility that would consolidate nuclear weapons production capabilities. Critics have argued that existing nuclear weapons should remain viable for decades, making spending on new warheads unnecessary. The Reliable Replacement Warhead program also could undercut U.S. nonproliferation efforts around the globe, they say. “They are making an error in shifting resources from a well-proven program of maintaining the stockpile to something that is not proven,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. “I think this is premature and will come back to haunt them” (James Sterngold, San Francisco Chronicle, May 20).
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