A Pentagon study has concluded that new earth-penetrating, low-yield nuclear weapons may be the only way to destroy deep underground bunkers that hold biological and chemical weapons, the Albuquerque Journal reported yesterday.

In a recent presentation to Congress, researchers concluded that conventional weapons would be unable to destroy the deepest reinforced bunkers of biological or chemical weapons without dispersing the contents.  According to the study, called Project Sand Dune, specially designed low-yield nuclear bombs “have the unique ability” to do the job, destroying both the bunkers and the weapons they might hold.

New nuclear weapons could be designed to burrow into the ground and then detonate precisely on target in a low-yield nuclear explosion, said the study.  Current U.S. nuclear weapons have overly large yields as well as limited capabilities for penetrating the ground before exploding (John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal, Dec. 18).

The bombs would have a yield less than five kilotons, compared to the approximate combined 30 kilotons of the two nuclear bombs the United States dropped on Japan during World War II (H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Dec. 19).

Critics of the U.S. nuclear program released the Sand Dune study to the public last week, saying it indicates the Pentagon is moving toward creating a new generation of nuclear weapons.

“I fear that this report is the beginning of a reversal of the current U.S. policy to not produce new-design nuclear weapons,” said Jay Coghlan, director of Nuclear Watch of New Mexico (Fleck, Albuquerque Journal).  Congress would have to lift a 1994 ban on designing new nuclear weapons before the United States could actually build the special low-yield warheads. 

Martin Butcher of the Physicians for Social Responsibility said the type of warhead the report discussed was “the dirtiest kind of all.  It’s highly radioactive.”  Building the bomb would increase the risk of nuclear proliferation, he said (Hebert, Associated Press).

The U.S. government has made no move to actually start building the weapons, but the Energy and Defense departments have established a joint nuclear planning group to study the possibility of using nuclear weapons to destroy underground targets, according to the Journal.

Project Sand Dune began in 1997 after the Defense Department concluded conventional weapons could not destroy very deep bunkers, the report said, adding that about 10,000 deep bunkers exist in rogue states (Fleck, Albuquerque Journal).

Click here to read the report on the Nuclear Watch of New Mexico Web site.

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