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U.S. Energy Nominee Bodman Would Enhance Nuclear Weapons Complex, Nonproliferation Work By Joe Fiorill WASHINGTON — The United States should ramp up the capabilities of its nuclear weapon complex and its nonproliferation programs, President George W. Bush’s nominee to become the next U.S. energy secretary said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 10, 2004). Washington should strive to end a legal dispute slowing nuclear threat-reduction cooperation with Moscow and should push ahead with plans to open a nuclear-waste storage site in Nevada, Deputy Treasury Secretary Samuel Bodman added at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on his nomination to succeed Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (see related GSN story, today). Welcomed by senators from both parties with promises to support his nomination, Bodman indicated his intention to continue what he described as improvements to the U.S. nuclear weapon complex under Abraham. “The nuclear deterrent was a vital factor in winning the Cold War, and it continues to be a key strategic component of our national security posture,” the nominee said. “Since the beginning of this administration, the Energy Department has made significant progress in upgrading the capabilities of the nuclear weapons complex and the facilities that support it. I look forward to continuing that progress.” The United States must also step up its already “impressive” nonproliferation efforts, Bodman said. “Few things are more important in today’s world than keeping weapons-usable nuclear material away from terrorists and enemy regimes,” he said. “Nuclear material around the world must be made more physically secure to make certain that it is never acquired for use in weapons, either in nuclear devices or in radiological dispersion devices.” Questioned by committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) on programs to secure nuclear materials abroad, Bodman said he would “put forth every effort to resolve” a liability dispute that has stymied progress on U.S.-Russian threat-reduction projects, including the Nuclear Cities Initiative and the Plutonium Science and Technology agreement. The stalemate centers on the breadth of the exemption from liability that U.S. personnel and contractors should enjoy in case of incidents arising during activities under the programs (see GSN, Jan. 14). “I can certainly attest to my commitment to follow through on [the] effort” to resolve the dispute, Bodman said. “This president — this administration — has made nonproliferation a very high priority. It will certainly remain a high priority.” Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said he and Bodman had met earlier yesterday to discuss a related international effort: the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, under which Washington is helping Moscow to repatriate Russian-origin reactor fuel from other countries. Abraham said this month that Russia must accelerate its work on the initiative. Senators raised a number of other nuclear-related matters at the hearing, including “bunker-buster” nuclear weapon development, the planned Modern Pit Facility and U.S. nuclear-test readiness. Bodman repeatedly indicated a willingness to look into the legislators’ concerns but also stressed his status as a nominee whose familiarity with many of the subjects mentioned dates only from his nomination last month. He said he had not seen the fiscal 2006 Energy Department budget request. The nominee said that if confirmed, he would “enthusiastically follow through” on plans to open a long-term nuclear-waste storage facility in 2010 at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. He called the plan “a matter of great importance,” adding that he would “execute the will of Congress and the will of the president in seeing to it that we follow through with Yucca Mountain” (see GSN, Nov. 19, 2004). Funding for Yucca Mountain has often proved divisive in Congress, and the project has reportedly been among factors behind legislators’ current stalemate over an Energy Department appropriations bill. Alliance for Nuclear Accountability Program Director Jim Bridgman said Bodman’s remarks on the storage site imply “that the administration will not try to seek another solution, as they did [last] year through the Nuclear Waste Fund” (see GSN, June 10, 2004). “On the other hand,” Bridgman asked in an interview today, “can they really afford a close-to-$900 million request for this project?” Bodman praised Abraham’s efforts to speed up cleanup projects at U.S. sites contaminated by the government’s nuclear-weapon activities. The nominee said the timetable for the program has been reduced by 35 years under Abraham, a move he said would save the country about $50 billion. “I commend Secretary Abraham and the many DOE [Energy Department] employees for this accomplishment, and, if confirmed, I know that we will build on their achievement to ensure that chemical and radiological contamination at these facilities is properly dealt with and that, where practical, these sites are restored and returned to the public for safe and constructive use,” Bodman said. Bridgman acknowledged that Bush administration plans to speed the program could generate substantial savings but said there is no guarantee the acceleration will actually take place. He cited reports that the administration plans to cut cleanup funding in fiscal 2006. “We’re not there yet,” Bridgman said. “It’s great for them to be able to stand up there and say ‘We’re going to save all this money,’ but that’s still years down the road.”
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