The U.N. General Assembly room in New York. Procedural hurdles at the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference were finally overcome this week with seven work days left in the monthlong meeting. Delegates are now working in committees on disarmament, nuclear weapon-free zones and other issues (U.N. photo). NPT Conference Begins Substantive Work By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — With only seven working days left for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty’s review conference, delegates today began substantive work after clearing the final procedural hurdle yesterday (see GSN, May 13). Participants earlier in the month agreed to divide their substantive work, as at previous review conferences, into three main committees: Committee I on nuclear disarmament issues, chaired by Indonesia; Committee II on nonproliferation issues and nuclear weapon-free zones, chaired by Hungary; and Committee III peaceful uses of nuclear energy, chaired by Sweden. The role of these committees is to examine how parties are implementing the various provisions of the treaty and to make recommendations for the final document of the conference, which is meant to be a roadmap for nuclear nonproliferation until the next review conference in 2010. At the 2000 review conference, the main committees had begun their work by the second week of the four-week conference...Full Story

House Committee Rejects Greater Missile Defense Oversight; Nuclear Weapon Issues Advance By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee yesterday rejected a Democratic proposal to increase oversight of national missile defense systems being simultaneously developed and deployed by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (see GSN, May 3)...Full Story

U.S. Smallpox Vaccine Plan Hampers Drug Company Bidding, Industry Representatives Say By David Francis Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Health and Human Services Department this week issued a draft request for proposals for the next-generation smallpox vaccine for the Strategic National Stockpile (see GSN, May 3)...Full Story

	Thursday, May 19, 2005

House Seeks to Revamp Color-Coded Terror Alerts A bill approved yesterday by the U.S. House of Representatives would make the federal color-coded terrorism alert system optional and would instead require the Homeland Security Department to provide specific information about terrorist targets and how to respond to the threat, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, May 11). Republican aides said alerts should be issued for geographic areas or industries considered to be in danger. The bill also requires the department to provide state, local and private-sector officials with more nuclear and biological weapons intelligence, AP reported. “We’ve had to make hard choices and we’ve had to set priorities,” said Representative Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The Homeland Security Department could announce changes to the alert system next month, AP reported. The Bush administration, while releasing a statement in support of the legislation, said that parts of the bill could “hinder the department’s ability to implement its various missions.” The Senate is working on its version of the legislation, but no deadline for its completion has been announced (Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press/Baltimore Sun, May 18). Back to top

Democrats Blast, Republicans Defend Bolton Partisan battles over U.N. ambassador nominee John Bolton continued in a report submitted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ahead of a full Senate vote on the appointment, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, May 16). Democrats charged in a 53-page statement that Bolton attempted to punish intelligence analysts with views different than his own, manipulated intelligence, treated subordinates improperly and misled a Senate committee.  The Democratic documents states that Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, asked then-CIA Director George Tenet to punish an analyst who disagreed with Bolton on Cuba’s WMD capabilities. Democrats accuse Bolton of misleading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when asked about the matter during his confirmation hearing. Committee Republicans, on the other hand, filed a seven-page report. They argued that the Democrats’ charges are overblown and that accusations that Bolton manipulated intelligence remain unproven. “The end result of all this is that Secretary Bolton emerged looking better than when it began,” Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said in the report. He said Bolton’s “blunt style … sometimes rubbed people the wrong way.” The State Department also defended Bolton, saying the Democratic report offered no new evidence, AP reported. “The committee’s already reviewed this issue extensively,” said department spokesman Tom Casey. “This is a minority interpretation of events, and we completely reject it.” Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) who has a hold placed on Bolton’s nomination pending the arrival of more information from the State Department, sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking for records connected to Matthew Freedman, a private adviser to Bolton. Freedman would not answer committee questions, and the State Department said there is no need to turn over documents relating to Freedman’s consulting work (Anne Gearan and Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press/Washington Post, May 19). Back to top

NPT Conference Begins Substantive Work By Jim Wurst Global Security Newswire UNITED NATIONS — With only seven working days left for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty’s review conference, delegates today began substantive work after clearing the final procedural hurdle yesterday (see GSN, May 13). Participants earlier in the month agreed to divide their substantive work, as at previous review conferences, into three main committees: Committee I on nuclear disarmament issues, chaired by Indonesia; Committee II on nonproliferation issues and nuclear weapon-free zones, chaired by Hungary; and Committee III peaceful uses of nuclear energy, chaired by Sweden. The role of these committees is to examine how parties are implementing the various provisions of the treaty and to make recommendations for the final document of the conference, which is meant to be a roadmap for nuclear nonproliferation until the next review conference in 2010. At the 2000 review conference, the main committees had begun their work by the second week of the four-week conference. Meanwhile, a draft final conference document is now circulating among delegations.  Norwegian Ambassador Kjetil Paulsen acknowledged this morning that his delegation prepared the paper. “It’s not a secret,” he said.  Based on the results of a seminar held in Oslo in March, Paulsen told Global Security Newswire  the “nonpaper” is a list of 10 possible areas of agreement that could be included in a final document.  Although it is “obviously a paper many won’t like,” he said delegations “generally believe this is constructive.” The document is an attempt to strike a balance between the priorities of some for the nuclear states, especially the United States, and those of the majority of non-nuclear states. Reflecting the U.S. view that new threats have emerged since the 2000 conference, the paper says “the international security environment has changed dramatically in recent years.  Nonstate actors, terrorists and states in noncompliance with nonproliferation and disarmament obligations have challenged and continue to pose a threat to international stability, peace and security.”  On the other hand, the “nonpaper” also lists many of the initiatives from previous review conferences that the United States now opposes.   “The conference notes that progress has been made in implementing many provisions contained in the final documents from the 1995 and 2000 review conferences.  But more needs to be done,” according to the document. “Particular attention” needs to be paid to “continued nuclear disarmament, emphasizing the need for predictability, transparency and irreversibility,” the paper says. The Norwegian paper supports entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, verifiable and transparent destruction of remaining nonstrategic weapons), and a Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone. Committee Structure Additional procedural elements were also agreed upon yesterday, including the themes of the subsidiary bodies that would be part of the main committees, who would chair those bodies and how the remaining time will be allocated to the committees and subsidiary bodies.  Conference President Sergio Duarte of Brazil said the subsidiary body under Committee I would deal with nuclear disarmament and security assurances, and would be chaired by a New Agenda country; the Committee II subsidiary body would deal with regional issues including the Middle East, and would be chaired by a country from the Western Group of States; and Committee III would have a subsidiary body dealing with issues concerning the withdrawal provisions of the treaty, and would be chaired by a member of the Nonaligned Movement. The New Agenda — Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sweden — has become something of a negotiating counterpart to the declared nuclear powers in the NPT review conferences, working to extract as many disarmament commitments as possible from the five nations.  At least one nuclear power — France — objected to the New Agenda being accorded a status on par with the traditional regional groupings and the Nonaligned Movement. However, this morning Duarte told GSN that “it was a mistake on my part” to identify the chairs of the subsidiary bodies by groups. Instead, “they were chosen in their personal capacity,” he said.  Addressing Committees I and II later in the morning, Duarte said the disarmament body would be chaired by New Zealand and the regional issues body by Spain. Committee III has its first meeting this afternoon. The conference is scheduled to conclude on May 27. Back to top       North Korean Response to Meeting With U.S. Officials Expected in Two Weeks, Report Says North Korea has said it would deliver a response in two weeks to issues raised at a meeting with U.S. officials last week, the Kyodo News agency reported today (see GSN, May 18). The two sides had working-level contact Friday in New York, the U.S. embassy in Tokyo told the Associated Press today. Senior U.S. State Department officials reportedly told the North Korean side that Washington recognizes Kim Jong Il as leader of the sovereign nation and that Washington does not intend to attack the country, according to AP. Joseph DeTrani, the U.S. special envoy to the six-nation nuclear talks, and Jim Foster, the head of the State Department’s Office of Korean Affairs, attended the meeting, the Boston Globe reported (Joseph Coleman, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 19). DeTrani said yesterday that the United States would be open to more direct engagement with North Korea if it agrees to resume six-party talks, Reuters reported. “Commit to coming back to the six-party process and that (the New York channel) is part of the equation. Bilaterals across the board would be available,” he said (Jack Kim, Reuters, May 19). Pyongyang had not pledged to return to the multilateral negotiations as it ended direct talks today with Seoul, Reuters reported. South Korea promised to begin shipping 200,000 tons of fertilizer to the North on Saturday, according to a joint statement. Seoul had pressed Pyongyang to include a formal recognition of the seriousness of the nuclear crisis in their joint declaration. The nuclear crisis was not, however, mentioned in the statement (Reuters, May 19). Meanwhile, the New Straits Times reported today that China seems to be adopting a tougher stance on North Korea. If North Korea remains committed to pursuing nuclear weapons, Beijing might not block the United States and Japan from introducing a U.N. Security Council resolution criticizing Pyongyang, a Chinese source said. The source also said Beijing views as absurd North Korea’s request for bilateral talks with the United States on the basis of their equality as nuclear powers. “This is daydreaming,” he said. “The United States would never agree to it.” “[The North Koreans] want to be a de facto nuclear power, like India and Pakistan,” the source said. “But the United States would not live with that” (Frank Ching, New Straits Times, May 19). Back to top       Iran Wants EU Incentives in Nuclear Talks A top Iranian official said Tehran wants significant economic incentives from the European Union as the two sides prepare to meet for emergency talks on Iran’s nuclear program, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, May 17). “The maximum announced was U.S. readiness to give spare parts for used airplanes, which is just a joke as the result of three months of negotiations,” Iranian negotiator Hossein Mousavian said yesterday. Iran will not abandon plans to enrich uranium, regardless of the incentives offered, Mousavian added. “We would be prepared to continue suspension of enrichment for two to three more months, or some months, to test whether there would be any outcome of negotiations,” he said. Some experts have suggested that allowing Iran to have a declared nuclear program subject to international monitoring is preferable to a secret effort. “It’s much better to have 500 centrifuges under the eye of everybody than 50 clandestine ones out in the desert somewhere,” said one expert. If Iran had 500 centrifuges, it would take approximately 10 years to produce enough material for one nuclear weapon, said a senior European diplomat. U.S. officials, however, have contended that Tehran would gain weapons capability by having even a small number of centrifuges (Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, May 19). French, British and German foreign ministers, along with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, are scheduled to meet with Iranian officials Tuesday in Brussels, European diplomats confirmed yesterday (Michael Thurston, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 19). The only issues up for discussion at the talks will be the timing and conditions of enrichment resumption, top Iranian negotiator Hassan Rohani said yesterday. “There are no other issues negotiable,” Rohani said. “If we feel that the Europeans are determined to exercise the agreements, and also we feel that they do not want to waste time, we would have no problem to delay resumption of activities in the Isfahan facility for some weeks,” he added. In response, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher warned that Iran should “try to reassure the international community that has been more and more concerned about its activities.” The International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors is scheduled to discuss a report on the two-year investigation of Iran on June 13, Reuters reported. If Iran maintains its nuclear freeze until at least the June 17 presidential elections, it can expect a generally positive report from the agency, diplomats said. Any referral to the U.N. Security Council would then likely be delayed until at least the September board meeting, according to Reuters (Holmes/Moody, Reuters, May 19). Iran’s aims to create dissension between the European nations or split them from the United States on the nuclear issue, a senior U.S. official said yesterday. “I think what’s really going on is a period of testing, with the Iranians testing whether they can kind of break the EU-3 apart or break the EU-3 from us,” the official said. “It’s complicated, it’s hard, it’s going to take some time, I think the EU-3 have a pretty good approach,” he said (Reuters, May 18) Back to top       French Defense Minister Supports Discussion of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Withdrawal From Germany A French official is supporting German requests for NATO to discuss removing U.S. nuclear weapons from Germany, the International Herald Tribune reported today (see GSN, April 22). French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie did not, however, call on Washington to withdraw some 150 U.S. nuclear weapons now deployed in Germany, reported today (Katrin Bennhold, International Herald Tribune, May 19). Back to top       Russia Requests Extradition of Former Minister Russia has requested the extradition from Switzerland of former Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, May 6). Adamov was arrested May 2 on a U.S. warrant for allegedly embezzling $9 million in U.S. funding intended for Russian nuclear security during his tenure as minister. A Russian court on Saturday issued a warrant for Adamov’s arrest in connection with a fraud investigation, AFP reported. The United States has until June 30 to lodge a formal request for Adamov’s extradition, the Swiss Federal Justice Office said. Swiss authorities are considering which extradition request would take precedence. “That will be examined in the course of the extradition proceedings,” Swiss justice spokesman Folco Galli told AFP. “The date of the extradition request is one of the criteria, but not the only one.” Adamov, meanwhile, appealed his detention yesterday, claiming diplomatic immunity and that the arrest violated a pan-European accord on judicial cooperation (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, May 19). Back to top       NNSA Proposes Fine Over Pantex Safety Breach The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has proposed a $123,750 fine against the BWXT Pantex nuclear weapons factory in Texas in connection with an incident in which workers used tape to hold together cracked nuclear warhead components, the agency announced yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 22). While dismantling a W-56 warhead in January, plant personnel found a crack in a high-explosive charge. They taped the crack and placed the charge in a stable position. Attempts to remove the charge several days later were halted after the cracks expanded, according to the Associated Press. Pantex did not perform a proper safety review or give workers adequate instructions before they attempted to remove the explosive, according to investigators for the U.S. Energy Department. The plant also had not fixed a tooling problem after two years, AP reported. “Any potential for the failure of the tooling to safely contain cracked high explosive could have increased the probability of an inadvertent detonation,” the department said in a violation notice. No one was hurt in the incident, BWXT Pantex General Manager Michael Mallory said in a statement issued Tuesday. “The final investigation confirmed that the workers followed their procedures and correctly stopped the operation when they observed conditions that were not as expected. The safe control of all components and materials was maintained at all times,” Mallory said (Associated Press/Amarillo Daily Sentinel, May 18). Back to top

U.S. Smallpox Vaccine Plan Hampers Drug Company Bidding, Industry Representatives Say By David Francis Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. Health and Human Services Department this week issued a draft request for proposals for the next-generation smallpox vaccine for the Strategic National Stockpile (see GSN, May 3). Industry lobbyists say the Project Bioshield contract for development and production of Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) discourages larger drug companies from bidding because it calls for producing only 20 million doses. Most larger companies lack the capacity to produce vaccine, and would see little economic incentive in seeking the contract unless the number of requested doses was larger, lobbyists said. The sources contend this contradicts congressional proposals for Bioshield II legislation, which is aimed at attracting larger players to the vaccine manufacturing business with financial and other incentives. Lobbyists said it is unusual for the department to ask for comments on a proposal before it is issued and that large pharmaceutical companies would probably ask that the number of doses in the contract be increased. Companies are likely to seek a contractual guarantee to produce at least 50 million doses, said attorney John Clerici of McKenna Long and Aldridge, a law firm representing vaccine manufacturers. Any profit gained from a 20-million dose contract would not match the investment in vaccine production infrastructure, Clerici said. The contract does not specify how much would be paid per dose, but gives the government the option of purchasing 60 million additional doses after delivery and Food and Drug Administration approval of the initial batch of vaccines. The contract in its current form also makes it difficult for smaller companies to bid, as storage and manufacturing requirements are hard for small companies to meet, Clerici added. A second industry lobbyist, who asked to remain anonymous because of close ties to vaccine manufacturers, agreed that the scope of the administration’s request discourages large drug companies from bidding.  The bid request “is drafted to scare away big [pharmaceutical and biotechnology] companies,” the source wrote in an e-mail. “The RFP first solicits 20 million doses of the vaccine, which may be awarded either 10 million doses each for two companies or 20 million doses to one company. Then, it gives the government the sole option later … to acquire up to an additional 60 million doses of the vaccine. The draft RFP does not commit the government to ever exercise that option.” The Health and Human Services Department believes the new recombinant vaccine would cause fewer post-vaccination adverse reactions than Dryvax, the currently licensed smallpox vaccine. The source questioned why the department, acknowledging smallpox as a threat, would not simply request 80 million doses. “HHS is playing cat and mouse with this crazy option” to purchase an extra 60 million doses, the source wrote. “I thought Bioshield was supposed to create a guaranteed market so that more companies would be attracted and bid. This is someone’s idea to confuse and provide uncertainty to industry ... except perhaps for some small start-ups that are willing to gamble the entire[ty] of their companies and roll the dice.” Comments on the draft proposal are due on May 31. U.S. Senate proposals — one introduced by Republican leadership, another by Senators Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) — would provide incentives, such as liability shields and patent exclusivity, to encourage big drug makers to enter the vaccine market. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s bioterrorism preparedness subcommittee, plans to review the bills in a series of hearings this summer. Burr has pledged to consider both bills before combining them into a single piece of legislation. The smallpox contract would be the fourth under Bioshield, which has $5.6 billion available for developing biological weapon countermeasures over the next decade. The Health and Human Services Department has awarded contracts to VaxGen for an unlicensed recombinant anthrax vaccine, BioPort for its licensed anthrax vaccine and Fleming and Co. for a radiation countermeasure. Back to top

Oregon Stops Umatilla CW Destruction After Fire Oregon’s Environmental Quality Department halted chemical weapons destruction at the U.S. Army’s Umatilla Chemical Depot yesterday following the third fire at the facility since early April, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 26). “It certainly appears as if we’re seeing a pattern,” department spokesman Dennis Murphey said. He would not say when destruction would resume. The causes of the first two fires remain unknown. Murphey said the fire, which lasted only a few seconds, occurred during destruction of a rocket containing the nerve agent sarin (Associated Press, May 18). Rocket processing was stopped for more than a week after each of the first two fires, but officials expect this delay to be longer, the Portland Oregonian reported. Army spokeswoman Mary Binder said a through investigation into the latest fire is planned. “At this point, we haven’t ruled out anything,” Binder said. “But from what we’ve seen … the people, procedures and design worked as planned” (Andy Dworkin, Oregonian, May 19). Meanwhile, Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) expressed concerns that a minor fire last week at Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal was not reported quickly enough to the public, according to the Associated Press. “I was a little surprised I didn’t know earlier,” Pryor said. “I’m going to check into what exactly the rationale was there. But generally, I think they owe it to the community to tell the public when things like this happen.” Col. Tom Woloszyn, an Army spokesman, said the cause of the fire is being investigated. “This was not an emergency, so the public was not notified, but I think we need to re-evaluate that,” Woloszyn said (David Hammer, Associated Press, May 19). Back to top       Chemical Weapon Destruction Report Delayed Again An Army Chemical Materials Agency report on options for eliminating the U.S. chemical stockpile by 2012, originally due in April, is not expected to be released publicly until late June, the Anniston Star reported yesterday (see GSN, March 7). Defense Department spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Joe Carpenter said he did not know why the report was delayed. The Pentagon plans to review the document before it is released. “We need an opportunity to look at it,” Carpenter said. “We may need to ask follow-up questions, and then develop an idea of all those alternatives, what our priorities are, and what we think the best way ahead will be.” Spokesman Greg Mahall said the Chemical Materials Agency is waiting for the Pentagon’s guidance on the report. “We have not received official closure on this, although I think it’s safe to say our work is done,” Mahall said. With relocation removed as an option, the agency is considering alternatives such as relocating disposal equipment and secondary treatment options, the Star reported (Brian Lyman, Anniston Star, May 18). Back to top

House Committee Rejects Greater Missile Defense Oversight; Nuclear Weapon Issues Advance By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee yesterday rejected a Democratic proposal to increase oversight of national missile defense systems being simultaneously developed and deployed by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (see GSN, May 3). Democrats sought to include the provision in the $441.6 billion fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill that the committee approved yesterday. That bill and the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill, approved by the House Appropriations Committee yesterday, included provisions both increasing and restricting U.S. nuclear weapons work and other strategic systems activities proposed by the Bush administration. Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) proposed an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would have required new missile defense systems to be tested for operational effectiveness under a program designed by the Defense Department’s independent Operational Test and Evaluation Office before they are deployed. “To date, MDA has been exempted from rigorous testing before deployment, but with 20 untested interceptors emplaced in silos by the end of this year, the time has come to end this exemption and restore credibility to missile defense,” Tauscher said in a debate prior to the vote. The Armed Services Committee killed the measure with a party-line vote of 33-27.  “Congress can’t continue to pour funds into a program that has come nowhere near success — we need better accountability and we need to be able to trust the answers given us,” Tauscher said in a statement following the vote. The Senate approved similar language last week in its version of the authorization bill. Fielded, But Under Development Representative Terry Everett (R-Ala.), who chairs the House Armed Forces Strategic Forces Subcommittee, said he opposed giving the Test and Evaluation Office a supervisory role because the system is still undergoing developmental testing, as opposed to testing to see whether the system would be effective in the field. He said U.S. law prohibits the office from supervising developmental testing. “The Office of Test and Evaluation already has an important role in reviewing MDA test plans and evaluating MDA testing,” he said. U.S. law, however, also requires that every defense system complete development testing and initial operational testing before it is deployed and that the testing is reviewed by the director of operational test and evaluation. In an unusual move several years ago, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld exempted the Missile Defense Agency from traditional oversight by the office, which was created by Congress in the early 1980s to design a testing regime to ensure weapons systems are proven suitable and effective before they are put in the field. The office was given an advisory role in missile defense. Soon after, the Missile Defense Agency scaled back testing and accelerated fielding of billions of dollars worth of missiles, ships, radar, and communications systems. This occurred despite conclusions by government officials that the agency has not yet demonstrated that the system’s central Ground-based Midcourse Defense system would work against real threats, and by concerns by independent critics that it never will. Pentagon officials have argued such an approach is needed to address a potential nuclear ICBM capability from North Korea. The administration has requested funding for additional systems beginning next fiscal year, including money for at least 20 additional long-range interceptors. A separate provision that was approved in the House bill, however, provides money for constructing only 15 of those missiles. It also included a Democrat-proposed $100 million increase to the Missile Defense Agency budget to conduct an operationally realistic Ground-based Midcourse Defense intercept test by Oct. 1. The test was ordered by Congress in its defense authorization bill last year. Other Measures The defense authorization bill also establishes guidelines for the Energy Department’s Reliable Replacement Warhead program, which is intended to study and possibly develop replacement parts or warheads for the current nuclear weapons arsenal.  The bill requires that the program not produce new capabilities that would enable new nuclear weapons missions and that it use designs and components already proven through testing, so that the program does not lead to a resumption of live U.S. nuclear testing. The bill approves $4 million for the Defense Department to evaluate various options for a new earth-penetrating weapon for striking deeply buried targets. Last year, Congress blocked spending on such a program. It also repeals a requirement by the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill that the Pentagon report annually to Congress on its controversial “global strike” plans, which are intended to produce a capability of striking rapidly and possibly pre-emptively anywhere on earth with conventional or nuclear weapons. The bill also authorizes $49.1 billion in “supplemental” funding to the fiscal 2005 bill, primarily for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. Energy and Water The House Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, approved a $29.7 billion fiscal 2006 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill that includes $6.2 billion for nuclear weapon-related activities. The bill excludes funding requested by the Bush administration for an Energy Department study of a nuclear earth penetrator, while providing $25 million for an initial Reliable Replacement Warhead study, for which the administration had requested $9.3 million. The bill excludes a $7.7 million request for constructing a “Modern Pit Facility” for constructing new plutonium pit triggers for nuclear weapons.  It provides just $15 million of $25 million requested to improve readiness for conducting a nuclear weapons test if ordered by the president, and says the preparation time should remain at 24 months and not move toward the administration’s goal of 18. The bill includes $1.5 billion overall for nuclear nonproliferation activities, including efforts to dispose of U.S. plutonium. A report accompanying the bill suggests the Energy Department move spent nuclear fuel from civilian reactor sites to an interim, undetermined facility.   Funding also was approved for an initiative to develop spent nuclear fuel recycling technologies.   Back to top

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