Congress Denies Funding for Dangerous New Nuclear Weapons
In 2007, stopping a new generation of nuclear weapons was one of our top legislative priorities. On December 19, Congress denied all funding for research on the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program, a dangerous proposal to build a new generation of nuclear weapons, ultimately replacing the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal. The administration had requested $88.8 million for research and design on the new warhead. The bill also denied funding for a new facility to produce new plutonium "pits"—the core of a nuclear weapon—and cut by more than half requested funding for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program, the Bush administration's plan to reprocess spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. Reprocessing separates plutonium and uranium from other nuclear waste contained in spent nuclear fuel. The separated plutonium can be used to fuel reactors, but also to make nuclear weapons.
In rejecting the proposed new nuclear weapons, Congress required the administration to devise "a comprehensive nuclear weapons strategy for the 21st century" and a "roadmap" for the nation's nuclear weapons complex. Calling for a new strategy has been a focus for UCS throughout the year. Along with running newspaper ads in several states, we've asked our supporters to contact their legislators on the issue and submit letters to the editor and op-eds in the states and districts of key members of the congressional committees that have jurisdiction over nuclear weapons funding. We also published an op-ed by a UCS scientist and state senator in a target state, North Dakota, and had UCS supporters thank Governor Schwarzenegger for his championing of a world free of nuclear weapons.
