| November 30, 2006 |  |
Major Plutonium Study Eliminates Rationale for New Nuclear Weapons Push
Statement by Dr. Lisbeth Gronlund, Co-Director, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
"New findings on the aging of plutonium in nuclear warheads, which were released today by the Department of Energy (DOE), demonstrate that current warheads will remain dependable for many decades to come. This research eliminates a major rationale for two DOE nuclear weapons initiatives: the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) Program, under which all current U.S. nuclear warheads would be replaced with newly designed warheads over the next two to three decades; and the Complex 2030 proposal to rebuild the U.S. nuclear weapons complex by 2030.
"The plutonium aging studies released today find that the plutonium cores (or pits) for nuclear weapons have minimum lifetimes of at least 85 years and, in most cases, at least 100 years. DOE has previously argued that new RRW warheads were necessary to address concerns about the potential degradation in weapon performance over time due either to the aging of the plutonium metal or to small changes resulting from the manufacturing process if the plutonium pit was remanufactured to compensate for plutonium aging. The studies make clear such concerns are unwarranted.
"Under the RRW program, several different new warheads would be designed and produced, and these would be fielded without nuclear explosive testing. The Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories have each submitted a new RRW design, and by the end of this year DOE is scheduled to choose one of these for development and production. It is now clear that moving forward with an RRW design is unnecessary.
"DOE's Complex 2030 proposal should also be put on hold, since it is premised on the need to develop and produce several different types of RRWs.
"Rather than needing new nuclear weapons or a new weapons complex, the United States needs a thorough review of its outdated nuclear weapons policy. U.S. nuclear policy has experienced little change since the Cold War and the United States still maintains thousands of nuclear weapons on high alert. A full discussion of the purpose and structure of the U.S. nuclear arsenal must precede any new investments in nuclear weapons."
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