Xinhua - US unveils blueprint to rebuild nuclear complex
Xinhua - English: "US unveils blueprint to rebuild nuclear complex
www.chinaview.cn 2006-04-07 23:14:41
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Bush administration has unveiled a blueprint to rebuild the country's aging nuclear weapons complex, including the restoration of its large-scale bombmanufacturing capacity, The Los Angeles Times website reported Friday.
The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernization of the nation's massive system of laboratories and factories for nuclear bombs since the end of the Cold War, according to the report.
Until now, the United States has depended on carefully maintaining aging bombs produced during the Cold War arms race, some several decades old.
The Bush administration, however, wants the capability to turn out 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, as the Pentagon retires older bombs that it claims will no longer be reliable or safe.
Under the plan, all of the nation's plutonium will be consolidated into a single facility which will be more effectivelyand cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks.
The plan will also remove the plutonium now kept at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California by 2014, though transfers of the material could start sooner.
However, the administration's blueprint is facing sharp criticism, both from those who say it does not move fast enough toconsolidate plutonium stores, and from those who say restarting bomb production will encourage aspiring nuclear powers across the globe to develop weapons.
The plan was outlined to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday by Thomas D'Agostino, head of the nuclear weapons programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, an agency of the Energy Department. Enditem
Editor: Wang Nan"
www.chinaview.cn 2006-04-07 23:14:41
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Bush administration has unveiled a blueprint to rebuild the country's aging nuclear weapons complex, including the restoration of its large-scale bombmanufacturing capacity, The Los Angeles Times website reported Friday.
The plan calls for the most sweeping realignment and modernization of the nation's massive system of laboratories and factories for nuclear bombs since the end of the Cold War, according to the report.
Until now, the United States has depended on carefully maintaining aging bombs produced during the Cold War arms race, some several decades old.
The Bush administration, however, wants the capability to turn out 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, as the Pentagon retires older bombs that it claims will no longer be reliable or safe.
Under the plan, all of the nation's plutonium will be consolidated into a single facility which will be more effectivelyand cheaply defended against possible terrorist attacks.
The plan will also remove the plutonium now kept at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California by 2014, though transfers of the material could start sooner.
However, the administration's blueprint is facing sharp criticism, both from those who say it does not move fast enough toconsolidate plutonium stores, and from those who say restarting bomb production will encourage aspiring nuclear powers across the globe to develop weapons.
The plan was outlined to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday by Thomas D'Agostino, head of the nuclear weapons programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, an agency of the Energy Department. Enditem
Editor: Wang Nan"
posted by Greta Jane at Tuesday, April 11, 2006
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