Analysis of the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

“Proposed DoE funding also includes large increases for a facility that will expand plutonium production in Los Alamos, New Mexico and for a new highly enriched uranium production facility near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, each estimated to cost about $3 billion. The Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project (CMRR) plutonium facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory increased from $97 million in FY 2010 to $225 million in FY 2011. Y-12’s Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) also increased to $115 million from $94 million in FY 2010.”

Click here to download a PDF of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation’s budget briefing book.

Alliance for Nuclear Accountability

Click here for ANA’s press release.

Nuclear Watch New Mexico

Click here for their blog post on the budget.

Project on Government Oversight

Click here for their blog post on the budget.

Tri-Valley CAREs

Click here for their press release.

Upcoming activities on nuclear weapons

1. For Peace and Human Needs: Nuclear Disarmament Now! is a new website with resources on activities and demonstrations being planned for the May NPT Review Conference. Hundreds of organizations from the U.S. and around the globe are taking new steps to renew the commitment to a nuclear free world. The website includes an online petition on nuclear disarmament.

2. Groundbreaking is expected in April for a major new production facility, the Kansas City Plant, that will be responsible for 85% of all components for possible new designs and/or half-century life extensions of existing U.S. nuclear weapons. Protests and demonstrations in Kansas City are currently being planned, just before the NPT Review Conference that begins May 3. Contact Nuclear Watch New Mexico for more information.

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjbrenchley/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Rep. Pete Stark

Last week, Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and 26 other representatives sent a letter to President Obama urging him to ensure the Nuclear Posture Review puts the US on a path toward nuclear disarmament. Peace Action West worked closely with Rep. Stark’s office, encouraging representatives in the western states to sign on to the letter. With the review due in early 2010, now is an important time for the president to hear from Congress. Rep. Stark’s office issued this press release about the letter:

WASHINGTON – Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and 26 of his colleagues sent President Obama a letter urging him to take an active role in ensuring that the Nuclear Posture Review reflects his views supporting nuclear disarmament.  The Nuclear Posture Review is a report that determines the United States’ agenda on nuclear weapons for the next five to ten years.  The Defense Department will finalize the Review this month.

“Progress toward a nuclear weapons free world is critical to making America and the global community safer,” said Peace Action West Executive Director Jon Rainwater. “With more than 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, the risk of accidental launches or theft puts Americans at risk. We appreciate Rep. Stark’s leadership in urging President Obama to use the Nuclear Posture Review to reduce the role nuclear weapons play in our security policy. Actions like these by members of Congress are crucial to creating a safer world, free of nuclear weapons.”

The press release also includes the text of the letter, with specific policy recommendations, and a list of the 26 representatives that signed on.

The Obama administration’s Nuclear Posture Review will have to answer questions like whether or not the US will pursue new warhead designs and if the US would use nuclear weapons to respond to a non-nuclear attack. A Nuclear Posture Review that contradicts President Obama’s Prague speech committing the US to work toward nuclear disarmament will make progress toward that goal much more difficult in the next decade.

Over the summer, news reports circulated about a high level meeting with Vice President Biden, Defense Secretary Gates, Secretary of Energy Chu, and Secretary of State Clinton. Global Security Newswire reported that:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the idea of reinstating the controversial Reliable Replacement Warhead effort during a secret “Principals’ Committee” meeting convened by the National Security Council…

However, Biden has strongly opposed the move, based on the view that pursuing a new U.S. warhead program could undermine Washington’s efforts to discourage nuclear weapons proliferation around the globe.

Given the internal debate within the administration over new nuclear weapons like the Reliable Replacement Warhead, it is important that members of Congress speak out in favor of policies that reject outdated Cold War thinking and will make America safer.

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