Right now Congress is considering whether to fund the development of a new nuclear weapon called the Reliable Replacement Warhead.  Many nuclear weapons experts share Peace Action West's view: this weapon is unnecessary and sends a dangerous message to the rest of the world.

Former Senator Sam Nunn
"On the RRW itself, if Congress gives a green light to this program in our current world environment, I believe that this will be: Misunderstood by our allies; exploited by our adversaries; complicate our work to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons, including the essential steps I have outlined this morning; and make resolution of the Iran and North Korea challenges all the more difficult."

"I would not fund additional work on the RRW at this time."

Testimony before House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, 3/28/07
Read the full testimony here.(PDF).

William Perry, former Secretary of Defense
"On balance, I believe that we could defer action for many years on an RRW program, and I have no doubt that this would put us in a stronger position to lead the international community in the continuing battle against nuclear proliferation, which threatens us all."

Testimony before House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, 3/28/07 

Dr. Raymond Jeanloz, chair, Nat'l Academy of Science's Int'l Security and Arms Control Committee
"The remarkable finding is that key materials making up the nuclear explosive package are far more stable and predictable than anyone would have anticipated. Recent developments reinforce the conclusion that plutonium pits and the U.S. stockpile are stable over periods of at least 50 to 60 years and probably much, much longer."

"The finding suggests there should be no great urgency to proceed with the Reliable Replacement Warhead program."

From "Research Suggests Warhead Plutonium Pits Last Longer" Global Security Newswire 3/2/06

Robert Gallucci, former assistant secretary of state
"'It’s passing strange…we would propose to improve confidence in the stockpile' by replacing well-tested warheads with warheads that haven't been tested.

If the U.S. military later determines that testing is necessary, 'you would have the worst of worlds' -- uncertain warheads, abrogation of the test-ban treaty and serious damage to U.S. efforts to convince other nations that nuclear weapons aren’t necessary."

From "U.S. Congress, Nuke Builders Debate Proposed Warhead" Defense News 3/26/07

Bob Peurifoy, retired Sandia National Laboratories weapons expert
"When you do something new…if you look at automobiles, flashlight batteries, I don't care, you'll find that statistically, you make mistakes that you only discover after you put something into inventory. I go with the tried and true. I go with the stockpile that has been surveilled and maintained and when necessary, fixed, and that's what we have today."

From “There's no shakedown cruise for new nukes” Contra Costa Times 3/26/07