New nuclear weapons are back. The Bush administration is quietly paving the way for a huge state-of-the-art nuclear weapons bomb factory that could crank out hundreds of new warheads a year. At a time when the international community is working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons in countries like North Korea and Iran, ramping up and "modernizing" production of U.S. nuclear weapons sends the wrong message.  The U.S. must reduce its current nuclear stockpile, not build an entirely "new and improved" one.

This proposal, which includes Complex Transformation (formerly Complex 2030) and the Reliable Replacement Warhead, is still in the early stages.  Over the next few months, Congress will begin consideration of this proposal. 

Background 

In its 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, the Bush administration laid out a clear plan to expand the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal with new, so-called “useable” nuclear weapons, and outlined the possibility of using these weapons in a nuclear preemptive strike.  However, Congress defeated the administration’s initial attempts to fund new weapons such as the nuclear bunker buster and the Advanced Concepts program.  Having learned from their defeat, the administration came back with a revised strategy, arguing that our current stockpile of nuclear weapons is “unreliable” and needs to be updated.  

Complex Transformation is at the heart of the Bush administration’s new proposal---a huge state-of-the-art nuclear weapons bomb factory that could crank out up to 50 to 80 new warheads a year.  It is a complete overhaul of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex—in the wrong direction.  It is at this factory where the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a new nuclear weapon, would be built.

Arguments Against Complex Transformation

It’s an unnecessary waste of taxpayer money.  At the request of Congress, an independent panel of scientific experts recently completed a thorough study of the lifetime of the plutonium pits in our warheads (the cores or “triggers” of nuclear weapons).  This panel announced that pits have a lifetime of at least 100 years, more than double the Department of Energy’s (DOE) original estimate of 45 years.

The Bush administration and DOE have argued that Complex Transformation and the revamp of our weapons system is necessary because our weapons were aging and becoming unreliable.  This new independent study proves them wrong, and undercuts the need for this complex, which is projected to cost billions of dollars.

It sends the wrong message to the rest of the world.  At a time when the international community is working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea, building a new generation of U.S. weapons sends the wrong message. If the U.S. continues down the path of nuclear weapons development, you can be sure that other countries will follow.

It’s based on outdated Cold War thinking.  Building up our offensive nuclear capabilities makes no sense when the greatest threat the U.S. faces is from non-state terrorist groups and the proliferation of weapons to other states. Spending billions of dollars on new nuclear weapons will not make America safer and ignores the real dangers we face.

It violates our international commitments.  When the U.S. signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, it agreed to negotiate in good faith to get rid of nuclear weapons.  Complex Transformation diverts attention from the need to begin planning further nuclear reductions and the eventual elimination of our nuclear stockpile.

Who can help stop Complex Transformation?

Our Representatives and Senators must stand up in opposition to this reckless proposal.  Bipartisan leadership in the House and the Senate stopped the nuclear bunker buster and mini-nukes in their tracks.  Concerned voters must pressure our elected officials to step up in 2008 to defeat this plan.  

Some information from Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (www.ananuclear.org) and Faithful Security (www.faithfulsecurity.org)