Made in America
Tested in Japan
Posted on 04/07/2002 8:48:28 AM PDT by bkwells
By TONY BATT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The federal agency overseeing the Nevada Test Site plans to complete a report by late spring recommending a faster preparation time for possible resumption of underground nuclear tests.
No tests are planned yet. But the upcoming report by the National Nuclear Security Agency is fueling speculation that the testing moratorium that began in September 1992 might soon end.
"Let's put it this way. This is not a sign that the Bush administration is moving away from nuclear tests," said Ivo Daldeer, a foreign policy specialist at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank.
But the leap from preparing for a nuclear test to actually performing one is enormous, according to Frank Von Hippel, the former assistant director for national security in the White House Office of Science and Technology from 1993 to 1994.
"The comprehensive test ban treaty originally was signed by five countries, including the United States. Now, there are 182 countries that have signed the treaty," Von Hippel said.
A resumption of nuclear tests in Nevada might spur other countries to start testing their own nuclear weapons, Von Hippel said.
The National Nuclear Security Agency isn't saying what time will be recommended for test readiness.
But John Harvey, a senior analyst at the agency, said in January that 18 months would be preferable to the current preparation time of two to three years.
Harvey estimated it would take three years to prepare the test site for the new schedule, and the cost would be $45 million.
The following month, the president's budget earmarked for the test site $15 million, the exact figure Harvey suggested for the first year, to lower preparation time for underground nuclear tests.
The cost of enhancing test readiness might prove pivotal in determining what the new preparation time will be, according to Richard Galvin, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"When they find out, maybe they will change their minds about (accelerating test readiness)," said Galvin, who does not support a resumption of nuclear tests.
The test site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, served as the location for 100 atmospheric and 828 underground nuclear tests from 1951 until Sept. 23, 1992. After the last test, the first President Bush imposed a nuclear testing moratorium.
Since July 1997, the government has conducted subcritical experiments at the test site to check the safety and reliability of weapons without causing nuclear explosions.
The report on test readiness will respond to the Nuclear Posture Review, the Bush administration's recent plan on how to deal with global threats. The Nuclear Posture Review concluded current testing readiness at the test site is not sufficient.
"First, ... the current two- to three-year test readiness posture will not be sustainable as more and more experienced test personnel retire," the review said. "Second, the two- to three-year posture may be too long to address any serious defect (in the nuclear weapons stockpile) that might be discovered in the future."
Robert Norris, an expert on nuclear weapons for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Nuclear Posture Review, "as a whole, is very enthusiastic about nuclear weapons."
The drive to shorten nuclear test readiness received a hearty endorsement last month in a report by an independent group of experts. Led by John Foster, the former director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the so-called "Foster Panel" recommended three months to a year to prepare for testing resumption.
That idea was rejected by Everet Beckner, the Department of Energy's deputy administrator for defense programs.
"During the era of underground nuclear testing, cradle-to-grave took nine to 12 months for most tests, depending on complexity," Beckner said in a letter to Foster.
Despite all the talk about enhancing test readiness, the Nevada Test Site continues to operate the way it did before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to test site spokesman Darwin Morgan.
That means the two- to three-year mandate to stay ready remains in place.
John Gordon, head of the National Nuclear Security Agency, has said repeatedly he does not see a need to resume nuclear testing any time soon.
But in addition to enhanced test readiness, the Nuclear Posture Review calls for the development of a low-yield nuclear bomb to penetrate caves where terrorists might be storing weapons of mass destruction. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said such a bomb could be easily tested at the test site.
Peggy May Johnson, executive director of the Nevada environmental group Citizen Alert, opposes an accelerated schedule for nuclear testing because of concerns about Southern Nevada's groundwater.
Citizen Alert issued a report in January charging the federal government is not adequately tracking contamination of the region's groundwater from previous nuclear tests.
"We are very concerned because of the fact that additional tests would create more nuclear waste," Johnson said. "Our organization is fighting now tooth and nail to keep nuclear waste out of Yucca Mountain and we are concerned about the proliferation of anything nuclear."
Von Hippel advocated shutting down the test site while he was serving in the Clinton administration. He said he still thinks closure is a good idea.
"But with this administration, that's not going to happen," he said.
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