House Republicans Trim Increase in Nuclear Weapons Funding

June 16, 2011

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Today's top nuclear policy stories, with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today: Thursday, June 16, 2011.

House Panel Whacks Funding for Nuclear Complex - Walter Pincus in The Washington Post [link]

Remember the [promises] demanded by Republican senators as the price for passage of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) last December? Problem is, members of the House weren’t involved in the discussions.
Now, led by Republicans, lawmakers are cutting into the funds that the Obama administration had pledged for upgrades and modernization...whacking almost $500 million from the weapons program.
A slice of $100 million came out of a $200 million pot that is supposed to finance early steps [to build the CMRR]. the subcommittee says, there is a need to revalidate what capabilities are to be needed in the plutonium area.
Let’s see what happens when the bill gets to the Senate.

Nuclear Bomb Overhaul May Counter Obama Pledge, Anger Russia - Bloomberg [link]

An Air Force plan to refurbish aging nuclear bombs deployed in five European countries would increase the weapon's power and accuracy, and it risks alarming Russia, an arms-control group says.
Hans Kristensen, of the Federation of American Scientists, said the [$4 billion B-61 bomb] refurbishment plan may make the bombs more capable, in violation of Obama's stated policy.
Kristensen said he doesn't think the White House is deliberately circumventing its own public pronouncements. "But they're not giving specific enough guidance to the NNSA and the military services,” he said.

Ahmadinejad’s Fall, America’s Loss - Suzanna Maloney and Ray Takeyh in The New York Times [link]

The same Iranian leader who dabbled in Holocaust denial and messianic fantasies was, paradoxically, also the theocracy’s most ardent advocate of direct nuclear negotiations with Washington.
As Mr. Ahmadinejad falls out of favor with Iran’s hard-line religious leaders, the prospect of a nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington is diminishing.
Washington must appreciate that it is locked in a prolonged struggle for regional influence with one of its least predictable foes.
American policy should seek to maximize financial and technological constraints on the Iranian nuclear program, strengthen Iran’s opposition, exacerbate the many fissures within its political class and insulate Iran’s neighbors from its nefarious activities.

Fighting City Hall’s Nuclear Weapons - Joe Cirincione in Huffington Post [link]

Kansas City is about to become the first city in the nation to own a nuclear bomb factory … But some taxpayers oppose the scheme on budgetary, policy and environmental grounds.
Although it is too late to stop construction on the plant, some Kansas Citians are proposing alternative uses to bring sustainable jobs, not bombs, to the area. Kansas City Peace Planters, a local grassroots organization, circulated a petition to convert the bomb factory into a renewable energy facility.

Steinberg: No Need for Another Iran Sanctions Bill - Josh Rogin in The Cable [link]

The House and Senate have each unveiled a bill that would tighten existing sanctions … against members of Iran's regime and companies that aid Iran's energy, banking, or arms sectors...Companies from third-party countries such as China are believed to be violating the sanctions.
The new bills are meant to force action on Chinese companies.
But [Deputy Secretary of State Jim] Steinberg said that the administration doesn't support another round of sanctions legislation and will proceed with enforcement on its own timeline.
The lawmakers who spent months drafting the new sanctions legislation and who are planning to push it through Congress this summer fundamentally disagree with Steinberg's reading of Chinese behavior.

Ghana Ratifies Test Ban Treaty - Global Security Newswire [link]

Tweets @cirincione: "this makes 154, including all of NATO. Oh, wait. Not U.S."