The Case Against CMRR

On the radar: A $6 billion boondoggle; Options for budget savings; HASC micromanages the arsenal; Scene setting for Baghdad; Admin on returning nukes to ROK; Cartwright calls for nuke cuts; Kyl’s case for missile defense; Iran and the IAEA; and 25 years after landing in Red Square.

May 15, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Mary Kaszynski

CMRR unneeded and unaffordable - The proposed Los Alamos plutonium facility (CMRR) was cut by appropriators and the administration because the nuclear labs could meet its essential missions with existing facilities and the country could not afford its $6 billion price tag. Nevertheless, administration critics in the House are up in arms, attempting to add money for CMRR into the House defense authorization bill.

--Stephen Young in Roll Call explains why the CMRR is unnecessary and notes, “In a budget-conscious Congress, it makes little sense to authorize an unneeded $6 billion project when that decision has already been trumped by the appropriations decision of their Republican colleagues.”

--Kicker: The administration “can reduce its expenditures and still maintain a safe, secure, reliable nuclear stockpile. That, after all, should be the bottom line, not some projected budget number.” http://owl.li/aVhDh

Report: defense budget savings - The Project on Defense Alternatives and the Cato Institute have a new report with options for reducing the FY13 defense budget to $538 billion, $8 billion below the Budget Control Act cap.

--Nuclear recommendations include delaying and rolling back R&D for the SSBN(X) and the new bomber, halting construction of the Uranium Processing Facility, and cancelling the MOX fuel facility and B61 LEP.

--Full report, “Defense Sense: Options for National Defense Savings” here. (pdf) http://owl.li/aVhl5

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Odd man out - Restoring funds for CMRR in the defense authorization bill puts HASC members at odds with DOD, NNSA, and congressional appropriators, all of whom say the facility is unnecessary. Jon Wolfsthal on HASC’s “attempts to micromanage the U.S. nuclear arsenal.” http://owl.li/aVhmw

Baghdad talks - On the importance of the talks with Iran in Baghdad next week, Jeffrey Goldberg at Bloomberg writes: “Obama thinks they could buy him substantial time with Israel, as he works over the coming months to convince Khamenei that his nuclear program is folly. But if the talks fail to persuade Iran to close the Fordo facility, then Barak and Netanyahu -- who now sit atop a powerful coalition government -- could be moving again toward a strike.” http://owl.li/aVhsV

Admin opposes putting nukes in ROK - “Tactical nuclear weapons, in our view, are unnecessary for the defense of South Korea. So we don’t have any plans or intention to deploy them there,” a State Department spokesman said in response to the HASC bill’s call to redeploy tac nukes to the Western Pacific. http://owl.li/aVhv2

Event - Former JCS Vice Chair Gen. James Cartwright will issue a report calling for reductions to the U.S. nuclear arsenal in a phone press conference on May 16th at 10am. Details here. http://owl.li/aVhj2

Tweet - @CarollPM: General Cartwright to explain why US should cut more of its nuclear weapons. The man should know - he commanded them. http://bit.ly/JgbcRO

Kyl likes missile defense - Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is an diehard backer of missile defense spending and an opponent of arms control. In his latest for the WSJ, Sen. Kyl reinforces these stances and notes that he opposes any legal or political guarantees that NATO missile defense would not be targeted at Russia. http://owl.li/aVhwy

Quote - “The enemy of my enemy isn’t really a terrorist if his lobbying is really, really good,” tweets Kelsey Atherton in response to news that the State Dept. is considering removing the Iranian opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. h/t @abumuqawama http://owl.li/aVhyw

Vienna talks - Iran described talks with the IAEA on access to Iran’s nuclear facilities as “very constructive.” IAEA officials refused to comment, however, as the talks are ongoing. Fredrik Dahl has the story. http://owl.li/aVhpZ

Support for reductions - Arms control groups presented a petition with over 50,000 signatures calling on the White House to reduce the role and number of U.S. nuclear weapons in the guidance review. Press release from the Arms Control Association. http://owl.li/aVhgY

Mathias Rust - “I would certainly not do it again and would consider my plans back then to be unrealistic…it was irresponsible,” said Mathias Rust, who 25 years ago this month flew a single engine Cessna past Soviet air defenses and landed in Red Square. Kate Connolly at The Guardian has the story. http://owl.li/aVho6