Energy secretary defends request for nuclear 'bunker buster' study
Samuel Bodman says plan is "merely a matter of trying to respond to what we perceive to be the wishes of this Congress."
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Tuesday defended administration plans to revive a study of the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, a nuclear bomb designed to destroy underground or reinforced targets, saying it would be completed before congressional approval is sought for its development.
"This is a matter of carrying out a study," Bodman said, adding it was "merely a matter of trying to respond to what we perceive to be the wishes of this Congress."
During the hearing, Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., questioned the department's funding request for two nuclear weapons studies, an issue that last year divided House and Senate lawmakers along party lines.
Congress rebuffed the administration's request by removing funds for a study of the RNEP from the fiscal 2005 omnibus appropriations bill, but funds for the department's Reliable Replacement Warhead program were approved.
This year, the administration is seeking to revive the RNEP study with $8.5 million. In addition, the administration seeks to continue the Reliable Replacement Warhead program with $9 million.
Warner said he supports both programs, but Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., questioned whether there is a legitimate military requirement for the RNEP. "It appears DOE and DOD are moving ahead to develop those requirements," Reed said, questioning why the fiscal 2005 request included money over a five-year period for the RNEP, but in the 2006 budget the funding profile ends with $14 million in 2007.
Bodman suggested the study could be completed by 2007, leaving DOE to return for additional funding and authority.
In his opening statement, Bodman discussed legislation enacted last year in the 2005 defense authorization bill that allows waste at nuclear weapons plants in South Carolina and Idaho to remain in underground tanks rather than be removed and sent to a more secure disposal site.
Bodman thanked the committee, particularly Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for supporting the legislation. Critics, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said it would potentially allow radioactive waste to be reclassified as low-level waste.
Last week Cantwell joined Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in decrying almost $300 million in proposed cuts in nuclear waste cleanup at the Hanford nuclear reservation in their home state.
Cuts in the department's environmental programs as outlined in President Bush's 2006 budget total $548 million, an amount Bodman could not explain during the hearing.
When Warner asked how DOE plans to implement last year's authorizing legislation, Bodman said it has been slow to convert the waste classification into specific rules and regulations that could be used in cleanup.
He assured the panel the department is pursuing "a more aggressive approach to this so that we can get on with it," and he expects to review a department proposal soon.