| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Key legislators threaten funds for nuclear weapons overhaul |
| 2007-01-15 |
| At a critical moment when the government is poised to choose a design for the next generation of nuclear weapons, two influential members of Congress have threatened to eliminate funding for the new warheads due to concerns over the Bush administration's plans for refurbishing the weapons production complex. In a previously undisclosed letter written to the energy secretary on Nov. 16, Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, who was then chairman of the House subcommittee that controls nuclear weapons spending, criticized the department's planning for the new weapons manufacturing facilities. He insisted he would fight to halt all spending for the new warheads if the department did not embrace what he said would be a more efficient, cheaper approach through consolidation of the production operations. The letter was significant not only for its angry tone but also because Hobson was an architect and perhaps the single most important congressional supporter of the new weapons plan, known as the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, or RRW. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #10 Piketon, Ohio has a sister plant in Paducha, KY...FYI |
| Posted by: TZsenator 2007-01-15 22:11 |
| #9 So we have two goals for nuclear weapons upgrades: 1. Security---One plant is too few. An enemy OR a serious accident could take out our manufacturing capability. 2. Cost---Eight separate nuclear weapons manufacturing facilities are redundant and cost too much. So, it seems to me that the answer is between 1 and eight. How much security do you want? What are the threats and dangers that nuclear weapons will be used against? Also what are the threats facing the manufacturing facilities? Once you identify the threats and decide on your level of security, the numbers will come out. Form follows function. We need some good discussions between Congress and the DoE people involved in this issue. And grandstanding before the press is a no-no in this issue. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-01-15 22:07 |
| #8 "I wonder if Hobson's district is the one with the great-big nuclear processing plant" "Can you say Piketown....gaseous difusion plant |
| Posted by: TZsenator 2007-01-15 21:54 |
| #7 So then Hobson had nothing to lose. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-01-15 16:16 |
| #6 I wonder if Hobson's district is the one with the great-big nuclear processing plant... Apparently not. It doesn't even appear to contain the old Miamisburg plant. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-01-15 15:27 |
| #5 Efficiencies in manufacturing are commendable, but sometimes there are over-riding concerns. National security is probably one of those. Part of the problem, IMHO, is that the congresscritters have tasted some success in the consolidation of our armed forces (thanks BRAC) and want to extend that to EVERYTHING governmental. If you place all your eggs in one, or few baskets, it just gets easier for the bad guys to hurt you. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-01-15 14:24 |
| #4 Pay now or pay (more) later... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-01-15 14:06 |
| #3 Not to mention that keeping the old nukes somewhat blowable is getting incredibly expensive. Better to have new, smaller and cheaper ones that are within the operational lifetime. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-01-15 13:56 |
| #2 Some people need to learn that they're only a small PART of the government, not the be-all and end-all. These two congresscritters need to have a "come to Jesus" moment with a half-dozen very large men in black suits. We have eight nuke warhead manufacturing spots in the United States (down from 14). All of them are dated, because we've been building nukes for 60 years or more. Most have been updated at least a few times. Consolidating all our nuke warhead manufacturing facilities in one or two locations (Hobson's and Visclosky's recommendations) doesn't make military or economic sense. Playing political games such as trying to withhold funding to get their single-minded ideas through also doesn't make sense. The idiots that say our manufacturing and maintaining nuclear weapons "sends the wrong message" are nothing but defeatniks. They live in a dream world of their own manufacture. We live in a hostile world, one getting more hostile all the time. Not only do we need nuke weapons, we need the courage to use them when needed. I'm beginning to think we're going to have to have a second revolution to eliminate all the stupidity in Washington. It may not take another 200 years for that stupidity to be reborn, but it won't happen overnight. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-01-15 13:18 |
| #1 It also makes it harder to take out our nuclear weapons manufacturing capability to spread the facilities around. I don't think this is just politicaly motivated. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-01-15 12:26 |