US scraps nuclear weapons watchdog

Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday July 31, 2003
The Guardian

A US department of energy panel of experts which provided independent oversight
of the development of the US nuclear arsenal has been quietly disbanded by the
Bush administration, it emerged yesterday.

The decision to close down the national nuclear security administration
advisory committee - required by law to hold public hearings and issue public
reports on nuclear weapons issues - has come just days before a closed-door
meeting at a US air force base in Nebraska to discuss the development of a new
generation of tactical "mini nukes" and "bunker buster" bombs, as well as an
eventual resumption of nuclear testing.

Ed Markey, a Democratic congressman and co-chairman of a congressional
taskforce on non-proliferation, said: "Instead of seeking balanced expert
advice and analysis about this important topic, the department of energy has
disbanded the one forum for honest, unbiased external review of its nuclear
weapons policies."

Neither the NNSA - part of the department of energy - nor the 15 panel members
returned calls seeking comment yesterday.

The NNSA advisory panel is made up of academics, retired officials and business
leaders.

Although federal law requires regular open meetings and publication of its
reports, the energy department has not convened the panel since May 2002. Its
reports have not been released.

The statute establishing federal advisory committees requires their dissolution
to be officially gazetted in the federal register but, according to Mr Markey,
the NNSA panel was disbanded by a simple email to its members.

Daryl Kimball, the head of the independent, Washington-based Arms Control
Association, said: "This will make the department of energy and the NNSA even
more opaque. It will be all the more difficult to understand what they are
planning to do."

Hawks in the Pentagon and the energy department are pushing for the development
of tactical nuclear weapons with yields of less than 5 kilotons and hardened
"bunker buster" nuclear bombs, designed to penetrate deeply buried targets,
where enemy leaders or weaponsmay be hidden.

According to the leaked agenda for the Omaha meeting in early August, Pentagon
and energy department officials will discuss how to test small numbers of these
new weapons, and whether this will require a break from the moratorium on
nuclear tests.

Critics argue that the new weapons will blur the distinction between
conventional and nuclear arms, and trigger a new arms race.

"The Bush administration is considering policy changes that will alter the role
of nuclear weapons in national defence," Mr Markey said. "Given the importance
and sheer complexity of the issues raised ... why was the only independent
contemplative body studying nuclear weapons disbanded - and disbanded in such a
surreptitious fashion?"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1009460,00.html