Contents

1. Summary
2. Congress: No New Nuclear Bombs; Review the Ones We Have
3. Nuclear Weapons Complex: More Modest, But Still Misguided
4. Toward Zero Nuclear Weapons: Seeking Leadership from the Next President

Summary

Just weeks ago, thanks in part to thousands of Union of Concerned Scientists activists, we scored a significant legislative victory when Congress rejected a plan to build a new generation of nuclear bombs. Instead, Congress has heeded the advice of UCS and others by demanding a comprehensive review of the role and future of nuclear weapons. On the campaign trail, UCS and our supporters continue to engage the 2008 presidential candidates and voters on this issue—asking candidates to re-affirm that it is the policy of the United States to work with other nations toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

Congress: No New Nuclear Bombs; Review the Ones We Have

In 2007, stopping a new generation of nuclear weapons was one of our top legislative priorities. On December 19, Congress denied all funding for research on the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program, a dangerous proposal to build a new generation of nuclear weapons, ultimately replacing the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal. The administration had requested $88.8 million for research and design on the new warhead. The bill also denied funding for a new facility to produce new plutonium "pits"—the core of a nuclear weapon—and cut by more than half requested funding for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program, the Bush administration's plan to reprocess spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. Reprocessing separates plutonium and uranium from other nuclear waste contained in spent nuclear fuel. The separated plutonium can be used to fuel reactors, but also to make nuclear weapons.

In rejecting the proposed new nuclear weapons, Congress required the administration to devise "a comprehensive nuclear weapons strategy for the 21st century" and a "roadmap" for the nation's nuclear weapons complex. Calling for a new strategy has been a focus for UCS throughout the year. Along with running newspaper ads in several states, we've asked our supporters to contact their legislators on the issue and submit letters to the editor and op-eds in the states and districts of key members of the congressional committees that have jurisdiction over nuclear weapons funding. We also published an op-ed by a UCS scientist and state senator in a target state, North Dakota, and had UCS supporters thank Governor Schwarzenegger for his championing of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Weapons Complex: More Modest, But Still Misguided

This month, the Department of Energy (DOE) is expected to make public its proposal to recreate a Cold War-like capacity to build new nuclear weapons by rebuilding the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. Last year, the DOE published a draft of the plans and, as required by law, invited the public to comment. More than half of the 33,000 comments submitted came from UCS activists who called on the DOE to "abandon plans to build new nuclear weapons, make deep reductions in the U.S. nuclear stockpile, and consolidate existing nuclear weapons facilities to the greatest extent possible."

UCS supporters had an impact—the new DOE proposal added a discussion of the effects moving toward a smaller nuclear arsenal would have on the nuclear weapons complex and an analysis of a proposal that would produce fewer new nuclear weapons than the DOE's original plans—only 50 to 80 per year.

Unfortunately, the modified plan still calls for building facilities throughout the country to recreate a Cold War-like capacity to design and develop nuclear weapons. The plan also proposes the manufacture of 80-120 plutonium pits annually despite the fact that the United States has thousands of plutonium pits currently in storage, and the centerpiece of the new complex—the RRW—has been rejected by Congress.

Once the new plan is formally released, another round of public hearings and comments will occur throughout early-mid, 2008, and we will be turning to UCS activists again for their support!

Toward Zero Nuclear Weapons: Seeking Leadership from the Next President

Throughout the fall and winter UCS, our supporters, and many others have been engaged in public and candidate education and engagement efforts on nuclear weapons in early 2008 presidential election primary and caucus states. Our message has been simple: the next president should make nuclear weapons policy a major priority and should embrace policies that set the United States and the world down the path toward a world free of nuclear weapons. Our efforts have included full-page advertisements, letter-writing campaigns, and speaking/media tours in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

In December, we commissioned and released a public opinion poll in South Carolina that showed that majorities of voters of both major parties in that conservative state favor the United States taking a leadership role in reducing global nuclear arsenals and oppose our current "first use" policies. A number of presidential candidates have spoken publicly about nuclear weapons, while some have endorsed the goal of a nuclear weapons-free world outlined by former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, among others, in a January, 2007 Wall Street Journal op-ed. UCS will soon be releasing a major report, Toward True Security, which outlines a series of steps the United States can and should take to reduce the nuclear threat.