[Peace-discuss] Obama lies about nukes, too

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Obama was praised for his pious posturings about eliminating nuclear weapons. 
What a shameless liar he is. --CGE]

	Saturday, January 16, 2010
	Nuke Budget May Rise 10 Percent
	By John Fleck

     The Obama administration is preparing to ask Congress for a 10 percent 
increase in the U.S. nuclear weapons budget, according to an internal memo.

     The National Nuclear Security Administration' s budget for nuclear weapons 
research, development, maintenance and manufacturing would rise to $7 billion in 
2010, up from $6.38 billion this year, according to a Dec. 22 memo from Energy 
Secretary Steven Chu to the Office of Management and Budget.

     The weapons program funds work at Los Alamos and Sandia national 
laboratories, which together employ about 20,000 New Mexicans.

     The memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Journal, outlines a 
preliminary deal worked out between OMB and the Department of Energy, the 
federal agency with jurisdiction over the weapons program.

     Administration officials have repeatedly declined comment on the budget 
request pending its formal release next month, but the increase discussed in 
Chu's memo has been widely expected. The budget request goes to Congress, which 
must then determine a final spending level for fiscal year 2011, which begins 
Oct. 1.

     According to the memo, the Defense Department has agreed to contribute some 
money from its budget in future years to help the Energy Department fund nuclear 
weapons work.

     The memo says the Defense Department money — $145 million per year — would 
be used to fund nuclear weapons surveillance, in which old nuclear weapons are 
routinely removed from the arsenal and dismantled to look for problems caused by 
aging. The additional money also would support basic nuclear weapons science, 
engineering and technology work done at the labs.

     The proposed funding increase comes as the Obama administration is trying 
to win support for a new arms control treaty with the Russians.

     In a Dec. 15 letter, 40 Republican senators and independent Joe Lieberman 
wrote that any arms control reductions need to be accompanied by money to 
modernize the remaining U.S. nuclear arsenal, along with the labs and plants 
that maintain the nuclear weapons.

     Chu's memo is silent on several key questions, including whether the 
administration will heed the Republicans' request to fund design of a 
next-generation nuclear weapon. The memo also is silent on how much the 
administration might request for replacement of Los Alamos National Laboratory's 
cold war-era plutonium laboratory. Federal officials have long pushed for a new 
plutonium lab, but the multibillion-dollar price tag has repeatedly gotten in 
the way.

     In addition to the increase in nuclear weapons spending, the administration 
also anticipates asking for a 26 percent hike in spending on nuclear 
nonproliferation programs, to $2.7 billion, according to the memo.

     Significant parts of that work also are done at Sandia and Los Alamos .

Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal Journal Staff Writer
URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/north/16231643north01-16-10.htm

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