By George Lobsenz
In a break with the Bush administration, Sen. John McCain said Tuesday he would kill the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator missile–“a weapon that does not make strategic or political sense”–and he called for establishment of an international spent fuel nuclear repository that he suggested might eliminate the need for the Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada.
McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, also proposed new steps to help curb proliferation of weapons-sensitive nuclear technology and said he would support international guarantees to provide nuclear fuel to nations that renounce uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, both of which can produce weapons-usable materials.
And in a speech at the University of Denver in Colorado, McCain said if elected he would work with Russia, China and other nations to reduce nuclear arsenals and to reconsider his opposition to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
McCain’s speech was notable for his statement opposing the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, which the Bush administration in previous years said was necessary to show terrorists they could be reached even in deeply buried underground bunkers.
However, McCain’s pledge was somewhat of a political freebie because the Bush administration largely abandoned the earth-penetrating nuclear missile several years ago in the face of unyielding opposition in Congress, where both Republicans and Democrats said it could never be used because it would produce too much collateral damage.
In place of the earth-penetrating nuke, the administration proposed the so-called reliable replacement warhead (RRW), a next-generation weapon that the administration said was necessary to modernize the nation’s Cold War-era arsenal.
The Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which runs the federal nuclear weapons complex and is developing the new weapon, has asserted the RRW would be cheaper to produce, more reliable and incorporate new security and safety features that will better protect against misuse or accidents. NNSA also says that the deployment of the RRW would enable the nation to reduce the size of its arsenal by eliminating the need for large numbers of reserve warheads now kept as a safeguard against the failure of decades-old warheads.
McCain’s failure to directly comment on the RRW is surprising because it is on the front burner of congressional debate, with lawmakers recently establishing a panel to review the Bush administration’s case for the weapon and how it fits with U.S. nuclear weapons and strategy.
While most Republicans back the RRW, congressional Democrats have questioned whether the United States ought to be building a new warhead.
McCain largely dodged the debate over the RRW, saying only: “I would only support the development of any new type of nuclear weapon that is absolutely essential for the viability of our deterrent, that results in making possible further decreases in the size of our nuclear arsenal, and furthers our global nuclear security goals.”
He added, however: “I would cancel all further work on the so-called Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, a weapon that does not make strategic or political sense.”
More broadly, McCain called for a broad review of U.S. nuclear weapons strategy and said his overall goal was to reduce the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
“While working closely with allies who rely on our nuclear umbrella for their security, I would ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff to engage in a comprehensive review of all aspects of our nuclear strategy and policy,” he said.
“[W]e must continue to deploy a safe and reliable nuclear deterrent, robust missile defenses and superior conventional forces that are capable of defending the United States and our allies. But I will seek to reduce the size of our nuclear arsenal to the lowest number possible consistent with our security requirements and global commitments. Today we deploy thousands of nuclear warheads. It is my hope to move as rapidly as possible to a significantly smaller force.”
On nuclear proliferation, McCain pledged efforts to rejuvenate the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and proposed new steps to curb transfers of weapons-sensitive nuclear technology.
“We need to strengthen enforcement of the so-called ‘atoms for peace’ bargain by insisting that countries that receive the benefits of peaceful nuclear cooperation must return or dismantle what they receive if they violate or withdraw from the NPT,” he said.
“We should establish a requirement by the U.N. Security Council that international transfers of sensitive nuclear technology must be disclosed in advance to an international authority such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and further require that undisclosed transfers be deemed illicit and subject to interdiction. Finally, to enforce treaty obligations, IAEA member states must be willing to impose sanctions on nations that seek to withdraw from it.”
McCain backed proposals by the Bush administration, Russia and the IAEA to help reduce the potential for proliferation by having established nuclear nations guarantee nuclear fuel supply for civilian reactor programs in countries that agree not to pursue proliferation-sensitive technologies.
“To persuade countries to forego enrichment and reprocessing, I would support international guarantees of nuclear fuel supply to countries that renounce enrichment and reprocessing, as well as the establishment of multinational nuclear enrichment centers in which they can participate,” he said.
He added: “I would seek to establish an international repository for spent nuclear fuel that could collect and safely store materials overseas that might otherwise be reprocessed to acquire bomb-grade materials. It is even possible that such an international center could make it unnecessary to open the proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.”
McCain also said he would work with other countries to achieve an international cut-off in the production of fissile materials.
And he said that if elected, he would continue America’s current moratorium on nuclear testing, “but also begin a dialogue with our allies, and with the U.S. Senate, to identify ways we can move forward to limit testing in a verifiable manner that does not undermine the security or viability of our nuclear deterrent.
“This would include taking another look at the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to see what can be done to overcome the shortcomings that prevented it from entering into force. I opposed that treaty in 1999, but said at the time I would keep an open mind about future developments.”