It seemed too good to be true when the US Congress last year blocked funding for bunker-busting nuclear weapons. And so it was. This week the administration has come back with a request for $8.5 million to revive the project.
The US already has conventional earth-penetrating bombs, which destroy underground targets by burrowing 10 metres or more into soil before detonating. But they can鈥檛 get through rock to reach deeper, toughened bunkers. So the Pentagon and the National Nuclear Security Administration have spent $23 million on a study of a 鈥渞obust nuclear earth penetrator鈥� (RNEP) that can cut through 30 metres of rock.
Many fear the project will lead to renewed nuclear weapons testing and encourage battlefield nuclear weapons. Opposition from non-proliferation groups led to Congress鈥檚 decision to cut funding. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is keen to press on with RNEP.
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