Anti-nuke groups: Government plan costly
Published: March 26, 2008 at 6:58 PM
WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- A peace group says a U.S. government plan to move all nuclear weapons manufacture to Los Alamos, N.M., and Oak Ridge, Tenn., is unworkable.
"It's like trying to get someone who has a size 12 foot into a size 8 shoe," David Culp of the Friends Committee on National Legislation told the Albuquerque Journal.
Under the government plan, a plutonium lab would be built at Los Alamos and a uranium lab in Oak Ridge. The price tag for the Los Alamos facility is estimated at $2 billion, while the Oak Ridge one is put at $1.4 billion to $3.5 billion.
The proposal would give the United States the capacity to manufacture 50 to 80 nuclear weapons a year.
John Broehm, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, told UPI though some money will need to be spent, there will be savings in the long-run.
"We will be able to do this transformation within projected budgets," Broehm said. "We will realize savings by bringing down other buildings, consolidating our footprint and consolidating weapons materials."
The anti-nuclear group Nuclear Watch New Mexico said, however, a consultant's report indicates the two projects would add more than $1 billion annually to the agency's baseline budget at least through 2012, the Journal said.
"It's like trying to get someone who has a size 12 foot into a size 8 shoe," David Culp of the Friends Committee on National Legislation told the Albuquerque Journal.
Under the government plan, a plutonium lab would be built at Los Alamos and a uranium lab in Oak Ridge. The price tag for the Los Alamos facility is estimated at $2 billion, while the Oak Ridge one is put at $1.4 billion to $3.5 billion.
The proposal would give the United States the capacity to manufacture 50 to 80 nuclear weapons a year.
John Broehm, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, told UPI though some money will need to be spent, there will be savings in the long-run.
"We will be able to do this transformation within projected budgets," Broehm said. "We will realize savings by bringing down other buildings, consolidating our footprint and consolidating weapons materials."
The anti-nuclear group Nuclear Watch New Mexico said, however, a consultant's report indicates the two projects would add more than $1 billion annually to the agency's baseline budget at least through 2012, the Journal said.
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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